Category City in Motion

The changes reshaping Chicagoland: transit projects, development, stadium moves, budgets, and what each one means for the people who live here.

City in Motion

Chicago’s New Air-Sensor Network, Its First 391 Days: 102,907 Sensor-Days, a Median Day Near 9 Micrograms — and Two July 2026 Days When the Network-Wide PM2.5 Mean Hit 133 and 168

An air-quality sensor on a light pole under a clear blue sky

Open Air Chicago's 277 non-regulatory sensors, read from the program's daily file: 102,907 sensor-days from July 26, 2025 through August 20, 2026, a median day at 9.02 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter, half of sensor-days Good and most of the rest Moderate by the file's own AQI column - and July 16 and 17, 2026, when the network-wide mean hit 133 and 168 inside a stretch the state EPA and the city flagged for wildfire smoke. Provider-calibrated values, UTC days, no compliance finding.

KCM Desk
August 22, 2026

City in Motion

Chicago Reversed Its River in 1900. MWRD’s Own Log Shows It Has Released Water Back Into Lake Michigan 36 Times From 1985 Through 2025 — 52.5 Billion Gallons, the Last in July 2023, None in 2024 or 2025

Lock gates and controlling works where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan under a stormy sky

Chicago reversed its river in 1900 - and MWRD's own posted log shows the district has released waterway water back into Lake Michigan 36 times from 1985 through 2025: 52.5 billion gallons, 41 percent of it in the September 2008 and April 2013 storms, the last in July 2023, none in 2024 or 2025 - with the district's own definition of a 'reversal' and its note that TARP reduced them.

KCM Desk
August 21, 2026

City in Motion

The 10 Chicago Community Areas With the Most Water-in-Basement 311 Requests Since 2018

Brick bungalow block on Chicago's Southwest Side after heavy rain, puddle over a sewer grate

The ten Chicago community areas with the most Water in Basement 311 requests since December 2018: Austin leads at 8,207 of 69,852, 1.7 times Chicago Lawn, with a Southwest Side cluster behind it - requests, not verified floods, counts, not rates, and a table shaped by where the worst storm days landed.

KCM Desk
August 21, 2026

City in Motion

Chicago’s Deep Tunnel, by MWRD’s Own Records: 1.55 Trillion Gallons Pumped Back in 28 Logged Years, $3.86 Billion in Contract Dollars — and the Last Reservoir Stage Has Slipped From 2029 to 2032

A quarry reservoir with turquoise water on a bright sunny day

The Deep Tunnel from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's own records: 1.55 trillion gallons pumped back out of TARP to the Stickney and Calumet plants in the 28 years the district's daily logs carry in full, 2018 the record year; $3.856 billion in contract dollars; 110.4 miles and 15.15 billion gallons of reservoirs - and a last reservoir stage the district's own documents moved from 2029 to 2032, with an 18-month hole in the posted logs stated, not filled.

KCM Desk
August 21, 2026

City in Motion

Chicago’s Skyway Lease, From the Documents: $1.83 Billion Up Front in 2005, Two of Three Reserve Funds Drawn Near Zero by 2016, and $1.44 Billion Still Being Counted Through 2103

Elevated steel toll bridge carrying traffic over an industrial river channel on Chicago's Southeast Side

The Skyway lease from the city's posted documents and the owners' own filings: $1.83 billion up front in January 2005 for 99 years, $446.3 million of it refunding Skyway bonds; three reserve funds whose schedules show two drawn to $134,000 and $4,000 by 2016; $11,977,992 in deal fees; and $1,441,818,000 still unrecognized at the end of 2025, counted $18.5 million a year through 2103. Control of the concessionaire has changed twice; the city's record stops at 2016.

KCM Desk
August 21, 2026

City in Motion

Chicago’s 69,852 Water-in-Basement 311 Requests Since 2018 Follow the Storms: One Day in August 2025 Holds 5 Percent of Them, and Twenty Days Hold a Third

Rainwater pooled over a catch-basin grate on a Chicago bungalow block after a storm

Chicago's 311 file holds 69,852 Water in Basement requests since December 2018, and they arrive with the storms: one day in August 2025 holds 5.4 percent of them, the twenty busiest days a third, July and August half. Austin leads at 8,207. Requests, not verified floods - and a closing clock that records status, not findings.

KCM Desk
August 21, 2026

City in Motion

The 10 Biggest Department Totals in Chicago’s 2026 Budget — and No. 1 Is Not a Department

Classical columns of a civic building facade in downtown Chicago at dusk

The ten largest department labels in Chicago's 2026 Budget Ordinance file: Finance General - not an operating department - leads at $8.19 billion, 44 percent of the $18.67 billion total, ahead of police at $2.11 billion. Appropriations, not spending, summed by the file's own labels.

KCM Desk
August 20, 2026

City in Motion

The 8 Orders Chicago’s Building-Code Hearing Docket Issues Most, From 144,837 Cases

Wooden porch and exterior stairs on a Chicago brick three-flat, seen from the alley

The eight charges that appear on the most dockets in Chicago's administrative-hearings file, from 144,837 cases: inspection orders lead at 39,062, ahead of porch, wall, and stair repairs - counted at docket grain, with no fine sums, for reasons the parent analysis explains.

KCM Desk
August 20, 2026

City in Motion

Chicago’s Hearing-Docket File Holds 144,837 Ordinance Cases — Every One From the Buildings Department, and No Disposition Column

Wooden back porch under repair on a Chicago three-flat

Chicago's administrative-hearings violation file at honest grain: 841,271 charge-line rows describing 144,837 dockets, every one issued by the Buildings department despite the general name. Hearings collapsed in 2020 and 2025 was the busiest year since 2010; 44 percent of dockets carry a fine; the file records no disposition.

KCM Desk
August 20, 2026

City in Motion

Chicago’s 811 File Holds 14,508 Utility-Hit Reports Since 2015. Gas Leads — and 846 Reports Record What Was Hit as UNKNOWN.

Open utility trench with locate flags on a Chicago street

Chicago's 811 hit ledger, read at report grain: 62,897 notice rows describing 14,508 hit reports since 2015. Gas service leads the struck-facility mentions, Peoples Gas-owned facilities appear in 43 percent of reports - and 846 reports record what was hit as UNKNOWN. Reports, never verified strikes.

KCM Desk
August 20, 2026