A City That Works
Conor Durkin, Justin Erb, Nik Hunder, Zak Yudhishthu, Richard Day, Dan Gent - Chi2100 Urbanism, Evan Mast, Alex MonteroPolicy analysis and ideas on how to make Chicago work better.
| Platform |  | Pricing | Only free issues | Publishes | Twice weekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 151 | Founded | 5 years ago | Last Issue | 7 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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citythatworks.substack.comLatest Issues
In the 1990s, New York brought crime to record lows. Why couldn’t Chicago do the same?
In the early 1990s, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles had roughly the same homicide rates. Since then we’ve seen a stark divergence. Today, there are roughly 4 times as many murders per capita in Chicago than New York, and three times as ma...
Taste of Chicago: June 2026 Edition
Source: Matt Stratton via Flickr
We’ve got lots of opinions here at A City That Works. Many of them are informed or inspired by the work of the local Chicago press corps, or thoughtful takes on national issues that are relevant here. While...
What the latest ShotSpotter fight is really about
City of Chicago 911 Dispatch Center. Source: OEMC
Up until now, we’ve avoided writing about ShotSpotter. Generally, we think our time is better spent on under covered and higher-leverage changes to improve the Chicago Police Department. Bu...
Illinois is getting closer to a major win on housing
Two-flats in Chicago. Source: Jay Galvin, via Flickr.
5/31/26 Update: It appears unlikely that the missing middle bill will make it through the House and Senate today (the last day of the legislative session). But the progress on the Senat...
CPS math and reading scores are much worse than advertised
When we were pulling together our 2025 scoreboard last week, I was struck by just how poor the math and reading scores were at Chicago Public Schools. In 2024, just 23% of CPS fourth graders were proficient in Reading, and 24% were proficie...
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Authors
The writers behind this newsletter.
Chicagoan and attorney trying to figure out how to make my community a less bad.
Nik Hunder is an environmental policy analyst, researcher, and public transit advocate from Chicago
Writing about urban economics and housing, mostly in the Twin Cities and Chicago.
Mostly transit, housing and state capacity. Always Chicago. Opinions here are my own, and don’t reflect the views of employers, past, present or future.
Sign the Petition: https://www.change.org/Chicago2100 | Advocating for a better tomorrow, one street at a time
Urban economist at Notre Dame
Alex Montero is the chairperson of Strong Towns Chicago, an all volunteer advocacy group focused on housing, street safety, and transit.
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