Do you owe money for parking tickets and other unpaid fines? Here’s what you need to know about Chicago’s debt sale, debt ...

Here’s what you need to know as the city takes another step toward selling off at least $1 billion worth of vehicle debt to a ...

Chicago’s debt sale and what it means for YOU. Chicago is tapping Bank of America to carry out its unprecedented sale of city ...

The future of Chicago’s parking meters is being met with continued controversy. At the start of 2026, the current owners of Chicago Parking Meters — a consortium including Morgan Stanley, Allianz ...

Since 2016, the Documenters program has paid and trained community members to witness and take notes at local public meetings. The program originally emerged to equip residents to fill local ...

Editor’s note: This story discusses crisis mental healthcare and mentions violent crime. Chicago Documenters notes from Nikebia Brown-Joseph, Katie Busch, Fabienne Elie, Ava Grubb, Holland Harmon, ...

Marion Turner moved to Wicker Park in the 1950s when vacant buildings and crime were common and the city’s disinvestment in the neighborhood was painfully apparent. In the 70s, Turner started looking ...

The sun has set, and the gym pulses with energy at Midnight Basketball in Austin. Along parallel walls, bold letters spell out BUILD, with the words “Hope, Lives, Futures” painted just beneath — more ...

Editor’s note: Our Civic Reporting Fellowship reporting series, Decoding the City Budget, relied on extensive Documenters notes covering City Council budget hearings last fall. Find more public ...

Chicago just launched one of the largest guaranteed-income programs in the U.S. But how long have Americans been pushing for government-backed income as a solution to entrenched poverty and inequality ...

This story was produced by City Bureau and co-published by the Chicago Reader. The area surrounding the 43rd Street Green Line stop will look drastically different in the next couple of years and two ...

You likely already know Jody. She’s not new to City Bureau—or to the work of building civic infrastructure. She joined the organization in 2022 as Documenters Network Deputy Director, rose to Managing ...