1. What Cops Know
They spend their lives on the streets of Chicago, and learn a lot about the city and its people. And they told Chicago.
2. Police Killings: the Price of Being Disabled and Black in America
A group of Chicagoans is working at that intersection. The Guardian highlights their work.
3. Reasons to Love Chicago
From the top of the Metra car to the conscience of baseball, the left of the dial to urban rabbits, its wonders are big and small. The Reader counts the ways.
4. The Literal Whitewashing of Chicago’s Latino Murals
Gentrification has long been a point of tension in Pilsen, and that was before a community center’s mural was painted over in advance of conversion to luxury apartments. CityLab documents its changing face.
5. Designing Dignity in Housing for Chicago’s Most Vulnerable
Housing projects have a bad rep… but what if they were more than housing? NextCity visits La Casa Norte.
6. What a Doctor Sees
Chicago doctors face the city’s gun violence through victims who walk right in after a shooting—but also through the medical issues that linger. WBEZ looks at the city through its hospital doors.
7. Chicago’s Drill Music: An Honest Portrayal of a Vicious Cycle of Violence
The city’s celebrated (and reviled) genre is deeply tied to the city’s problems, sometimes literally. The Shadow League talks to some of its creators.
8. Rauner Rejects Huge Thompson Center Offer
Illinois’s governor wants a bigger building to replace the unbeloved state building than the city’s mayor does. And yet another impasse rears its head. Crain’s investigates.
9. Immigrant Women Fear Deportation Under Trump If They Report Domestic Abuse, Advocates Say
For federal immigration authorities, the courthouse isn’t a neutral space. So immigrants are avoiding it, even when they face physical risks as a result. The Tribune tells their stories.
10. Got a Lawn You Have to Mow? Blame Riverside, Illinois
Frederick Law Olmsted’s design for the suburb is legendary for its beauty, but we’ve all inherited some of the work it takes to keep it that way. Chicago magazine looks at the history of the lawn.
Bonus! Best of Chicago 2017: Readers’ Choice Poll
For this year’s Best of Chicago issue—our annual stock-taking of everything in the city worth consuming or appreciating—we want to hear from you, the readers. Voting ends Friday.