"In an unprecedented investigation of city development, the Tribune examined 5,700 zoning changes approved by the City Council over the last decade and recorded on sheets of paper clipped into binders in a City Hall office.
The newspaper converted the paper records into an electronic database to perform an analysis of development beyond the scope of anything previously possible, even for city planners.
The investigation found that Chicago is a city where a building boom greased by millions of dollars in political donations to aldermen has remade the face of neighborhoods, changing the feel of the streets where people live and work.
It's a city where aldermen have become dependent on the political contributions they rake in from developers, while routinely ignoring city planners who oppose out-of-scale development." Read the full story and watch the 5 minute investigative video.
Blognotes: Seeing the Tribune totally ignored the 49th ward in their graphics and story, that's where I come in. From 2003 to 2007, here are their north side ward results.
1st) Joe Moore in the 49th Ward with 73 up-zones. In the calendar year of 2007 alone, Joe Moore has raised over $500,000 dollars in campaign contributions. Most of this money came from people wanting up-zoning changes or development favors.
2nd) Helen Shiller in the 46th Ward wasn't even a close second with 52 up-zones.
3rd) Bernie Stone in the 50th Ward was even further behind with 48 up-zones.
4th) Mary Ann Smith in the 48th Ward doesn't have much more room to up-zone. She fell way behind with 28 up-zones.
4 comments:
Alderman Say They're Not 'Hos'
One of the hundred something comments on the Tribune message board. They all echo the same theme.
Campaign donations are and always will be nothing more than legalized bribery.
Whether it's a Chicago alderman, a mayor, a governor, a U.S. Senator, or the President of the United States, the only difference is the size of bribe, er, I mean, the "donation." Joe Blow developer donates $250 to an alderman and gets the zoning he wants.
Big law firm donates thousands to a governor a get millions in legal fees in return. Big Media donates millions to dozens in Congress and gets the media consolidation it wants.
Oh, there may be big policy issues on which our elected officials vote based on principle. But when it comes to the nitty-gritty issues of government that aren't discussed on the front page of newspapers, no matter the issue, no matter the politician, it is always about the money. Too bad the U.S. Supreme Court says that campaign donations are protected by the First Amendment freedom of speech provision.
Put aside practically any other election issue. Nothing is more important than getting the money out of elections.
We need publicly financed elections at every level of government to rid ourselves of this insidious disease that so obviously infects our democracy.
Until we do that we're all at the mercy of high class prostitutes.
Mary Ann seems to be more into downzoning than upzoning.
I like the 7-story height limit the 48th is imposing on new buildings- the time of super-large highrises is perhaps about to pass, because of the energy costs associated with such buidings. I'd go for a height limit of 15 stories, but 7 stories is really just fine. Between 4-7 stories is a nice height for a multi-family structure.
It looks like parts of Kenmore and Winthrop have been upzoned while lots in the high rise district of Sheridan have been downzoned. That is what I am guessing.
Dear friend,
Election Day is a few weeks away. That's not a lot of time.
While Senator Obama is poised to win Illinois’ electoral votes, we live next to a state that is a crucial battleground – Iowa.
George W. Bush won Iowa by less than 1% in 2004 – despite John Kerry leads in polls right before Election Day. Iowa was one of only two states that switched from voting Democratic in 2000 to Republican in 2004.
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Thousands of undecided Iowa voters now have early ballots in their hands, and we need your help to make sure that when they cast their votes, they cast them for Barack.
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We’re asking you to sign up here to go to Iowa. The Iowa staff will be in touch with you about your specific assignment. Please make sure your friends and family know about this website as well:
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Thank you
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