Curious City

Combine gangster-era liquor laws with a twist of modern creativity, add a dash of laid-back spirit, and you’ve got a cocktail that makes Chicago the BYOB capital of the country. 

Each migratory season leaves a flurry of birds dead at the feet of skyscrapers. But does that make a dent in the bird population?

Yes, tornadoes can hit Chicago. Why do so many people think otherwise?

The answers are crazy. We’ll have fun looking. But you’ll probably be pretty mad by the end. Things are worse than you thought. The bad news: We’re paying out billions more than we take in. Just without setting priorities. The state comptroller — who makes the payments — calls it “ad hoc” and “ridiculous.” The worse news: We’re still letting billions of dollars in services go totally unfunded. And...

Decades ago, Chicago’s  Union Stockyards were the source of meat for the country, jobs for the city and ... field trips for Chicago Public School children. Really. (Related to a Curious City story about meatpacking in Chicago. )

The village insists a decades-old rule to fight blockbusting continues to protect a precious suburban commodity: diversity. 

If this retail mystery’s keeping you up at night, here are answers. Plus: Have we hit peak mattress? Warning: More puns ahead! 

Today’s Chicago architects answer why they build the way they do, and to what degree their inspiration comes from the city’s past. Full story, with photos and additional interviews from Chicago architects and developers .  

How bubblers, boats and brawn keep the city safe each winter.  

Rifle sport shooting was once so popular in the city that even ComEd and schools had competitive teams. Today, there's not a range in sight.

How one girl’s dream for a snow day came true during the infamous blizzard of 1967.

The city was once the nation’s meatpacking powerhouse. What, if anything, is left?

Answers to listeners' questions about the mysterious side of Chicago that lies beyond the soaring skyscrapers and the sheen of the Bean.

Lake Michigan was once a passenger steamer superhighway. Could a Chicago-to-Michigan route make a comeback?

Tempted to ignore the revolving door? Here are the revolutions that made the city a magnet for this seemingly simple device.

A half day from ... what? Why this suburban myth is not even half true, and why the same mistake was made again 600 miles away.

A look at how many riders it takes to make a bus profitable.

How a Chicago-area famiHow a Chicago-area family turned cheap plastic souvenirs into a nostalgia empire.ly turned cheap plastic souvenirs into a nostalgia empire.

The City of Chicago employs 20 full-time blacksmiths. But what do they do? And what's with the ancient job title?

How generation after generation of Polish families made the city into a 'Poland elsewhere.'  

A Grabowski team of demographA Grabowski team of demographers help us test the city’s claim of having the most Poles outside Poland.ers help us test the city’s claim of having the most Poles outside Poland. A Grabowski team of demographers help us test the city’s claim of having the most Poles outside Poland.

From Chicago Heights to Mount Prospect, here’s why Chicago suburb names flat out lie about their elevation.

How Chicago became the alley capital of the country and why so much of the rest of the region is conspicuously alley-free.

The lowdown on how the fountain shoots water so high, and why it was built to impress in the first place.

A list of meaty, messy and often obscure city originals that's meant to get you out of your comfort zone.