Bike lanes finished, a bill on the governor's desk, a housing program going statewide — for once, the rundown's got things that actually got done. If you're just joining us: Chicago's 2027 mayoral race is already circling the basics — pensions, zoning, affordability, and whether Brandon Johnson's record holds up against challengers who say City Hall isn't working. Mike Quigley's formally in, and he launched at the Uptown Theatre as his symbol for city competence and revival. So that's where we are going into today. This is Chicago Politics and Urbanism Daily. Finished projects, real money moving — so today I want to know who still doesn't see any of it on their block. From Streetsblog Chicago:
Vasquez said the entire plaza and streetscape project involved $14.1 million from the Lincoln Avenue tax-increment financing district and multiple community feedback hearings. The street rehab includes protected bike lanes, crosswalk upgrades, and wider sidewalks, with parking conversions on one side of the street to free up right-of-way for these improvements.
Alright, they cut the ribbon Saturday on Lincoln Avenue, Berwyn to Berwyn, and I'll say it — this one's done. Concrete-reinforced arts plaza, live music, face painting. The block actually got something. And full disclosure — the Streetsblog piece is sponsored by Ride Illinois. The lane's real, the celebration's real, and so is the advocacy money behind the post. All three can be true at once. My thing is, back in September 2024, some of those merchants swore this remix was gonna close their doors. Doors are open. Where's the apology tour? And it isn't just Lincoln Square. Same fight's queued up on Archer in Brighton Park, still under construction, and Grand in West Town, where they haven't even broken ground. Every one of these turns into a parking-space holy war. A McDonald's parking lot turned into a public plaza — Vasquez's line — and cars kept plowing into the old version. Now it's reinforced. So the fix was literally protecting people from the drivers who were mad about losing parking. This one's from WTTW News:
Chicago’s next mayoral election is less than a year away and the list of candidates — and those considering a run — is growing ever larger. Petitions for a spot on the ballot will start circulating July 28 and are due in late October. Here is a breakdown of who’s running and who may still enter the race ahead of the Feb. 23, 2027, election.
The mayoral field just got a real deadline. Per WTTW, petitions start circulating July 28 and are due in late October — so anybody eyeing this race has about three months to collect signatures for the February 23 ballot. And notice who hasn't formally filed to run for his own job — Brandon Johnson. WTTW says it'd be a surprise if he doesn't, but as of today the incumbent's chair is technically empty on paper. Mendoza's been in since June 3, Quigley kicked off at the Uptown on the 27th. Fine. But with July 28 bearing down, after the week this city just had, who in that field has said one concrete word about the stuff that keeps breaking? Mendoza says safe, clean, reliable CTA. Great slogan. Show me which blocks that reaches, because a South Side rider doesn't get a ride on a talking point. That's what this signature clock sets up. Three months of signatures means three months of doorsteps — plenty of room to ask every one of them about the empty committee chairs and the permitting lag this city's been living with. Here's Chip Mitchell at Chicago Sun-Times:
A bill awaiting Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature could boost state payments to wrongfully incarcerated people and, for the first time, make children eligible for the compensation. The legislation would hike the maximum payout to $50,000 for each year spent behind bars and $25,000 per year on probation or parole, or under an order to register as a sex offender.
Alright, something actually good is on Pritzker's desk. The bill hikes the payout to fifty grand a year for every year you sat behind bars for a crime you didn't do. And look at the name in the Sun-Times piece — Antonio McDowell, exonerated last June in a case tied to Detective Reynaldo Guevara. Guevara. The wreckage from those framed cases is stacked on the West Side. This money lands where the harm landed. The change that really gets me is the new category — for the first time, kids would be eligible for compensation. The old law just didn't see them at all. Yeah, and twenty-five grand a year for time on parole or stuck on a sex offender registry you never belonged on. The state finally admitting that the punishment doesn't stop at the cell door. Stephanie Kamel at the Illinois Innocence Project says it'll make a huge difference — and it's still just a bill until Pritzker actually signs it. I'll believe the check clears when the check clears. Here's Simon Heit at When In Your State:
Chicago’s new effort draws from an existing $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development Bond approved under Johnson’s administration for housing and neighborhood investment work across the city. City officials said $21 million will support the Homegrown program, directing public dollars toward buyers who qualify under financial rules and homeownership requirements set by Chicago officials and partners.
Twenty-one million out of that $1.25 billion housing bond for the Homegrown program — down payments, closing costs, first-time buyers. Real money, real help. But I wanna know which ZIP codes it lands in. And there are two layers stacked here — the city's Homegrown money and IHDA's statewide expansion out of Springfield. I want to know whether those are additive, or whether the city's just repackaging state dollars with a new logo. My worry, Sarah, is that a down payment program helps somebody buy in. Does it do a thing for a renter on 115th in West Pullman, sitting on a block that still doesn't have a grocery store? Fair — and 'first-time buyer' can mean a family that's rented in the neighborhood for a decade, or somebody moving in from Naperville. The rules decide which. City says applicants meet financial benchmarks; those benchmarks are where the actual policy lives. If Chicago Politics and Urbanism Daily helps you stay on top of the city, please subscribe and leave a quick review wherever you’re listening. It means a lot, and it helps other people find the show.
Here's what we're watching next: petitions for Chicago mayoral ballot spots start circulating July 28 and are due in late October. And in Springfield, the next checkpoint is Governor JB Pritzker's decision on the wrongful-conviction compensation bill.
Links to every story we covered today are in the show notes, so if one caught your ear, you can go straight to the source. That’s Chicago Politics and Urbanism Daily for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.