The next investigation is in editorial review.
View the topicPillar
Chicago
One city, one laboratory — where the framework began.
Chicago is where the framework began — the city that gave the publication its name and its heritage. It is one application of our wider method: a place where engineering, migration, culture, public policy and sport leave evidence that can be tested rather than repeated as folklore.
HistoryCulturePublic PolicyPublic HealthEngineeringMigrationSportsUrban Systems
Questions we investigate
- Which Chicago infrastructure decisions measurably changed public health?
- How did migration shape the music and culture Chicago exported to the world?
- Do Chicago public-safety policies deliver the results their advocates claim?
- What does the city's sports culture reveal about performance and identity?
- Which patterns repeat across Chicago history, policy, business and sport?
The city in evidence
History, culture and policy
Three connected lines of inquiry explain how Chicago became what it is: the infrastructure decisions that reshaped daily life, the migrations that produced its culture, and the public policies whose results can be measured against their claims.
The next investigation is in editorial review.
View the topicThe next investigation is in editorial review.
View the topicSubtopics
Explore Chicago
Every chicago subtopic and the investigations that support it.
Chicago Bears
0 piecesbiomechanics · sports-psychology · decision-science
Investigation in development.
Chicago Bulls
0 piecesbiomechanics · motor-learning · sports-psychology
Investigation in development.
Chicago Cubs
0 piecesphysics · biomechanics · motor-learning
Investigation in development.
Chicago White Sox
0 piecesphysics · biomechanics · analytics
Investigation in development.
Chicago Blackhawks
0 piecesbiomechanics · reaction-time · recovery
Investigation in development.
Chicago Fire
0 piecesexercise-physiology · coaching-science · sports-psychology
Investigation in development.
Chicago Sky
0 piecesbiomechanics · motor-learning · sports-psychology
Investigation in development.
Chicago History
0 piecesengineering · public-health · urban-systems
Investigation in development.
Chicago Policy
0 piecesanalytics · statistics · decision-science
Investigation in development.
Coming Soon
We're actively building investigations for the Chicago pillar. In the meantime, explore related topics above or subscribe to the newsletter to be notified when the first pieces publish.
Chicago, mapped
Where our Chicago investigations happen
Every pin is a place one of our published investigations studies. Tap a pin to read it.
Chicago facts, with the evidence behind them
Chicago River
The river was reversed in 1900, but mortality data suggests the chlorine that arrived twelve years later did more of the work.
Source: Did Reversing the Chicago River Actually Save Lives?South Michigan Avenue
One railroad line, one segregated neighborhood and one small record label turned Mississippi acoustic blues into amplified Chicago blues.
Source: Why Chicago Became the Capital of Electric BluesCitywide (City Hall)
The city claimed a 47% drop in dangerous crashes; an independent analysis found a real but much smaller effect, partly offset by more rear-end collisions.
Source: Did Chicago's Red-Light Cameras Make Intersections Safer?United Center
The United Center is loud on paper, but on tape it sounds like a library.
Source: The Quietest Building In The NBASoldier Field
Repeated Bears quarterback failures track a development system that keeps changing coaches, schemes and support around young passers.
Source: The Bears Keep Solving for the Wrong Variable
Press
2ND CITY STANDARD takes its name from Chicago and treats the city as a living laboratory — history, culture and policy tested against evidence rather than folklore.
Open the press page