It’s a new week. Ease into your Monday with the latest headlines from WTTW News.
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A sidewalk in Roscoe Village is pictured in an April 2024 file photo. (Jared Rutecki / WTTW News)
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Getting around Chicago can be extremely difficult for people with a disability — and not just because it’s a complicated, noisy urban environment.
In 2023, a federal judge ruled in a class action lawsuit that Chicago’s failure to make its signalized crosswalks accessible to blind and low-vision pedestrians violated the Americans With Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act. Despite decades of cries for help — and New York City losing a similar lawsuit — the city fought the case for years, ultimately failing. Now it’s under a court-appointed monitor ensuring Chicago complies with a plan to fix the problem.
Last fall, the firm that successfully took on Chicago’s inaccessible crosswalks brought another lawsuit against the city — this time, arguing that it has long failed to properly build and maintain sidewalks, curb ramps and other key pedestrian infrastructure that people with mobility disabilities must navigate, as well as to provide accessible alternate routes when construction blocks rights of way.
Some backstory:
It’s not the first time Chicago has faced claims like this. In 2005, the city was hit with a federal class action over its failure to build curb ramps. Chicago settled the case in 2007 by pledging to spend $50 million — the largest-ever settlement in an ADA suit at the time.
But just building the curb ramps and other accessible infrastructure isn’t enough if they’re not maintained, plaintiffs and attorneys involved in the suit say.
“We took a look at the city’s uncoordinated systems and they’re just simply not working,” said Rachel Weisberg, directing attorney in Disability Rights Advocates’ Chicago office. “We found that there were over 20,000 open (311) requests for sidewalk improvements, and even more concerning than that, the data showed that there were over 6,000 open for more than three years. That’s a very long time to wait to be able to navigate outside of your block or outside of your community.”
In an audit of 311 requests released in February, Chicago’s inspector general found that “the information about service requests on 311’s public facing platforms contributes to public confusion and distrust” because they “do not provide users with clear information on the overall process, request statuses, and work order timeframes … 311’s potential to improve city services and ability to provide deeper analysis is hampered by its limited staffing.”
A 2024 WTTW News investigation detailed how the city uses a patchwork of programs to maintain its sidewalks, leading to confusion about how and where they get repaired.
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(Drone footage courtesy of Foremedia Productions LLC)
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At the end of the Obama presidency a question was posed to architects around the world: Who wants to design the Obama Presidential Center on the South Side of Chicago?
More than 140 architecture firms applied, but only one got the proverbial golden ticket.
WTTW News sat down with the principal architects of TWBTA to discuss the creativity that would change the skyline of the South Side and what it was like working with the man who inspired it all: former President Barack Obama.
“He wanted it to be a living place with lots of energy and all of the interest that he had as a young man and as a president, rather than a mausoleum,” architect Tod Williams said.
“He was a very interesting client, a very knowledgeable client,” architect Billie Tsien said.
Williams and Tsien are the design minds who won the bid for the Obama Presidential Center — a process that took months to secure and included a one-on-one meeting with the then-president in the Oval Office.
“It was certainly thrilling,” Williams said, “but also slightly terrifying.”
The architects landed the bid thanks to their neighborhood-inclusive campus design — a non-negotiable for the Obamas.
“Mrs. Obama was very involved in creating a sort of, in emphasizing the importance of this being a place for families and for people to come and feel a sense of joy,” Tsien said. “She was very much about the site and how it’s going to be used by the people of Chicago.”
The striking exterior has come under some harsh criticism, being called cold, foreboding and monolithic. But like most good architecture, form follows function: The museum exhibits required windowless rooms.
“Because of the artifacts,” Tsien said, “and because of lighting, and because the creation of a sense of drama. So they didn’t want bright lights. So that was a sort of done deal.”
“I think the best of this building is to come,” Williams said, “and it’s going to come way beyond our own lives. Maybe 200 years out, maybe 500. I hope it’s that long.”
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The Cook County building is pictured in a file photo. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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Cook County is facing a projected $550.7 million budget shortfall in 2027, according to a mid-year forecast released Wednesday by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the Cook County Bureau of Finance.
The projected budget gap, the largest in at least 16 years, comprises a $336 million shortfall in the county’s general budget and a $214.7 million shortfall in its health budget.
“We’re gonna look at a variety of belt-tightening measures,” Preckwinkle told reporters during a Wednesday budget briefing. “We’re going to be looking at cost savings and efficiency before we consider any new taxes. Our goal is always to balance the budget without asking more from our taxpayers.”
Cook County’s general budget pays for areas such as public safety, property and taxation, economic development, and finance and administrative costs, according to annual budgets. The health budget covers the Cook County Health and Hospitals system.
The projected budget gap facing the county next year is fueled by the impact of litigation related to the Safe Roads Amendment, growing payroll and pension liabilities, increasing employee benefit costs and Medicaid enrollment declines due to federal policy changes, according to a budget forecast presentation.
More context:
A judge ruled earlier this year that the county misspent $243 million in tax revenue that should have been used for transportation-related spending and instead was used to enforce road laws through various county offices, which was a violation of the Safe Roads Amendment of the Illinois Constitution.
Preckwinkle recognized it would be a tough budget year, but said the county is coming from a position of strength, citing bond ratings improvements and progress in pension funding.
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More From WTTW News:
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Back in the Day: June 22, 2016 - Bulls Trade MVP Derrick Rose to the New York Knicks
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In 2008, the Chicago Bulls selected the Englewood-raised Derrick Rose, a freshman point guard for the University of Memphis and alum of Simeon Academy, with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Rose, the hometown hero, would play for the team from 2008 to 2016, which included an NBA Rookie of the Year win in 2009, NBA Most Valuable Player award-winning season in 2011 and three All-Star appearances from 2010 to 2012. On this day 10 years ago, his tenure in Chicago ended when the team traded him to the New York Knicks for center Robin Lopez, guard Jose Calderon and guard Jerian Grant. The Bulls also included Justin Holiday and a second-round pick in the 2017 draft to the Knicks in the
trade package. Rose would play for various teams until he retired in 2024. This year, the Bulls retired his number at the United Center.
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This Week’s Civic Events and Meetings
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Every Monday, WTTW News highlights the best ways to get involved with local government.
WTTW
On Wednesday evening, join WTTW and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library for a special screening of selections from “The American Revolution,” a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt that tells the story of how 13 colonies rose in rebellion, won their independence and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired centuries of democratic movements around the globe.
Following the screening, a panel of experts consisting of Fred Beuttle, professor of political science, history and intellectual foundations at Carthage College; the Rev. Michael C. R. Nabors, senior pastor of the historic Second Baptist Church in Evanston, Illinois; and Steven Pincus, the Thomas E. Donnelly Professor of British History and the College at the University of Chicago, will reflect on the meaning of service during the Revolutionary era and its enduring relevance today, offering fresh perspectives on the promises and complexities of American democracy. For more information and to RSVP, click here.
City Council's Committee on Workforce Development: Subcommittee on Youth Employment
On Wednesday at 11 a.m., the City Council's Committee on Workforce Development is hosting a Subcommittee on Youth Employment. Among the matters discussed will be a subject matter hearing on teen trends. No votes will be taken, but more information can be found here.
City Council’s Committee on Finance
On Thursday at 11 a.m., the City Council's Committee on Finance will hold a regular meeting. Check the city clerk website for an agenda and more information.
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What's the best place for deep-dish pizza? Tell us why.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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