#curiouscity

[histpods]

Is Notoriously Segregated Chicago Becoming Integrated? 🎧

On paper, Chicago is more integrated than it was a few decades ago. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Length: 12 mins. Date: 30 July 2017

[histpods]

Inside Chicago's Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium 🎧

Former patients recall the tests, treatments, and trauma nearly 250,000 Chicagoans experienced within the sanitarium's walls.

[histpods]

What happened to Chicago's Japanese neighborhood? 🎧

Lake View once had a thriving Japanese community, but it fell victim to a push for assimilation. As one Japanese-American puts it: “You had to basically be unseen.”

Length: 13:49 Date: 13 Aug 2017

[histpods]

Making Chicago's Boystown 🎧

Political activism and businesses helped shape the city's gay neighborhood, but there’s a debate about its future.

Length: 13:38 Date: 7 May 2017

[wbezcuriouscity]

Archival photos of Chicago's long-closed Uptown Theater, courtesy of the Theatre Historical Society of America.

We asked you to help imagine a second life for the theater, and you responded with dozens of ideas. Thanks for that! And do head over here to see our recent story on restoration ideas for the theater, all inspired by a question from a local architecture student. 

[greatlakestattoochicago]

Make sure to check out @wbezchicago and curious city to read about tattoo history in Chicago. Listen to the podcast on their website featuring an interview with @nickcolella. #glt1148 #greatlakestattoo #greatlakestattoochicago #chicagotattooshops #wbez #curiouscity (at Great Lakes Tattoo)

[wbezcuriouscity]

Chicago's Beverly neighborhood is known as one of the city's most integrated communities - but it wasn't always that way. Beverly resident Erin McDuffie asked how her neighborhood maintained racial integration while most other South Side communities experienced white flight.

WBEZ reporter Natalie Moore and our question-asker head to Beverly's Ridge Historical Society to see some of the original documents used to help convince the entire neighborhood that integration is intevitable - and how to respond. Full story: http://wbez.is/1flp3mk

[wbez]

CURIOUS CITY SWEEPS: Curious City investigates the world of street-sweeping

Here's what Curious City's been up to lately: Let's just say we're lookin' for a "clean sweep" when it comes to answering a question from Dan Costalis. 

The Question:

What's the deal with street cleaning? Does it actually do anything?

More about Dan:  

He's a web developer who lives in West Lakeview. He actually doesn't have a car, but his girlfriend (pictured with him) does, and he says she's constantly stressed out about getting tickets during street-sweeping. Dan also has a buddy that he says got a ticket because the city put signs up after he'd parked his car. That got him thinking: How the heck does this all work? Is this just a revenue generator, or are those streets actually getting squeaky clean?

Enter 'The Reporter':

General Assignment reporter Lauren Chooljian is using the quotation marks here because they look kinda legit -- which hopefully cancels out the total geek vibe emanating from the pledge drive selfie above. Anyway, she's reported on transportation for Curious City before, so she and Dan are the perfect match for this investigation. Somehow, her Curious City stories always end up being truck-related, but she sees that as more of a blessing than a curse. Lauren has a car in the city - a beloved '99 Toyota Corolla that used to belong to her grandmother (Thanks, Nunny!), so she's also conscious of the street-sweeping schedule.

Stick with WBEZ on tumblr and on the air to see what Lauren and Dan find out! You can find more about Curious City on Facebook and Twitter, or on their homepage.