“Regrettably, it sometimes takes concern about the middle class to get school boards to invest in quality,” writes Linda Lenz in Catalyst (November). “That’s what happened some 20 years ago, when Waller High School was converted into Lincoln Park High School, and nearby LaSalle, Newberry and Franklin elementary schools became specialty schools. Better late than never. While these programs were designed to keep or lure the middle class, they benefit low-income kids, too. For example, almost half the children who attend those four North Side magnet schools are low-income. At Lincoln Park, the number of low-income students is higher than the number that attended Waller before the turn-around began.”
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Number of the top five conventions at McCormick Place in 1996 that had to do with the internal combustion engine: 4 (Chicago Auto Show, Chicago Chevy-Vette Fest, Motorcycle Swap Meet, and World of Wheels). Their percentage of the attendance at the top five: 92 (Illinois Business, third quarter).
What’s the difference between New York and Chicago for bicyclists? Karen Sheets cites John Kaehny of the citizen group Transportation Alternatives in The Neighborhood Works (November/ December): “New York does not have City Hall backing for bicycle programs, which Kaehny attributes to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s peculiar vision: ‘He wants to recreate New York City like it was in the ’50s. And in the 1950s there were no bikes on the street. . . . Chicago, on the other hand, has a mayor who wants to be remembered for two things: bikes and trees.’”
