Worldview
Each weekday at noon, Jerome McDonnell hosts a far-reaching global affairs program on Chicago Public Radio that considers the world at large, with an emphasis on making connections back to Chicago, either thematically or through the use of local experts on international issues. Aired since 1995, a typically atypical program is described on the web site thusly: “Hurricane Sandy has been blamed for at least 69 deaths in the Caribbean, and concerns over cholera are growing. Then, we examine the ways foreign money can creep into U.S. elections, and the greater challenge campaign cash poses to fair elections around the world.” Priceless perspective.

Worldview on WBEZ 91.5 FM

Best of Chicago 2012

Sister Cities
In 1956, President Eisenhower established the Sister Cities program as a nonprofit initiative to foster global understanding and peace through trade, education and cultural exchange. Mayor Richard J. Daley jumped on board in 1960, establishing our first sister city relationship with Warsaw, Poland. Over the years, Chicago has taken to it like no other, and now boasts the most active such organization in the world with twenty-eight sisters, ranging from Paris, France to Accra, Ghana to Bogota, Colombia. The five-person Chicago staff keeps itself busy with a range of trade and cultural activities, including a five-day Chicago International Sister Cities Festival in Daley Plaza each summer.

chicagosistercities.com

Best of Chicago 2012

The return of art education to the public schools
And indeed this has already happened, flanked by Yo-Yo Ma and Renee Fleming at a buzz-generating press conference, Rahm Emanuel announced an additional 120 minutes of arts education per week under the Arts Education Plan. Now let’s just hope that continues into 2013 when the Chicago Public Schools system faces a $1 billion shortfall.

Best of Chicago 2012

All of it!
This plan is so chock-full of good ideas that they become a liability. The thirty-six recommendations in the final plan all have sub-initiatives, up to nine of them, with budgets ranging from less than $50,000 to over $1 million, and implementation timelines ranging from one to twenty years. Limited city budgets and a tangled bureaucracy will struggle to realize the majority of the goals. Tellingly the first action item of sorts has to do with getting the city’s own house in order: “Implement a strategic plan for DCASE to closely align resources and staff with the goals of the Plan.” In other words, a plan to make a plan.

chicagoculturalplan2012.com

Best of Chicago 2012

Jackson Red Line
No matter what time of day, the Jackson Red Line station is a sure spot to see spontaneous live acts. From rap battles to father-son duets, music is almost always in the air of the underground. Other performances might include a woman hula hooping to Latin music, another might be a woman vaguely resembling Aretha Franklin who sings just as soulfully as the diva. On occasion, the beat of drums—real or improvised via the bottom of a bucket – compete with the roar and rattle of approaching trains clinking along the tracks. Three young men can often be found singing in the tunnel that connects the Blue Line to the Red at Jackson. It’s a fact: Jackson is ridden with rhythms.

Best of Chicago 2012

Green roofs
In an effort to minimize the urban heat Island effect, former Mayor Richard M. Daley put forth a plan twelve years ago to make Chicago a greener city by building gardens on top of buildings. These efforts paid off and won the city an excellence award at the four-day CitiesAlive conference which was recently held here in Chicago; the organization Green Roofs for Healthy Cities recognized the Chicago Botanic Garden for its innovative green roof garden at the Rice Plant Conservation Science Center. Chicago is the U.S. city with the most green rooftops; more than 3.5 million square feet atop buildings have been transformed into gardens.

Best of Chicago 2012

Holy Trinity Cathedral by Louis Sullivan
The church was partially financed by the Russian tsar Nicholas II, and designed by the father of the skyscraper, Louis Sullivan. Its design, however, is as far from a skyscraper as it can be: it was inspired by small, onion-domed Russian provincial churches, and there is nothing imposing or overpowering about the building. It is worth seeing from the inside as well as from the outside: its inner space is decorated in traditional red and gold, the ceiling is blue and painted with golden stars. The icons and angels on the walls are mesmerizing. The cathedral is open for tours on Saturdays, from 10am until noon.

Holy Trinity Cathedral, 1121 North Leavitt, (773)486-6064, holytrinitycathedral.net

Best of Chicago 2012

More strikes
It took a publicly embarrassing (to the mayor) Karen Lewis-led revolt to be the example other local unions needed. The national attention the CPS strike received gave courage to other teachers and teachers unions to go Norma Rae on any damn school board that they felt was disrespecting them. Evergreen Park and Lake Forest followed the leaders and started a trend that by this time next year will have teachers in unions all over the nation chanting “Viva Jimmy Hoffa!”

Audience choice: Kids are back in school
Best audience comments: “Awesome red t-shirts”; Bettor stutendts and starmer Chiogoans [sic]“; “Hopefully people care more about paying teachers a decent wage, and know that unions have power”; “Karen Lewis as folk hero”; “Karen Lewis no longer in the news”; “Rahm Emanuel likes Nickleback”; “The protest signs—Our teachers working conditions are your children’s learning conditions”; “A bunch of kids who normally couldn’t afford certain classes, like Second City, got free camps at a lot of different places”; “People who know absolutely nothing about teachers, Rahm Emanuel, or the fair city of Chicago go back to not expressing asinine opinions or espousing false statistics in time to focus back on election memes”; “Rahm lost—and was genuinely shocked that the Chicago Parents of the Students were stridently pro-labor”; “Teachers are treated fairly and with dignity—meaning more money and part of the process when discussing their future”

Best of Chicago 2012

By the Fairmont Hotel
He has more than 3,000 friends he’s never met on a Facebook account he never created. Chicago locals talk about him every day but few (if any) have ever heard him speak. The sight of him strolling the streets sends onlookers into a frenzied search for their cameras and phones to document his fleeting presence. There are more rumors about him—about his life, his reason for walking and his journey in general– than the number of steps he takes each day. He is the Walking Guy of Chicago. An icon, a recognizable stranger, and a man who hits the pavement as much as frustrated Chicago drivers hit their horns. Often compared to Sam Elliott and Yanni, the Walking Guy has a distinguished style: a white v-neck shirt under a grey suit with the jacket open, of course. His unmistakable walk–head bent forward, always on a mission–can be traced along Michigan Avenue, Wacker Drive and Illinois. The best place to see him is at the Fairmont Hotel on Columbus Drive, where he’s been seen selling watches to cab drivers. He’s also been spotted on Wabash Avenue over the Illinois Street underpass and frequently walks along Clark. Of course, the mustached man is always on the move so there’s no guarantee you’ll ever find him.
Best of Chicago 2012

Exporting architecture
In the late sixties and early seventies, Chicago architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) crafted the blueprint, literally, for the modern skyscraper with their designs for the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower. These days, SOM, along with other leading Chicago firms like bKL Architecture and Trahan Architects, are creating the global skyline of the future, especially across China, where they’re not only making buildings but they’re creating entire neighborhoods, such as the Beijing Bohai Innovation City (SOM), Beijing Core Area Plan (bKL) and  Zhengzhou Mixed Use Development (Trahan).

Best of Chicago 2012