Denver and New Orleans are all pushing to implement nationally recognized best practices on building inspections and fire safety while Chicago officials resist change.
Alex Nitkin
Alex Nitkin is a solutions reporter conducting investigations on efforts to fix broken systems in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois government. Before joining Illinois Answers, he worked as a reporter and editor for The Daily Line covering Cook County and Chicago government. He previously worked at The Real Deal Chicago, where he covered local real estate news, and DNAinfo Chicago, where he worked as a breaking news reporter and then as a neighborhood reporter covering the city's Northwest Side. A New York City native who grew up in Connecticut, Alex graduated Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a bachelor’s degree.
Posted inInvestigations
Smoke Detectors Save Lives, But Chicago Slow to Toughen Rules
A joint investigation with Illinois Answers and the Chicago Tribune found that smoke alarms were absent, defective or missing batteries in 57 out of 87 fatal residential fires in Chicago from 2020 through 2022.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Fires Continue to Kill People in Unsafe Buildings as Chicago Ignores Problems with its Inspection System
As other cities across the country adopt innovative programs to fix problem buildings, Chicago lags behind
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Lightfoot Made Headway on Pensions, but the Next Mayor Still Faces a Gaping Crisis
Mayoral candidates Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson have given few hints on how they’d replenish the city’s severely depleted pension funds.
Posted inSolutions
Officials Search for Legislative Fixes To Cook County’s Convoluted Tax Sale System
The Cook County treasurer, a lawyers’ association and a local housing nonprofit have offered different ideas on how to revive delinquent properties.
Posted inSolutions
Here are 4 ways the Bears could score public funding for a move — and why they’d all be controversial
The Bears say they aren’t looking for a handout, but they want ‘property tax certainty’ and public infrastructure spending in Arlington Heights. Here’s what that could look like.
Posted inSolutions
Is Lightfoot’s Signature Housing Policy Working? Depends on Who You Ask
One visible metric shows a big slowdown in housing construction since the 2021 Affordable Requirements Ordinance took hold. But a deeper look shows a more complex picture.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Chicago Boards the ‘Social Bonds’ Bandwagon — And Gets Results
The trendy debt maneuver has been tried in other major cities with some success
Posted inSolutions
Moment of Truth for the City Council Ethics Committee
A freshman alderperson is trying to breathe life into one of the least active City Council committees.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Cook County TIF revenues smash records, squeeze taxpayers
Tax-increment financing districts raked in $1.6 billion in 2021, accounting for nearly 10 cents of every dollar in taxes paid by Cook County property owners last year.
