Whet Moser

The lakefront and the Loop are popular, and usage is highest on weekends, suggesting that tourists and daytrippers are taking advantage of the system.

One big reason Chicago isn't Detroit (and neither is Pittsburgh, Buffalo, or Cleveland): The Motor City's lack of higher-education employers.

At the turn of the last century, the Field Museum sent a research team from Tunis to Siberia to find out how regular people got around.

Ald. Joe Moore may have missed out on his open-government White House award, but there are plenty to go around in that field in Chicago.

Dedicated bus lanes and more room for cyclists could be part of a revamped LSD and lakefront path, as the city's driveway moves into the 21st century.

What's the Midwest? For Midwesterners, it's the Census Bureau definition (plus Oklahoma). And if you don't live here, the region stretches all the way to Idaho.

Chicago isn't Detroit. But it shares a lot of ugly midcentury history. The difference is how these scars affected each city's growth after traumatic events passed.

City life has its risks. But the likelihood you'll sustain a mortal injury here is lower than in a deathtrap like central Wisconsin.