Chicago
General | Statistics | History | Research Institutions
Though Northwestern University is not a depository for Chicago municipal documents, our local collection contains items from Chicago, such as city budgets, annual financial reports, municipal codes, and demographic reports, as well as some documents from Cook County. The Chicago Public Library's central library (Harold Washington Library) probably has the most comrehensive Chicago municipal documents collection.
General Information Resources
Selected Chicago area, mostly governmental information resources.
City of Chicago
http://www.cityofchicago.org/
Chicago Municipal Code, Zoning Ordinance, Building Code (American Legal Publishing)
http://www.amlegal.com/library/il/chicago.shtml
Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago
http://chicagoelections.com/
Cook County Info Center
http://co.cook.il.us/
Crains Chicago Business
Full text available from LexisNexis Academic
Chicago business news, analysis & articles including lists, ranking, directory and more.
Index to Current Urban Documents
http://turing.library.northwestern.edu/login?url=
http://gem.greenwood.com/ip.asp?c=O1073
A guide to reports and research that are generated by local government agencies and other organizations of selected cities in the Midwest region (IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MS, NB, ND, OH, SD, WI.)
Chicago Statistics
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Aggregated statistics on Chicago and Metro Chicago communities.
City of Chicago: Data & Demographics
http://www.cityofchicago.org/
Reports compiled by the City of Chicago Planning Dept. include: Chicago Fact Book (facts about Chicago), Community Areas (map & demographic data by community), and Market Profiles (map & data by community). See also Community Health and Hospital Profiles available from the Health Dept.
GCHCD: Chicago Community Area Profiles
http://www.chicagoareahousing.org/List_CCA.asp
Basic Chicago area demographic and housing data tables by Greater Chicago Housing and Community Development (GCHCD). See also these Metro Chicago municipalities & counties profile sites.
Cook County Dept of Public Health: Community Profiles
http://www.cookcountypublichealth.org/statistics/
CommunityProfiles/index.shtml
The CCDPH Community (municipality) Profiles contain information on demographic and socio-economic status, household composition, natality, mortality and reportable diseases.
HUD: State of the Cities Data System
http://socds.huduser.org/
The SOCDS provides demographic, socio-economic, crime, labor and housing data for individual metropolitan areas, central cities and suburbs.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago: Economic Research & Data
http://www.chicagofed.org/economic_research_and_data/
The Economic Research division of the FRBC conducts policy-relevant research in macroeconomics, microeconomics, financial studies and regional economic issues.
Chicago Board of Trade: Market Data
http://www.cbot.com/cbot/pub/page/0,3181,776,00.html
Developed by the Regional Development Institute, Northern Illinois Universityin cooperation with the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity.
Chicago Public Schools: Office of Research, Evaluation & Accountability
http://acct.multi1.cps.k12.il.us/cps/accountweb/
The Office of Research, Evaluation and Accountability is responsible for analyzing data, compiling test scores, and administering surveys as they relate to making informed assessments of our district, schools, and students.
Chicago History Resources
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Selected historical research resources related to Chicago.
Encyclopedia of Chicago
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/
The Encyclopedia of Chicago contains thousands of historical resources related to Chicago's history.
Chicago History Resources: Chicago Public Library
http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/poptopics/
chicagohistory.php
Explore Chicago's rich and colorful past with these resources from the Chicago Public Library.
Chicago History Museum: Online Search Tools
http://www.chicagohs.org/research/onlinesearch/index
Online Search tools provided by the Chicago History Museum.
Chicago Metropolitan History Education Center
http://www.chicagohistoryfair.org/
CMHEC is an independent, nonprofit, educational program serving students, teachers, and parents in the city of Chicago and suburban Cook, Lake, Kane, and DuPage counties.
A Look at Cook: Micro Census Records Look-Up Help
http://www.alookatcook.com/
A collection of helpful resources to help users identify historical (1870-1930) micro census records, including maps of Wards & EDs (Enumeration Districts**). See also this Steve Morse's Census in One Step site. ** ED is an area that could be covered by a single enumerator (census taker) in one census period (about 2-4 weeks).
Chicago Streets: Rootsweb
http://www.rootsweb.com/~itappcnc/pipcnstreet.htm
Chicago street names & numbering systems have changed over time. This site contains the largest list of Chicago streets and street name changes.
Chicago Research Centers
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Selected research institutions that focus on Chicago area.
Center for Neighborhood Technology
http://www.cnt.org/
Center for Neighborhood Technology is a Chicago-based policy and advocacy nonprofit organization which promotes urban sustainability.
Chicago History Museum
http://www.chicagohs.org/
Formerly known as Chicago Historical Society.
Chicago Public Library: Harold Washington Library Center
http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/
Its Government Publications Department receives materials from the City of Chicago and Cook County. Visit also its Municipal Reference Collection to learn more about the Chiago document collection.
Chicago Research Data Center
http://www.chicagordc.org/
The Chicago Research Data Center (CRDC) is a collaboration between the Census Bureau and a consortium consisting of research/academic instistutions. For more information...
CMAP: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/
CMAP has combined the previously separate transportation (CATS) and land use planning (NIPC) agenciers for northeastern Illinois.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
http://www.chicagofed.org/
The Chicago Fed serves the Seventh Federal Reserve District, an economically diverse region that includes all of Iowa and most of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
MCIC: Metro Chicago Information Center
http://info.mcfol.org/web/
An independent, not-for-profit research and consulting resource.
Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago
http://www.metroplanning.org/
Founded in 1934, the MPC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group
of business and civic leaders committed to serving the public interest through the promotion
and implementation of sensible planning and development policies necessary for an economically
competitive Chicago region.
National Archive: Great Lake Region, Chicago
http://www.archives.gov/great-lakes/
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) - Great Lakes Region offers public research hours (limited hours only.)
The Newberry Library
http://www.newberry.org/
One of the world's leading independent research libraries in Chicago.
The Woodstock Institute
http://www.woodstockinst.org/
Woodstock Institute is a Chicago-based policy and advocacy nonprofit organization focusing on community and ecolonimc development issues. Check their Community Lending Fact Book.
Last updated:
July 22, 2008
