Great Cities Institute

01/10/2026

Three New Reports from the UIC Great Cities Institute: Examining Chicago’s Economic Development, Immigration Enforcement, and Changing Latino Neighborhoods

Over the past several weeks, the UIC Great Cities Institute has released three major research reports examining critical issues shaping Chicago and the broader Cook County region.

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📊 1. Chicago’s Runaway Development Tool: Who Paid and Who Gained from 40+ Years of Tax Increment Financing | Released August 26, 2026

This comprehensive report examines more than four decades of Chicago’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program, which has generated approximately $16.6 billion in revenue since 1984. The study finds that between 2014 and 2023, TIF increased property tax rates citywide by an estimated average of 13.7 percent, while only 1.8 percent of growth in property values within TIF districts was directly attributable to TIF-supported development. More than half of tracked TIF project spending since 1986 went to Chicago’s downtown or neighborhoods near downtown.

🔗 Explore the report, media coverage, news conference video, and downloadable report: https://greatcities.uic.edu/news-stories/chicagos-tax-increment-financing-who-paid-who-gained/

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📊 2. Hunkering Down: The Hidden Economic Cost of Federal Immigration Enforcement in Cook County, IL | Released September 8, 2026

This report examines how patterns of in-person commercial activity changed after federal immigration enforcement intensified in January 2025. Researchers found that residents of neighborhoods with relatively high shares of Latin America–born residents sharply reduced trips to businesses across Cook County, corresponding to an estimated $1.26 billion in foregone retail and restaurant activity and $107 million in foregone local sales-tax revenue. Cross-community retail visits fell by roughly 9 percent and restaurant visits by roughly 10 percent, while visits to businesses in high Latin America–born neighborhoods remained essentially unchanged.

🔗 Explore the report, media coverage, news conference video, and downloadable report: https://greatcities.uic.edu/news-stories/hunkering-down-the-hidden-economic-cost-of-federal-immigration-enforcement-in-cook-county-il/

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📊 3. Latino Neighborhoods Report 2026: Latino Chicago and the Future of the City | Released September 17, 2026

This report examines demographic, housing, economic, workforce, commercial, transportation, environmental, and public-health conditions across 24 Chicago community areas with significant Latino populations.

The study finds that Latino Chicago is younger, more geographically dispersed, and increasingly economically diverse. It documents a growing Latino middle class, rising educational attainment, and expanding commercial corridors, while working-class employment remains central, with 58.6 percent of Latino employment concentrated in industries that have traditionally paid lower wages. These changes are occurring alongside persistent housing pressures, gaps in transportation access, and overlapping environmental and public-health burdens. Together, the findings show that Latino Chicago can no longer be understood through a small number of historic neighborhoods or through a single socioeconomic narrative.

🔗 Explore the report, media coverage, news conference video, and downloadable report: https://greatcities.uic.edu/news-stories/latino-chicago-and-the-future-of-the-city/

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Through research, policy analysis, and community engagement, the Great Cities Institute continues to examine the challenges and opportunities facing Chicago and its metropolitan region.

Learn more about our research and initiatives at greatcities.uic.edu.

01/10/2026

📚 Join us for two special events next Wednesday, October 7, featuring Dr. Avelardo Valdez!

The Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago invites you to two engaging conversations exploring the intersections of scholarship, community activism, social justice, and the lasting legacies of influential scholars.

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12:00 PM to 1:00 PM | Book Panel: How We Came to Be: An Intellectual Genealogy of Chicano Scholars

Join Dr. Avelardo Valdez, Dr. Teresa Córdova, and Juan González for a conversation about the scholars whose experiences in the Chicano Movement helped shape Chicano studies, transform higher education, and advance community-engaged scholarship.

📍 Great Cities Institute, 412 S. Peoria St., Suite 400, Chicago

🔗 Event details and RSVP:
https://greatcities.uic.edu/events/how-we-came-to-be-an-intellectual-genealogy-of-chicano-scholars-book-panel/

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4:00 PM to 6:00 PM | Inaugural John Hagedorn Annual Lecture

Honoring the life and legacy of Dr. John Hagedorn, this inaugural lecture will feature Dr. Avelardo Valdez in conversation with Dr. Kathryn Bocanegra of UIC's Jane Addams College of Social Work.

Dr. Valdez will discuss his new book, "Homeboys Forever: The Lifetime Consequences of Gang Membership", drawing on more than two decades of research to explore gang involvement, structural inequality, institutional stigmatization, and the long-term experiences of Mexican American men.

📍 UIC Student Center East, Cardinal Room, Chicago

🔗 Event details and RSVP:
https://greatcities.uic.edu/events/the-inaugural-john-hagedorn-annual-lecture-with-dr-avelardo-valdez/

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We welcome students, researchers, practitioners, community partners, and anyone interested in these important conversations. We hope you can join us for one or both events!

27/08/2026

📢NEW REPORT - Chicago’s Runaway Development Tool: Who Paid and Who Gained from 40+ Years of Tax Increment Financing

The UIC Great Cities Institute has released a new report examining more than four decades of Chicago’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program and whether it has delivered the public benefits its massive scale suggests.

According to the study’s main findings:
▪ Between 2014 and 2023, TIF increased property tax rates citywide by an estimated average of 13.7 percent. For a typical Chicago homeowner with a $300,000 home, the additional tax attributable to the TIF tax shift was $878 in 2023, and it totaled $6,616 over the 10-year period studied.
▪ Much of the property value growth captured by TIF would likely have occurred even without the program., while only 1.8 percent of growth in property values within TIF districts was directly attributable to TIF-supported development.
▪ TIF benefits have been distributed unevenly across the city, with more than half of tracked TIF project spending since 1986 going to Chicago’s downtown or neighborhoods near downtown.

"Meanwhile, substantial property tax growth was funneled into TIF funds rather than immediately supporting public services like schools, libraries, and parks," said Juan D. González, lead author of the study.

While the report recognizes recent reforms under Mayor Brandon Johnson as positive, it argues that deeper structural changes are still needed. The authors recommend stronger transparency, allowing more revenue to remain available for schools, phasing out downtown TIF districts that have achieved their goals, and redirecting resources toward small businesses and historically underserved neighborhoods.

🎥 The full report and recording of the Aug. 26 press conference are now available on the Great Cities Institute website:
https://greatcities.uic.edu/news-stories/chicagos-tax-increment-financing-who-paid-who-gained/

Read the report and watch the press conference to learn more about what more than 40 years of TIF have meant for Chicago.

Chicago’s Tax Increment Financing: Who Paid, Who Gained? Juan González, Matthew D. Wilson, Teresa Córdova, and Jason "Jay" Campos | Posted on August 26, 2026 Executive Summary Copy link This report from the UIC Great Cities Institute examines more than four decades of Chicago’s use of Tax Incr...

13/08/2026

Join us on Tuesday, August 25 for The State of Equity: A Mayors Transportation Roundtable, a timely conversation on how transportation policy can advance equitable mobility, expand access, and strengthen communities.

Mayor Brandon Johnson of Chicago and Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City, Missouri will come together for a discussion moderated by Dr. Teresa Córdova, Director of the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Transportation is about more than getting from one place to another. It shapes access to jobs, education, healthcare, public spaces, and opportunity. This roundtable will bring city leadership and community perspectives together to explore what more equitable transportation systems can look like in practice.

📅 Tuesday, August 25, 2026
🕛 12:00–1:00 PM
📍 UIC Student Center East, Illinois Room (750 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60607)

Doors open at 11:15 AM, with opening remarks beginning at 11:45 AM. A community forum exploring Equiticity’s Neighborhood Mobility Models will follow the roundtable at 1:15 PM.

Space is limited; RSVP today: eqty.info/roundtable

Co-sponsored by Equiticity, UIC Community Collaboration, the University of Illinois Chicago, Great Cities Institute, and Transport Chicago.

28/04/2026

Rhetoric isn’t just persuasion. It shapes how we understand identity, law, and political life.

Join us for Rhetoric Day at the Great Cities Institute on Thursday, May 7, 2026 (12:30–2:15 PM) in Chicago for a dynamic colloquium exploring how today’s “crises” connect to deeper, ongoing historical patterns. Featuring powerful presentations from emerging scholars and faculty, this is a space to think critically about how discourse shapes the world around us.

Come be part of the conversation!

🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/rhetoricday
🔗 Event details: https://greatcities.uic.edu/events/rhetoric-day/

28/04/2026

20/04/2026

One Earth, One Future: Building Cities in a Time of Reckoning Posted on April 16, 2026 Summary Copy link This week, as the crew of Artemis II spoke about their mission, what stood out was not only the scientific and technological milestone they represent, but the humanity they embodied. They describ...

08/04/2026

Join the UIC Latino Cultural Center for a powerful virtual conversation on environmental and climate justice.

Featuring Aurora Conley—Anishinaabe leader, advocate, and Tribal Council member—this session explores the intersections of land, water, and community, including critical insights on Line 5 pipeline developments and Indigenous sovereignty.

✨ Learn how climate change disproportionately impacts communities of color and low-income communities—and what justice-centered solutions look like.

🗓 Wednesday, April 15, 2026
⏰ 2:00–3:00 PM CST
📍 Zoom
🔗 RSVP: go.uic.edu/COI415

Auto-captions available.

Let’s come together to learn, reflect, and take action toward equitable futures.

Co-sponsored by Latin American & Latino Studies at UIC The Freshwater Lab at UIC Great Cities Institute UIC LAS GANAS MUSE UIC