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Exiting World Biz Chicago CEO weighs in on Chicago's challenges — and its advantages

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ChicagoGlobal by H. Lee Murphy

"The future of mankind will be dominated by 20 to 25 super-regions, with Chicago prominent among them," says Michael Fassnacht, who exits the economic development agency this month.

Michael Fassnacht
Alamy
Global Cities

In Chicago's Little Italy, time is running out

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ChicagoGlobal by Ally Marotti

"Little Italy is no longer a thing,” says one restaurant operator. “It has come and gone.”

A wood fence painted with the Italian flag and a for sale sign Global Economy

Chicago transit confronts a fiscal cliff, but it isn't Caracas

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ChicagoGlobal by AJ Caughey

Chicago's transit system may need to make cuts and raise fares after COVID relief funds phase out, but riders won't likely see a systemic collapse like Venezuelan commuters experienced in the 2010s.

CTA Green Line train travels west from Chicago
AP Photos
Global Cities

Underground climate change is slowly sinking Chicago and cities across the globe

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ChicagoGlobal by Nicole L. Cvetnic

We know Venice is sinking. What about Chicago, which accounts for about 234 square miles of land?

An aerial view of Chicago
AP Photos
Global Cities

Hollywood's 'Oppenheimer' moment puts a sobering UChicago tradition into focus

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ChicagoGlobal by H. Lee Murphy

The day the film earned 13 Academy Award nominations was also the day the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' Doomsday Clock was set to reflect that the world is now closer to apocalypse than it has been at any time before.

A person with a clock and the words "it is 90 seconds to midnight"
AP Photos
Defense and Security

The big business of small trains: Why Chicago models are so popular internationally

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ChicagoGlobal by AJ Caughey

Chicago’s transit system has international fans, and your commuter train might be an international influencer.

A Chicago Transit Authority train passes overhead near W Roscoe and Clark Streets
AP Photos
Global Cities

How Alinea wound up on so many global travelers' bucket lists

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ChicagoGlobal by H. Lee Murphy

In the elite realm of haute cuisine where Alinea resides, the influence, name recognition, and drawing power of the restaurant extends well beyond Chicago to the dining capitals of the world.

Inside Alinea restaurant
Courtesy of Alinea
Global Economy

As the Chicago Auto Show ramps up, its longtime point man looks back

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ChicagoGlobal by H. Lee Murphy

Dave Sloan retires after this year's McCormick Place confab. In an exclusive chat, he reflects on how this car biz showpiece has changed — and how it's kept Chicago on the industry's global map.

The entrance of the Chicago Auto Show with a large globe hanging over the crowd.
Crain's Chicago Business
Global Economy

Living passports: How tattoos ink Chicago's cultural connections

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ChicagoGlobal by AJ Caughey

For more than a century, tattoo artists have connected Chicagoans with other countries and cultures — a tradition that lives on, even as the industry changes.

1930s Browsheets with flash tattoo designs at Great Lakes Tattoo
AJ Caughey
Global Cities

Another effect of the migrant crisis: a 'golden visa' crunch

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ChicagoGlobal by H. Lee Murphy

The flood of impoverished migrants camping in Chicago awaiting government processing for asylum has put a roadblock up in front of a very different class of hopeful immigrants.

Migrants raise their hands to take the oath of citizenship
iStock
Migration