JUAN-PABLO VELEZ
Juan-Pablo Velez is a multimedia producer at the Chicago News Cooperative. A graduate of the University of Chicago, where he studied sociology and wrote for the Chicago Weekly, Juan-Pablo lived in Paris; Bogota, Colombia; and Denver before settling in Chicago in 2005.
Recent Contributions
by JUAN-PABLO VELEZ | Feb 22, 2012
Jeremy Bloyd-Peshkin was “printing” himself a whistle. He watched as a computer-guided 3D printer – a sort of glue-gun on steroids that turns digital blueprints into physical objects – slowly formed the little instrument by setting down layers of melted plastic. “We live in the future,” said Bloyd-Peshkin, a high school junior who has assembled
by JUAN-PABLO VELEZ | Feb 8, 2012
Chicago Central Food Mart, a corner store in West Humboldt Park, straddles the northern edge of an area considered one of Chicago’s “food deserts.” The store’s faded yellow awning promises “fresh fruits, meats, and vegetables.” But until recently, little fresh produce could be found among the 99-cent sodas, chips, and canned meats packed onto the
by JUAN-PABLO VELEZ | Nov 24, 2011
Twenty years had passed since Lynette Tuck had last set foot in the Albany Park Food Pantry. “When my kids were little I used to come all the time, to stretch the budget,” said Tuck, who was recently fired from her job as a child care worker. Like many of Chicago’s newly poor, Tuck has
by JUAN-PABLO VELEZ | Nov 14, 2011
On a recent Saturday afternoon in Humboldt Park, a small band of volunteers scrambled to put the finishing touches on their library’s new home — the sixth in as many years for the Read/Write Library, Chicago’s largest depository of grass-roots printed materials. “After all the trials and tribulations we’ve had, we’re cashing in our space
by JUAN-PABLO VELEZ and ANDREW GREENLEE | Oct 17, 2011
Revenue from Chicago’s TIF Districts As TIF districts have spread throughout Chicago, and the city’s property values have risen, the property taxes they collect have grown dramatically, funneling over $4 billion to the city since 1986. (Read the related stories: Tracking TIF Spending and TIFs Lagging Where They Are Most Needed) How TIF Dollars Were
by JUAN-PABLO VELEZ | Oct 17, 2011
Local residents once called the far western stretch of Madison Street the downtown of the West Side. That was before the race riots and factory closings of the late 1960s sent the area around the thriving commercial corridor into a tailspin of population loss, poverty, crime and blight. When the City of Chicago set out
by JUAN-PABLO VELEZ | Sep 23, 2011
Click here to see a community-by-community map of food insecurity in Chicago.
by JUAN-PABLO VELEZ | Aug 7, 2011
For years, former Mayor Richard M. Daley heard criticism that City Hall’s use of a particular economic development tool amounted to little more than a slush fund for him to subsidize corporate Chicago at the public’s expense. Daley invariably responded that he used plenty of the money generated by the tool, tax-increment financing or TIF
by STEVE RAVENSCRAFT, ANDREW GREENLEE, CHRIS CASCARANO, and JUAN-PABLO VELEZ | Aug 7, 2011
Revenue from Chicago’s TIF Districts As TIF districts have spread throughout Chicago and property values have risen, the property taxes the city collects have grown dramatically. How TIF dollars were spent About half of the $1.69 billion of TIF program revenues the city spent between 2002 and late 2010 went to infrastructure and public facilities.
by REBECCA VEVEA and JUAN-PABLO VELEZ | Jun 23, 2011
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