Tornadoes can strike with little warning and transform a landscape within a matter of minutes. And while their damage can be deadly, so can the confusing myths about tornadoes that continue to put people at risk. Here are five commonly held misperceptions about twister safety. Myth #1: Opening windows to equalize air pressure will help […]

Owning a home cheaper than renting one in all of the country’s 100 largest metro areas, including Chicago, according to Trulia. In its report, it’s 42 percent cheaper to buy in Chicago than to rent, compared to 9 percent cheaper in San Francisco and 65 percent cheaper in Detroit. It is important to note that […]

Chicago is putting the “Chi” in chicken. The urban agriculture movement—including raising backyard chickens—is a trend that hasn’t slipped past Chicagoans. “There is definitely growing interest in raising chickens in Chicago,” says Jennifer Murtoff of Home to Roost, who works as an urban chicken consultant for about 400 Chicago families. There seems to be a healthy curiosity […]

Chicago is well-suited for dog lovers, with dog-friendly beaches, plenty of walkable green space and strong anti-cruelty organizations. But apartment and condo living can make for tight quarters for our pooches. We spoke to the experts at PAWS Chicago—the Midwest’s largest no kill humane organization—to sort out the best approaches to understanding and preventing any problems […]

March has come in like a lion — and although spring is technically less than two weeks away, it looks like winter isn’t done with Chicago yet. Forecasters are predicting several inches of snow for the Chicagoland area by Wednesday morning. When you were a kid, a fresh snowfall was a thing of wonder, a blanket of […]

Chicago is a city of neighborhoods—more than 200 of them, along with about 70 different suburbs. With such large numbers, it’s nearly impossible to know the ins-and-outs of each one. Matthew D. Walton, owner of Chicago real estate agency Current Properties, filled us in on the advice you’ll need if you’re thinking about buying a […]

Photo courtesy of Paul.Carroll via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 It has been crazy cold in Chicago this winter. How cold? The coldest winter in at least 30 years. Cold enough for the phrase “polar vortex” to enter everyday conversations. Cold enough that you probably braved your apartment building’s storage area weeks ago to pull out […]

The freedom of the open road—teens can’t wait for it, but most of the time, parents can. With our traffic and crazy weather, Chicago streets can be dangerous for an inexperienced driver. In fact, drivers ages 16-20 account for about 12 percent of accidents in Illinois, although the number of accidents involving drivers in that […]

For the second year in a row, Chicago has topped the list of cities with bedbug infestations, according to a just-released report by pest control company Orkin. The list ranks cities by the number of bedbug treatments the company performed there from January to December 2013. Los Angeles, Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, and Cincinnati round out the […]

For many of us, our car is like a second home; we depend on it. So, it’s a good idea to take precautions to protect it from a break-in. Nationally, Illinois ranks No. 6 among states with the most vehicle thefts across the country, and odds for theft are highest in urban areas like Chicago, […]