The end of the year means one thing: It’s time for report cards. Paying tribute to the city’s public school system, which this year began rewarding good grades with cash — an A nets $50, a B nets $35 and a C brings in $20 — RedEye grades Chicago.
B: Health
Comments: The statewide smoking ban that took effect in January helped make Chicago a healthier city, though WebMD last month ranked the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area the 123rd-healthiest area in the U.S., based on 2007 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It could be worse: Huntington-Ashland, in the West Virginia-Ohio-Kentucky area, ranked No. 184.
B+: Environmental Science
Comments: The number of environmentally friendly buildings increased in Chicago this year, and the city also formally announced it’s ditching its controversial blue bag recycling program in favor of blue carts.
A: Social Studies
Comments: On the history side, thousands of Chicagoans and tourists flocked to hear Barack Obama’s victory speech in Grant Park in November. But perhaps the city’s social skills are a little too good. “Second City” veterans Tina Fey and Amy Poehler helped boost Chicago’s class clown status.
B-: Community Service
Comments: The CTA has made efforts to improve service through expansion of Brown Line capacity and aggressive rollout of its bus tracking system, but the International Olympics Committee noted that Chicago’s mass transit system needs work if the city wants to land the 2016 Olympics. Oh, and fares are going up in ’09.
C: Personal Development
Comments: 2008 should have been a banner year for development, but the economy has hampered the Trump International Hotel & Tower and slowed work on the Chicago Spire.
Total earned: $175 — just enough for a few days of metered parking downtown.
