New census data says that Cook County had the biggest drop in white population and has the largest black population of any county in America. Between 2000 and 2007, 215,525 non-Hispanic white people have left Cook County, which represents a 1.1 percent decrease. The black population in the county also dropped by 1.5 percent, and the total population of the county is down 1.7 percent. more ›

An article in the upcoming issue of The New Republic looks at Chicago's demographics and declares "In the past three decades, Chicago has undergone changes that are routinely described as gentrification, but are in fact more complicated and more profound than the process that term suggests. A better description would be 'demographic inversion,'" meaning rich people live "near the center" and poor people live on the outskirts. more ›