City Cast Chicago
🤖 Delivery robots invade Chicago
December 9, 2025 · — Emmi Mack
Hey there! It’s day two of our year-end membership campaign, and I want YOU to become a City Cast Chicago Neighbor 🫵
Here’s why: Chicago should feel like a place where people know each other a little better and care a little more. City Cast Neighbors is our way of making that happen — it’s a community of locals celebrating what makes life here unique.
If that sounds like you, join us and make this city feel like one big neighborhood.
For $10/month or $100/year, you’ll unlock perks to engage more deeply with local life — you’ll also support this daily newsletter made for locals, by locals. Join this week and we’ll send you a City Cast beanie: a little badge of belonging for Chicago’s coldest months.
What Chicago's Talking About
Deportations Affect Snow Removal
Some Chicago landscaping companies are facing labor shortages due to federal deportations. One Ravenswood-based company saw nearly one-third of workers call off during the fall due to fear of raids. Now, with record snowfall hitting the city, the impact is noticeable. [Sun-Times]
The Rise of Delivery Robots
Have you noticed all those food-delivery robots roving around town? We discuss the invasion on today’s podcast, plus the latest on the South Shore apartment raided by federal agents. Ahead of its foreclosure, residents are asking Cook County for more time and resources to move out. [City Cast Chicago 🎧]
New Kennedy Mural!
A new colorful mural has arrived along the Kennedy. Its images, by artist David Lee Csicsko, illustrate the home meals, health care, and grocery programs offered by the local nonprofit Care For Friends. [Axios]
- Wait a minute: Remember this AI-generated mural along the expressway? [City Cast Chicago 💻]
This Chicagoan is Hero of the Year
Quilen Blackwell’s nonprofit Englewood flower shop, Southside Blooms, transforms vacant lots into flower farms and employs at-risk youth. For that work, Blackwell was named as Hero of the Year by CNN. [CNN]
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What To Do
Tuesday, Dec. 9
- 🎷 Holiday Jazz Jam | St. Moses the Black Parish | Greater Grand Crossing
- 🎨 Play. Design. Move: A Teen Arts Experience | Green Line Performing Arts Center | Washington Park
- 🎶 "A Chanticleer Christmas" | Symphony Center | Loop
- 🌮 Tortilla and Taco Making Class | La Luna | Pilsen
- 🎞️ “Christmas in Chicago” | CineCity Studios Chicago | Little Italy
- 🀄 Beginner Mahjong | Ina Mae Tavern | Wicker Park
- 🎄 Holiday Lights Running Tour | Chicago Athletic Association | Loop
Wednesday, Dec. 10
- 🏳️🌈 Holiday Open House | Center on Halsted | Northalsted
- 🛍️ Winter Market | Ranalli’s | Lincoln Park
- 🎞️ “A Christmas Story” | Suburban Cinemark locations
- 👻 Ghost Hunt | Thalia Hall | Pilsen
- 🎄 Holiday Wreath & Flower Vase Making Workshop | South Chicago branch
- 🎅 Cocoa with Santa | Adams Park | Lincoln Park
- 🎶 Naomi 10 Million | Ramova Loft | Bridgeport
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❄️ Thanks to the Neighbors who recently joined us: Kyle H., Destri M., Pedro J.W., Brett W., and Cindy H.! We’re happy you’re here and excited to send you a cozy beanie during this cold (cold) winter.
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