Curious City

• The first Black-owned airport in the U.S. was in Robbins, Illinois

  The Robbins Airport, just southwest of Chicago, was the first Black-owned and -operated airport in the country. Its founders were pivotal to Black aviation.

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• A museum, a mayor and a road: How Lake Shore Drive became a runway ... intentionally

  Lake Shore Drive has served as a makeshift runway for emergency landings. But it’s also been an *intentional* runway for planned arrivals. We go back to 1983 to get the story of how a Chicago institution helped turn our lakeside expressway into an airstrip, at least twice.

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• How one organization is transforming Englewood’s vacant lots

  The city of Chicago owns thousands of vacant lots, and more than 80 percent of those parcels are in communities where the population is at least 80 percent Black. That’s according to a report from the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. Residents and organizations are investing in these lots to improve the community. Last episode, we learned about how complicated it can be for individual homeowners to buy a vacant lot in their neighborhood. Today, we focus on an organization that is acquiring these types of spaces. Anton Seals, Jr. is the co-founder of Grow Greater Englewood, an organization that is doing innovative work on abandoned areas on the South Side. In the name of land sovereignty and building lasting community, he and his colleagues are transforming vacant lots into urban farms, a farmers market and a nature trail.

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• Want to buy the vacant lot next door? It might take awhile

  Buying a city-owned lot seems like a simple process, but buying one might take longer than expected. The city puts a limited number of parcels up for sale each year.

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• Does your iguana need x-rays? A local exotic animal hospital can help

  Stop us if you’ve heard this one: A hedgehog, a river otter and an iguana walk into a local exotic animal hospital … Whether intentional or otherwise, exotic pets like sharks, macaws and pythons have made Illinois their home. But finding medical care for these animals isn’t as simple as visiting the neighborhood vet. Last episode, we explored some of the out-of-place animals that’ve been found in Chicago, including a peacock, an alligator and a 20-pound vervet monkey. Today, we’re asking, what happens when they get sick? Take a trip with us to the Chicago Exotics Animal Hospital in Skokie to meet Gomez Addams the tegu lizard and a few of his friends. Plus, hear some wild stories from the people who care for them.

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