CHICAGO, October 24, 2024 — NORC at the University of Chicago has launched ChicagoSpeaks™, a Chicago-specific polling platform to capture frequent and accurate insights into the experiences, behaviors, and opinions of all Chicago communities. 

NORC created ChicagoSpeaks to provide Chicago residents, policymakers, elected officials, community organizations, and stakeholders with a rigorous, community-driven research resource to help inform local policies, programs, and resource allocation. 

During its initial phase, ChicagoSpeaks will gather representative input from residents about future polling topics of interest.

“ChicagoSpeaks is a unique platform that’s informed by Chicagoans to help generate a real, positive impact on their quality of life,” said Brian Fabes, senior fellow at NORC and managing director of the Corporate Coalition of Chicago. “We want to provide the Chicago community with accessible and useful information about the everyday issues that matter most to them.”

ChicagoSpeaks will regularly survey residents on a range of topics including public safety, economic development, housing, public health, and more. These data will be available to all Chicagoans. Foundations, policymakers, researchers, and others. Researchers can also commission custom surveys.

During its pilot phase, ChicagoSpeaks conducted a poll in July that surveyed over 1,000 adult Chicago residents about local topics, including education, public safety, gun ownership, immigration, and health care.

“The initial results from our pilot survey showed that residents’ own education levels were related to their attitudes about public education in Chicago,” said Debbie Kim, senior research scientist at NORC. “I’m hopeful this tool will unlock new insights to help decision-makers take direct action that supports our communities.”