The Environmental Protection Agency has issued a new, more detailed plan for laying off 25 percent of its employees and scrapping 56 programs including pesticide safety, water runoff control, and environmental cooperation with Mexico and Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
This would make most of the standard city blocks in Chicago 1/8 mile long and 1/8 mile wide. There are some areas of downtown Chicago where the blocks are 1/16 mile long. But the vast majority of the city has 1/8 mile blocks.
In 2006 the City of Chicago granted a building permit to Health Care Service Corporation Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to build up instead of out. The second phase expansion took place over 2007-2010. The new tower is 57 stories and is the first project in Chicago to build up.