Sources

Where the data comes from

West Loop Vibe is a citation-based neighborhood index. Every business, event, transit stop, and food-inspection record is pulled from a public source. This page lists every upstream we draw from — what it provides, how often we refresh, and how the data is licensed.

Most-recent retrieval across all sources: 2026-06-08.

Open data and platforms

• Chicago Data Portal Business licenses, park events, special events, food inspections, CTA L stops, CTA bus stops, and CTA ridership. City of Chicago open data terms
• OpenStreetMap Phone, website, opening hours, and point geometry — pulled via the public Overpass API and matched to City records. Open Database License (ODbL)
• OpenFreeMap Map tiles used by every interactive map on the site. Built on OpenStreetMap data; no API key required. Free for any use; OSM contributor attribution preserved

Editorial sources

• Each business's own website Short descriptions, founding years, menu and reservation links — paraphrased only from what each business publishes themselves. Each business retains rights to its own content
• Published Chicago dining guides Five Chicago dining guides whose mentions back the "Featured in N published guides" badge on business pages. Each publication retains rights; we link to articles, never reproduce them
• U.S. Census ACS 5-year estimates Population, age, income, housing, education, race/ethnicity, and commute data for the West Loop on /west-loop/at-a-glance. Public domain — U.S. government work

Reference and verification sources

• Wikipedia + Wikidata Identity grounding for landmarks and notable businesses — the Wikipedia and Wikidata links in page metadata (sameAs), plus neighborhood-history references. CC BY-SA (Wikipedia) / CC0 (Wikidata)
• Google Maps listings + Google Places Place links on business pages (identity grounding), and — where a business publishes no phone or hours on its own site — phone and hours verified against the public Google Maps listing. Listings only; reviews are never used. Linked, never cached — per Google Maps Platform terms
• Yelp listings Business identity links and closure status, and — where the official website does not publish them — phone numbers and hours, each verified against the public Yelp listing. Listings only; reviews are never used. Each listing remains Yelp’s; we link and attribute, never reproduce
• National Weather Service The current-conditions pill in the site header — temperature and conditions fetched live in your browser from the National Weather Service public API (weather.gov). Public domain — U.S. government work

How sources are used

Sources are arranged in tiers. Later tiers only fill gaps — never override — what earlier tiers already say. The Chicago Data Portal is the foundation: any business or event that exists there gets a listing here. Each business's own website is the first source for phone numbers, hours, and a short paraphrased description; where the official site doesn't publish a phone or hours, a verified Yelp or Google Maps listing fills the gap — listings only, never reviews. OpenStreetMap contributes contact details, hours, and point geometry where it carries them. Wikipedia, Wikidata, Google Places, and OpenStreetMap also ground each business's identity — the sameAs links in page metadata. Published guides surface a "Featured in N guides" badge when a business appears across multiple respected lists. The header's weather pill is fetched live from the National Weather Service.

For the full editorial process — how facts are tiered, how corrections flow back, what the build refuses to ship without a citation — see methodology.