Generated evidence · pending editorial review

West Town: All categories · Ward: 27 — Business licenses

All categories · Ward: 27

City source retrieved November 5, 2026 · scan evaluated November 9, 2026 · Review context · not a qualifying candidate

Current dashboard records may have been revised. Analyze is a separate action there. Saved-for-review choices stay in this browser and do not endorse a result.

24-month frequency comparison

Annual-only flag · window-sensitive review context. The two-year comparison does not qualify for the frequency ranking. The annual evidence is retained below, not erased.

October 2022–September 2024
687
October 2024–September 2026
680
Change in monthly mean
-0.29

The two windows each contain 24 complete covered months. The magnitude of the change is 1.01-fold. These are published license records, not a population-adjusted rate. Fixed windows do not establish a breakpoint, remove all seasonal effects or prove a renewal explanation.

12-month comparison · context, not the business ranking

October 2024–September 2025
420
October 2025–September 2026
260
Change in monthly mean
-13.33

This annual comparison crosses the original screening gates. Two-year renewal schedules can put a pulse in one annual window and not the other. Opposing directions or threshold sensitivity can have other explanations; an annual-only label is not proof of a renewal cycle.

Saved observations and fitted phases

No clear change in celeration under this rule. This does not mean counts were constant.

Fixed six-log-cycle frame · 120 calendar months · factors per six months. Raw zeros stay zero; confirmed zeros become one only for log-space fitting and diagnostics. Missing coverage remains unavailable.

Monthly business license records on a standard celeration chartCity of Chicago published records. Fixed six-decade count scale, 120 calendar months, celeration per 6 months. Zero markers are unconnected below the plot. Exact counts and coverage are available in the data table. Analyze: suggested. No clear change in celeration under this rule. This does not mean counts were constant. See the phase results table for dates, factors and uncertainty.1510501005001,0005,00010,00050,000100,000500,0001,000,000License records per monthsuggested phase 1: 2016-10–2026-09Oct 2016: 15Nov 2016: 229Dec 2016: 11Jan 2017: 24Feb 2017: 16Mar 2017: 25Apr 2017: 24May 2017: 18Jun 2017: 16Jul 2017: 17Aug 2017: 23Sep 2017: 21Oct 2017: 20Nov 2017: 31Dec 2017: 19Jan 2018: 13Feb 2018: 36Mar 2018: 14Apr 2018: 14May 2018: 16Jun 2018: 18Jul 2018: 28Aug 2018: 25Sep 2018: 54Oct 2018: 21Nov 2018: 199Dec 2018: 14Jan 2019: 19Feb 2019: 21Mar 2019: 25Apr 2019: 27May 2019: 22Jun 2019: 21Jul 2019: 18Aug 2019: 19Sep 2019: 21Oct 2019: 16Nov 2019: 31Dec 2019: 14Jan 2020: 8Feb 2020: 41Mar 2020: 17Apr 2020: 13May 2020: 16Jun 2020: 10Jul 2020: 18Aug 2020: 18Sep 2020: 53Oct 2020: 18Nov 2020: 170Dec 2020: 19Jan 2021: 19Feb 2021: 17Mar 2021: 25Apr 2021: 32May 2021: 23Jun 2021: 25Jul 2021: 18Aug 2021: 27Sep 2021: 19Oct 2021: 17Nov 2021: 27Dec 2021: 15Jan 2022: 9Feb 2022: 41Mar 2022: 24Apr 2022: 22May 2022: 12Jun 2022: 15Jul 2022: 18Aug 2022: 21Sep 2022: 46Oct 2022: 18Nov 2022: 154Dec 2022: 15Jan 2023: 23Feb 2023: 20Mar 2023: 31Apr 2023: 30May 2023: 21Jun 2023: 27Jul 2023: 16Aug 2023: 20Sep 2023: 31Oct 2023: 15Nov 2023: 31Dec 2023: 15Jan 2024: 8Feb 2024: 38Mar 2024: 19Apr 2024: 26May 2024: 20Jun 2024: 13Jul 2024: 26Aug 2024: 21Sep 2024: 49Oct 2024: 27Nov 2024: 130Dec 2024: 21Jan 2025: 28Feb 2025: 23Mar 2025: 30Apr 2025: 32May 2025: 32Jun 2025: 20Jul 2025: 23Aug 2025: 25Sep 2025: 29Oct 2025: 20Nov 2025: 24Dec 2025: 12Jan 2026: 12Feb 2026: 24Mar 2026: 24Apr 2026: 17May 2026: 23Jun 2026: 19Jul 2026: 26Aug 2026: 18Sep 2026: 41ZeroUnknownOct 2016Oct 2017Oct 2018Oct 2019Oct 2020Oct 2021Oct 2022Oct 2023Oct 2024Oct 2025Oct 2026Calendar months

Suggested trend · exploratory · per six months

  1. 1 · Oct 2016–Sep 2026×1.00Direction uncertain

Check the evidence

Interpretation and limitations (12)
  • Exploratory description, not a forecast, causal explanation or proof of a change.
  • Approximate 95% factor intervals assume independent, constant-variance log residuals and fixed boundaries. They do not account for boundary search, serial dependence or source revisions.
  • Confirmed zeros are treated as 1 only for fitting and its diagnostics. Raw counts stay zero; low-count results depend on this convention.
  • Independent phase lines may jump at boundaries. Every observation belongs to exactly one phase.
  • Reporting, classifications and seasonality can change. Counts are not population-adjusted; a level shift without a slope change is not the target of this search.
  • Uses dated last-good cached data, not newly verified source counts.
  • At least one factor interval includes 1; its direction is uncertain under this approximation.
  • License records include renewals and use license-term dates. Category/ward changes and administrative practice can affect counts; these are not business openings, closures or employment.
  • Business frequency screening compares adjacent 24-month windows, requiring 48 complete months. The 12-month comparison is context only. Fixed two-year windows reduce renewal-calendar mismatch; they are not seasonal adjustment, proof of a renewal mechanism, or a test of stability.
  • Window assessment: annual-only. Annual-only flags do not enter the frequency ranking. Opposite directions and short history must not be described as persistent changes.
  • Many dependent filter conditions were searched. No multiple-testing-adjusted significance or causal attribution is claimed.
  • Frequency compares fixed equal-length windows of raw counts, not population risk or a celeration-factor ratio. Reporting, classifications and exposure may have changed.
Phase diagnostics

Intervals assume fixed boundaries and independent log residuals. They are not adjusted for the phase or filter search. Near-optimal boundary ranges are not confidence intervals.

Saved phase results
PhaseStart–endMonthsFactor / six monthsConditional 95% intervalZeros fitted as 1Lag-one residual
1October 2016–September 2026120×10.9853–1.0210-0.160
Exact monthly observations (120 slots)

Newest first. Unknown coverage is not a zero. These are the original saved observations, not fitted or rounded predictions.

Raw monthly license records
MonthRaw countCoverage
September 202641complete
August 202618complete
July 202626complete
June 202619complete
May 202623complete
April 202617complete
March 202624complete
February 202624complete
January 202612complete
December 202512complete
November 202524complete
October 202520complete
September 202529complete
August 202525complete
July 202523complete
June 202520complete
May 202532complete
April 202532complete
March 202530complete
February 202523complete
January 202528complete
December 202421complete
November 2024130complete
October 202427complete
September 202449complete
August 202421complete
July 202426complete
June 202413complete
May 202420complete
April 202426complete
March 202419complete
February 202438complete
January 20248complete
December 202315complete
November 202331complete
October 202315complete
September 202331complete
August 202320complete
July 202316complete
June 202327complete
May 202321complete
April 202330complete
March 202331complete
February 202320complete
January 202323complete
December 202215complete
November 2022154complete
October 202218complete
September 202246complete
August 202221complete
July 202218complete
June 202215complete
May 202212complete
April 202222complete
March 202224complete
February 202241complete
January 20229complete
December 202115complete
November 202127complete
October 202117complete
September 202119complete
August 202127complete
July 202118complete
June 202125complete
May 202123complete
April 202132complete
March 202125complete
February 202117complete
January 202119complete
December 202019complete
November 2020170complete
October 202018complete
September 202053complete
August 202018complete
July 202018complete
June 202010complete
May 202016complete
April 202013complete
March 202017complete
February 202041complete
January 20208complete
December 201914complete
November 201931complete
October 201916complete
September 201921complete
August 201919complete
July 201918complete
June 201921complete
May 201922complete
April 201927complete
March 201925complete
February 201921complete
January 201919complete
December 201814complete
November 2018199complete
October 201821complete
September 201854complete
August 201825complete
July 201828complete
June 201818complete
May 201816complete
April 201814complete
March 201814complete
February 201836complete
January 201813complete
December 201719complete
November 201731complete
October 201720complete
September 201721complete
August 201723complete
July 201717complete
June 201716complete
May 201718complete
April 201724complete
March 201725complete
February 201716complete
January 201724complete
December 201611complete
November 2016229complete
October 201615complete
Source and reproducibility
Publisher dataset
Business Licenses · City of Chicago
Source retrieved
2026-11-05T21:09:58.696Z
Publisher update
2026-11-05T11:01:01.000Z
Covered months
October 2016–September 2026
Source note
Source xqx5-8hwx. Joint day/category/hour/applicable-flag/ward/status counts; no addresses, coordinates or incident identifiers. Each year's cells reconcile with an independent source total. Reads are not an atomic publisher snapshot. License records by term start, including renewals; not new businesses. Ward is as published, not reconstructed historical boundaries. Prepared daily community-area snapshot; scheduled rebuild at 06:00 America/Chicago. Full supported history is rechecked for corrections. Retrieval timestamps are preserved; this is not a real-time feed. Local indexed neighborhood snapshot. Totals are for the loaded area before other filters, not citywide totals. Citywide and unassigned-area views use a separate network-backed scope.
Snapshot
daily-v1:8a9771a7-dde2-4246-9cf6-d11519e895d6:neighborhood-v2:76c5b992482e60d4017d8a4becd461ac
Discovery method
multi-feed-turn-and-frequency-renewal-v2
Analyze method
exploratory-segmented-log10-ols-zero-as-one-v3
Search plan
a3ffccedeb8d8ce18a30df3636839f775af1e5188e55a1f685695133135c6e35
Evidence run
7bd11af6414a226369d3d5b0823b59198f62581098cfb5d3cd6dce601a7bf10d

Challenge the pattern

Check unfiltered totals, comparable communities, source revisions and administrative definitions before treating this candidate as evidence of a real-world explanation. Only explicitly documented follow-ups above have been performed; no others are implied by the ranking. Browse the other business licenses candidates or review the complete screening method.