For Chicago, specifically, the closest official equivalent is the 77 community areas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_areas_in_Chicago https://en.wikipe

For Chicago, specifically, the closest official equivalent is the 77 community areas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_areas_in_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_areas_in_Chicago), which definitely don't align with how residents see neighborhood boundaries. That's in part because the CAs were created decades ago by the U of C, and aren't really allowed to change so that longitudinal comparisons can be made using them. Just speaks to how tricky the question really is. Cities have legally-defined boundaries for very good reasons while neighborhoods just...don't, so what is a mapmaker supposed to do?