4 ms·

It's sad to have seen such flight from Chicago. I'm from there originally and just moved back after a pretty long stint in NYC. Hoping the city can turn it arou

It's sad to have seen such flight from Chicago. I'm from there originally and just moved back after a pretty long stint in NYC. Hoping the city can turn it around in the next couple of decades.

toomuchtodo 5y ago
Until the debt burden is worked out for Cook County and Chicago, I don't see much hope. The governor even supported a progressive income tax increase (promoting it with his own funds) to stem the bleeding and voters turned it down, so property taxes must rise as there currently is no mechanism to shed the enormous public service obligations that were incurred. https://blogs.uofi.uis.edu/view/8598/380899833 https://blogs.uofi.uis.edu/view/8598/380899833 (The Depth of Illinois Debt Problem and its Potential Consequences) (disclosure: fled the state)
- beerandt 5y ago
  You don't think the murder rate and violent crime numbers have anything to do with it? Or any of the blatant political favoritism people saw with who still had rights under covid restrictions and who didn't? I think even people that used to be willing to risk it realized last year just where they stand in the eyes of the local politicians. Even if it wasn't enough to for them to leave, it definitely was enough to prevent new arrivals.
milkytron 5y ago
From my understanding, people are leaving Chicago and Illinois I'm general because of taxes and politics. Fixing that seems more difficult than moving.
- OldHand2018 5y ago
  If by politics you mean the liberal lean, then yes - Republican voters are leaving Illinois. There are currently 13 Democratic reps and 5 Republican reps from Illinois. With the new census and redistricting, the state loses 1 seat. But it will be a Republican seat - 13 Democrats and 4 Republicans. Based on the limited census data we have, there is a small-to-mid possibility that it will become 14 Democrats and 3 Republicans in 2022. It will probably all be in the southern part of the state. I'd put it at even odds that in the northern part of the state, they redraw boundaries a little bit to shift some Republicans from Underwood (D) to Kinzinger (R) to increase the election odds for both. If you lean Republican, you might think politics are broken. If you lean Democratic, you might think politics are exactly right.
the_only_law 5y ago
I thought Chicago was doing well recently, at least the last several years I recall it always being mentioned positively as having the amenities of larger cities without the costs. Sure the violent crime is rough, but my understanding is that it was really concentrated and mostly the result of gang activity.
spamizbad 5y ago
Based on the census, it looks like most of the net population loss has been outside the Chicago metro area. People have always been coming-and-going in and out of Chicago; that's how big cities work.
tinyhouse 5y ago
Chicago is a beautiful city and the summer is great (although it can be too hot for a city with a bad winter) but I don't see it becoming attractive to people in the next decade. Bad weather, high crime, and subpar nature in the region. People who work from home have better options, even though it does have some nice features; it's affordable, walkable, has rich culture, better food than most place in America, and lake Michigan of course. Not a bad place to live, but again, if you're working from home and don't have a family in the area, you would probably move once you have kids and not looking to live in a big city anymore.

It's sad to have seen such flight from Chicago. I'm from there originally and just moved back after a pretty long stint in NYC. Hoping the city can turn it around in the next couple of decades.

toomuchtodo 5y ago

Until the debt burden is worked out for Cook County and Chicago, I don't see much hope. The governor even supported a progressive income tax increase (promoting it with his own funds) to stem the bleeding and voters turned it down, so property taxes must rise as there currently is no mechanism to shed the enormous public service obligations that were incurred. https://blogs.uofi.uis.edu/view/8598/380899833 https://blogs.uofi.uis.edu/view/8598/380899833 (The Depth of Illinois Debt Problem and its Potential Consequences) (disclosure: fled the state)

beerandt 5y ago
You don't think the murder rate and violent crime numbers have anything to do with it? Or any of the blatant political favoritism people saw with who still had rights under covid restrictions and who didn't? I think even people that used to be willing to risk it realized last year just where they stand in the eyes of the local politicians. Even if it wasn't enough to for them to leave, it definitely was enough to prevent new arrivals.

milkytron 5y ago

From my understanding, people are leaving Chicago and Illinois I'm general because of taxes and politics. Fixing that seems more difficult than moving.

OldHand2018 5y ago
If by politics you mean the liberal lean, then yes - Republican voters are leaving Illinois. There are currently 13 Democratic reps and 5 Republican reps from Illinois. With the new census and redistricting, the state loses 1 seat. But it will be a Republican seat - 13 Democrats and 4 Republicans. Based on the limited census data we have, there is a small-to-mid possibility that it will become 14 Democrats and 3 Republicans in 2022. It will probably all be in the southern part of the state. I'd put it at even odds that in the northern part of the state, they redraw boundaries a little bit to shift some Republicans from Underwood (D) to Kinzinger (R) to increase the election odds for both. If you lean Republican, you might think politics are broken. If you lean Democratic, you might think politics are exactly right.

the_only_law 5y ago

I thought Chicago was doing well recently, at least the last several years I recall it always being mentioned positively as having the amenities of larger cities without the costs. Sure the violent crime is rough, but my understanding is that it was really concentrated and mostly the result of gang activity.

spamizbad 5y ago

Based on the census, it looks like most of the net population loss has been outside the Chicago metro area. People have always been coming-and-going in and out of Chicago; that's how big cities work.

tinyhouse 5y ago

Chicago is a beautiful city and the summer is great (although it can be too hot for a city with a bad winter) but I don't see it becoming attractive to people in the next decade. Bad weather, high crime, and subpar nature in the region. People who work from home have better options, even though it does have some nice features; it's affordable, walkable, has rich culture, better food than most place in America, and lake Michigan of course. Not a bad place to live, but again, if you're working from home and don't have a family in the area, you would probably move once you have kids and not looking to live in a big city anymore.