CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by sentinel

The BIGGER issue to me is who can possibly be a good enough candidate to end Johnson's tenure so that he is only a one-term mayor? I cannot think of anyone right now, and THAT is what concerns me.

Crudely, we can think of Chicago as five constituencies: North Side progressives, Loop business folks, Hispanics, Blacks, South Side St Patrick's Day Parade attendees

Johnson won because he was progressive and black and turnout was suppressed for his opponent. Both Vallas and Johnson has support that was broad, but quite shallow, coming out of a deep field, competitive field.

A candidate who can beat Johnson pretty easily would be 1) a black politician who appealed to the business community and who wasn't hated by progressives. 2) A hispanic politician who wasn't hated by the business community and appealed to progressives. The first candidate would split the black vote. The second candidate would get massive support from latinos. Both would turn out the anti-Johnson vote in the Loop and Jefferson Park.

Johnson would be easy to beat if the primary against him isn't too deep again. If there's rapid consolidation around any anti-Jonhson candidate, I think he's toast. If there's six black and six Latino candidates running, he'll still win the primary.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

South Side St Patrick's Day Parade attendees

.....and I just spit out my coffee


But seriously, that's actually a really good way to sum up that constituency

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by pip

I know nothing about this person but I was listening to Raymond Lopez speak the other day. I was impressed. He took a shot at running for mayor? Would he be good?

LOL


No.

[sentinel]

Yes, please.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/05...ew-resolution/

CTA Boss Dorval Carter Should Resign Or Be Fired, Fed-Up Alderpeople Push In New Resolution
Ten alderpeople — including more than a third of the City Council’s transportation committee — are calling for Carter to be replaced.

[BrinChi]

What are the counter arguments? How will Chicago dig its way out if $0.40 of every dollar goes to debt servicing? Is it even possible to gradually pay down this debt so that every year, this amount reduces by one penny?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/chicago...hare_permalink

[moorhosj1]

Originally Posted by BrinChi

What are the counter arguments? How will Chicago dig its way out if $0.40 of every dollar goes to debt servicing? Is it even possible to gradually pay down this debt so that every year, this amount reduces by one penny?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/chicago...hare_permalink

There are so many things wrong in this op-ed that I wouldn't put much stock in it.

Making matters worse, the population is shrinking. Even if Chicago gets its fiscal house in order, every resident will be taking on ever more debt and taxes. The city can’t be saved by the area’s surrounding dynamism, either. Both the Chicagoland metropolitan region and the state of Illinois have fewer people than they did before the financial crisis 15 years ago.

Unprecedented debt and punishing tax rates, a declining business sector, and a shrinking, poorer population

The population isn't shrinking as shown by the Census adjustments. The population is considerably wealthier than it was in the past (1 in 22 Chicagoans is a millionaire, a higher rate than NYC).

No mention of expiring TIFs and the impact on future budgets. This is an article meant to get the exact reactions provided by you and the people in the comments.

Mr. Glock is director of research at the Manhattan Institute.

Clearly not an unbiased observer. There are certainly long-term budget issues and a need to focus on long-term debt, but this op-ed is WAY over-the-top. As for counter-arguments, each of the 3 major credit agencies has upgraded Chicago debt rating since 2022.

[BrinChi]

^ Thanks. I was aware of the biases and false assumptions he made about wealth and population growth. But it is hard to deny the current fiscal headwinds when combined with the city, county, state level. It's important we keep talking about it and not just hope everything will work out. Good point about the expiring TIFs as an obvious source of future revenues. I love the city and desperately want to see it succeed, but I also want to be realistic about what is sustainable for the future. And I want to see Chicago thrive and not merely survive.

[SamInTheLoop]

^^ ^

First clue is that this is in the opinion section of the wsj.

WSJ is world-class reporting combined with an opinion section that is fully part of the modern right wing media ecosystem's potent and toxic brew of Earth II political operatives and disinformation. You might as well go watch Newsmax instead.

Note that this is not to dismiss very legitimate concerns about Chicago's finances. Just don't go looking to be informed by anything puked out of the wsj's opinion pages.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by sentinel

Yes, please.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/05...ew-resolution/

CTA Boss Dorval Carter Should Resign Or Be Fired, Fed-Up Alderpeople Push In New Resolution
Ten alderpeople — including more than a third of the City Council’s transportation committee — are calling for Carter to be replaced.

Yep. When Pritzker publicly says (in so many words) it's time to go.....bye.

[pip]

Trip report!

The past two weeks I have gone into the office twice in the Loop. Both times and the second time was today, the Loop was looking fantastic - vibrant, clean and just pleasant to walk around.

Before anyone chastises saying I'm part of the problem being remote for work, I'm temporarily in Boston and to do that I had to be reclassified as remote from hybrid. I come back to Chicago to check on my place and umm it's where I live now for a few weeks at a time once every couple of months. And on a side note, I actually enjoy going into the office maybe once or twice a week.

Both times after work I wondered around for a couple of hours checking things out.

Last week I took the Redline back to Lakeview and it had the pre covid message of an overcrowded train and there is an immediate follower if you couldn't fit on. today I took the Brown line which was crowded too.

All in all I was very impressed at the vibrancy, cleanliness, and overall pleasant experience. Lakeview is looking great too.

[Chisouthside]

hi yes, im in the loop 3 days out of the week and recently my bus commute from lakeshore east to west loop in the pm has begun to encounter pre covid gridlock.

[Tom In Chicago]

I live in the Loop and can confirm. . . business as usual. . .

. . .

[Randomguy34]

Reposting this from the highrise thread:

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

^ In spite of all the vacant office space, weekday foot traffic is at 91% of pre-pandemic levels, with weekends at 107%! So the "downtown is dead" myth is pretty much debunked at this point. This then means any office-to-residential conversion will further push us past 2019 levels

Q1 Foot traffic report: https://loopchicago.com/in-the-loop/...bustling-loop/

[pip]

Update to my post above.

Back in Boston now. Got back yesterday afternoon - Friday. I purposely from the airport to downtown Boston and walked around. After the Loop and downtown area Boston felt a little sleepy in comparison. Maybe that is because I was in the Loop/Downtown area on a Wednesday, which is busier with Hybrid workers, than a Friday? I then took an Uber to the Brighton neighborhood - it just looked tired and a bit dirty but expensive as hell as is everything in Boston. Is it fair to compare Brighton neighborhood in Boston to Lakeview in Chicago? Don't know and probably not but still the contrast was striking.

Outside of the crime issue, Chicago is looking better than Boston from the limited areas I have been to since I have been back in Boston.

[sentinel]

Hallefuckin'lujah

Pastor Criticized For No Transit Experience Withdraws From RTA Board Nomination

https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/05...rd-nomination/

West Side pastor Ira J. Acree is taking his name out of consideration for an influential transit board seat, saying those critical of his lack of professional experience for the role are “opponents of African American empowerment.”

"Rev. Ira Acree said the City Council and most agency boards should be vacated if alderpeople now want to only go off experience."

Yeah, fuck off. If not for people who know what they're doing, how would anything of consequence get done?? The unwarranted entitlement is just absolutely wild.