CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[ithakas]

Originally Posted by 10023

Not in Berlin. When I first went to Berlin and told someone I was from Chicago, they asked "Oh, so you like House?!"

But that might just be Berlin.

I wish Chicago had something akin to a Berghain for house music in an industrial building in the CMD (I think I've brought this up before on this forum and been called crazy). It could be a global destination for one of our greatest cultural exports, and I particularly like the idea since I think Chicago has the potential to be the US's Berlin in terms of creative communities (balance between institutions/access to financial backing and distance from key market/high expenses of other cities, making it a great place for less market-driven artists to live/work).

But Chicago in general seems to suffer from not having a coherent brand, the way NY, LA, SF or even Portland does.

[the urban politician]

^ Yep. Chicago seems content on talking endlessly about how it invented the tootsie roll and the Ferris Wheel, and otherwise marketing to tourists from Iowa all day long. That's what happens when you have a boring rolodex of old white males from the corporate world running every aspect of things. Their personal preferences (nice cars, country music and piano bars and shit, steakhouses, sports) seem to predominate the city's imagery.

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by ithakas

I wish Chicago had something akin to a Berghain for house music in an industrial building in the CMD (I think I've brought this up before on this forum and been called crazy). It could be a global destination for one of our greatest cultural exports, and I particularly like the idea since I think Chicago has the potential to be the US's Berlin in terms of creative communities (balance between institutions/access to financial backing and distance from key market/high expenses of other cities, making it a great place for less market-driven artists to live/work).

But Chicago in general seems to suffer from not having a coherent brand, the way NY, LA, SF or even Portland does.

Branding is huge. I believe most cities that are well known outside the US did it with movies that focused on the city as a character of sorts. To most internationals, NYC has the wealthy yet gritty, big city with attitude reputation, LA is the wealthy Hollywood town, Vegas is the casinos/anything goes town, Miami is the beaches, clubs, gorgeous women town, San Fran is the laid back techie gay town...

I'm not sure what forward branding Chicago should give itself that the international community would appreciate that wouldn't be called a knock off of other cities, particularly New York. It's like we're in the same zone as Philadelphia or Atlanta or something as far as international branding goes. People know our name, they just don't associate an internationally romanticized branding with us.

[The Best Forumer]

Originally Posted by HomrQT

I think these consistent similar experiences are very telling and Chicago somehow needs to do more to get its name out into the world beyond "it gets really cold and a lot of people get shot". Our GDP is outrageous, our architectural history, our food culture, our population size, multiple large airports, world class museums, proximity to the lake with dozens of beaches, good public transportation (for an American city), and the list goes on. We should seriously be a global destination city, not a "wow I didn't even know" city. Something more needs to be done than just "Visit Chicago" ads in foreign airline terminals.

Kinda the same thing in Houston...

What do you think can be done for Chicago in this regard?

[the urban politician]

I thought the "Epic Chicago" campaign was excellent, but they never used it.

My campaign would be to show off a very modern city with great architecture, tons of artists, excellent food, but with a bit of darkness and an edge resulting from its history of post-industrial decay. I would almost add a slight and subtle anti-Coast or even anti-New York slant to the marketing to give outsiders a sense that you really are getting into something that is unique, against the grain, and anti-coastal establishment (yawn) when you come to Chicago.

[cmmcnam2]

I've posted this in the Economic thread and it's been discussed a bit, but might as well post again for everyone. The city is aware of the problem and working to address it:
https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/si...egy-170718.pdf

They have identified "4 Pillars" of Global Cities and plan on enhancing those here and selling them abroad. Very interesting read.

[gebs]

Originally Posted by HomrQT

Branding is huge. I believe most cities that are well known outside the US did it with movies that focused on the city as a character of sorts. To most internationals, NYC has the wealthy yet gritty, big city with attitude reputation, LA is the wealthy Hollywood town, Vegas is the casinos/anything goes town, Miami is the beaches, clubs, gorgeous women town, San Fran is the laid back techie gay town...

I had this exact discussion with a friend lately, where we assigned a signature quality to each major US city. When it came to Chicago, it felt like the city had bits and pieces of every other city's hallmark (money, movies, food, tech), but there weren't any qualities or characteristics in which it alone towered above all others ... except for perhaps architecture.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by cmmcnam2

I've posted this in the Economic thread and it's been discussed a bit, but might as well post again for everyone. The city is aware of the problem and working to address it:
https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/si...egy-170718.pdf

They have identified "4 Pillars" of Global Cities and plan on enhancing those here and selling them abroad. Very interesting read.

My problem with these "studies" is that they keep doing them, but not implementing them.

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by gebs

I had this exact discussion with a friend lately, where we assigned a signature quality to each major US city. When it came to Chicago, it felt like the city had bits and pieces of every other city's hallmark (money, movies, food, tech), but there weren't any qualities or characteristics in which it alone towered above all others ... except for perhaps architecture.

Being born and raised here, I don't think I have the ability to give a one sentence, internationally interesting branding of Chicago that someone could with NYC or Vegas or Miami. And it's probably because the only movie popping in my head where Chicago was the main character was The Untouchables. Prohibition and Capone are gone so that movie does little progressive advertising for our image. What else is there that is a quintessential Chicago movie that would be an image platform for us? Ferris Bueller's Day Off? The Blues Brothers? So many movies shot here and Chicago is typically just a background city that could easily be replaced by Toronto.

[10023]

Originally Posted by gebs

I'm a long distance runner and have hosted many international guests for the Chicago Marathon and their reaction to the city is unanimously positive. And that is an event that literally showcases the entire urban core, as it starts in Grant Park, runs through the Loop, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Old Town, Greektown, Chinatown, Pilsen, Motor Row, and the South Loop.

Echoing the sentiments in this thread, the positive feedback is almost always accompanied by surprise. I do think that most everyone who visits, especially from abroad, leaves with a much better impression (if they even had one to begin with).

I have lots of extended family from England (mother's side) and Germany (father's). They always loved Chicago and some say it's their favorite American city.

Just don't invite anyone in the middle of winter...

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by cmmcnam2

I've posted this in the Economic thread and it's been discussed a bit, but might as well post again for everyone. The city is aware of the problem and working to address it:
https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/si...egy-170718.pdf

They have identified "4 Pillars" of Global Cities and plan on enhancing those here and selling them abroad. Very interesting read.

I read through it, thanks for sharing. The presentation carries a good collection of stats and facts of Chicago. While I think it provides a good outline of what Chicago is doing well, what it's lacking, and macro routes to take for improvement, I don't think there's a way to outline the nuances of what makes a city special in people's minds other than just constantly blasting the message in every form possible (video, music, print, etc). Why is Milan globally known as a fashion capital? Why is Paris known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world? It's certainly not because everyone has been to Paris, or Paris worked strategically on 4 focused pillars as outlined in this report, but because the unified message of Paris has been regurgitated consistently for hundreds of years in every form of media and communication the world has to offer. from theater plays to paintings to poems. Maybe if we had our own local media industry that rivaled NYC and LA we could start saturating the world with it.

[10023]

Originally Posted by ithakas

I wish Chicago had something akin to a Berghain for house music in an industrial building in the CMD (I think I've brought this up before on this forum and been called crazy). It could be a global destination for one of our greatest cultural exports, and I particularly like the idea since I think Chicago has the potential to be the US's Berlin in terms of creative communities (balance between institutions/access to financial backing and distance from key market/high expenses of other cities, making it a great place for less market-driven artists to live/work).

But Chicago in general seems to suffer from not having a coherent brand, the way NY, LA, SF or even Portland does.

At the end of the 19th century Chicago was often compared to Berlin (central location), and vice versa as Berlin industrialized ("Chicago on the Spree [River]").

https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spree-Athen

For the non- German speakers, two quotes in there: Mark Twain writing in his travel journal that Berlin was "the Chicago of Europe", and Walter Rathenau that "Athens on the Spree is dead, and Chicago on the Spree grows in its place". The latter was writing as Berlin evolved from being the seat of the of the Prussian royal family into an industrial city.

[10023]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

We need more foreign billionaires to buy residential real estate in Chicago. The fact that this hasn’t happened yet boggles the mind. We really need to not be this invisible.

There are two reasons this doesn't happen, and three if one is thinking beyond the US (the third also applies to NY, LA, SF, Miami, etc):

1) It's in the damn middle of the country, so it's at least an extra hour from Europe compared to NY (and possibly even longer from elsewhere, depending on latitude). There's also very little interesting around it (no Hamptons, no Caribbean islands, no Napa Valley, etc), at least not anything that is interesting to the global wealthy.

2) Chicago's real estate market is not actually or believed to be as resilient as the cities that attract massive global investment. There's abundant land to build and supply keeps up with demand, in contrast with other cities. Manhattan real estate didn't really decline during the financial crisis, it just stabilized for a couple of years. Chicago's did. If you're looking to invest in real estate as a secure place to stash capital, this is important.

3) Chicago, like other US cities, is less attractive than many global cities in other countries (London being the prime example, because the UK shares America's strong belief in capitalism and the rule of law) because the IRS is aggressive as hell. Foreign oligarchs can live in London with their families as a primary residence and pay barely anything in UK tax; in America they need to be careful about how many days they spend in the country.


#1 you can't do anything about. #2 is actually a significant positive for people who live and work in Chicago, because it keeps the cost of owning an actual home down. #3 is of course a national factor, but NY wins on the first two (and Miami for Latin America, and perhaps SF for Asians).

[Khantilever]

The Architecture Biennial is a very smart way of leveraging our strengths in that area. It’s still a little surprising to me when I meet people from overseas who mention architecture when we’re discussing Chicago, but apparently word gets around.

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by HomrQT

Branding is huge. I believe most cities that are well known outside the US did it with movies that focused on the city as a character of sorts. To most internationals, NYC has the wealthy yet gritty, big city with attitude reputation, LA is the wealthy Hollywood town, Vegas is the casinos/anything goes town, Miami is the beaches, clubs, gorgeous women town, San Fran is the laid back techie gay town...

I'm not sure what forward branding Chicago should give itself that the international community would appreciate that wouldn't be called a knock off of other cities, particularly New York. It's like we're in the same zone as Philadelphia or Atlanta or something as far as international branding goes. People know our name, they just don't associate an internationally romanticized branding with us.

we are the foodie town

#1 restaurant city in the US right now

[emathias]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Yep. Chicago seems content on talking endlessly about how it invented the tootsie roll and the Ferris Wheel, and otherwise marketing to tourists from Iowa all day long.
...

Mmm, Tootsie rolls ...

Originally Posted by HomrQT

...
Maybe if we had our own local media industry that rivaled NYC and LA we could start saturating the world with it.

I think the fact that we now have a large studio production facility on the southwest side is huge. It really helps with getting screen time for the City. It's had significant roles in popular action movies since that place opened. Chicago has appeared as both Gotham and Metropolis, it looked nice in "Stranger Than Fiction" and "What Women Want." it's been demolished (along with, oddly, some Beijing skyscrapers in the background) by Transformers, it was a great backdrop in Wanted and Eagle Eye and Source Code (even though much of that was filmed in Montreal) and a few other action flicks, and then you have the new Dick Wolf franchises set here adding on to the legacy of ER and Chicago Hope. The first season of "Prison Break" used it nicely. I had hoped that if "The Real McNeal's" had managed to be a hit that they'd do more location shooting, oh well, can't win them all. But then there's the US version of Shameless which has done really well for a paid channel show, and the Netflix' show "Sense8" has sort of a cult following - took me half a season to really get into it, but once it won me over I really love it. And there are more coming. But you're right that few of those really showcase Chicago as a character. There have been a number online video shows set here, too, including a couple that got picked up by Netflix to turn into full productions.

Originally Posted by 10023

There are two reasons this doesn't happen, and three if one is thinking beyond the US (the third also applies to NY, LA, SF, Miami, etc):

1) It's in the damn middle of the country, so it's at least an extra hour from Europe compared to NY (and possibly even longer from elsewhere, depending on latitude).
...
#1 you can't do anything about.
...

Well, there is one thing you can do about that - quit exaggerating how "far" it is from places relative to New York or other places.

Chicago is 1 hour farther from London, Madrid, Istanbul, and Dubai than New York - when you're talking about an 8 vs 9 hour flight, though, it's hardly a big difference. And then from that, Warsaw, Paris, Amsterdam, and Stockholm are only about 1/2 hour further than New York, Berlin is the same flight time.

For Los Angeles, most of Europe is two hours further than Chicago. Dubai is an hour further, LA is about 1-2 hours closer to much of Asia compared to Chicago, and Chicago is 30-90 minutes closer to Asian than New York is. Sao Paulo is an hour closer to New York, and two hours FURTHER from Los Angeles than Chicago is.

Mexico City is closer to Chicago than New York, and almost exactly the same distance as LA. One disadvantage for Chicago to Latin America is that it just has fewer flights, period.

[moorhosj]

"Chicago is that most American of American cities". I think it encapsulates all the things people are saying in this thread and makes for a marketing campaign. At the same time, tourism is pretty booming in Chicago right now, so something is going well.

[Domer2019]

Economics and industry may have made the city, but culture and art are the be all, end all of tourism and international recognition. Chicago is synonymous with blues and house (and Kanye), and the blues museum hitting the Loop is a start, but I think that angle is still not given as much attention as it should beyond the simple lip service to the reputation itself. Sidenote - visited Berlin recently - clubs like Berghain and Tresor are definitely a conscious part of the city's fame and I have seen nothing like that presence in Chicago. I'm not sure you could convince the layman to choose Chicago over New York based on architectural merit, because it's hard to quantify some any superiority in that sense. In terms of food, I think the draw of city rankings and the foodie crowd's perspective is not the same as general recognition of excellence, and that's a bridge that needs to be crossed to get a true reputation for it a la Paris.

Too bad we didn't host the Olympics (kinda...)

Too bad Lucas got tarred and feathered. If the city really cares about this sort of thing, it needs to be willing to cut off its nose (FOTP) to flatter its face

[Khantilever]

Originally Posted by moorhosj

"Chicago is that most American of American cities". I think it encapsulates all the things people are saying in this thread and makes for a marketing campaign. At the same time, tourism is pretty booming in Chicago right now, so something is going well.

About that... the City claims 54.1 million visitors last year. NYC claimed 60.3 million in 2016. How in the world is Chicago drawing even close to the same number?

I'm sure this is partially explained by Chicago's convention crowds and relatively high domestic tourism, but still.

[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by Khantilever

About that... the City claims 54.1 million visitors last year. NYC claimed 60.3 million in 2016. How in the world is Chicago drawing even close to the same number?

I'm sure this is partially explained by Chicago's convention crowds and relatively high domestic tourism, but still.

there are few other major tourist draws in the midwest, so chicago is a default option for throngs from iowa et al.