Good news! That means that officially Illinois did not lose population as stated in the 2020 census. Instead of losing 18k residents we gained 29k, which is barely any growth at all but certainly better than outright population loss.

The post enumeration study from the Census implies that Illinois gained almost 250K people. However, this is still good news because it directly corresponds to millions more in funding and hard proof that all the stories of loss were bullshit. Even at +250K that's not good growth, but growth is also entirely different than , again the BS stories about how it was losing a quarter million people.

It will also help with future population estimates. It would be interesting to see how this impacts the estimates for Chicago/the area too.

Why does the census bureau suck so fucking hard at the one and only job it's supposed to do?

They're like the Washington Generals of federal agencies.

The Census Bureau historically sucks when it comes to counting Chicago (as well as other older legacy cities) for whatever reason, but boy howdy did it screw the pooch in 2020. Difficulties staffing up and counting up citizens due to the pandemic, as well as the Trump administration clearly fighting to prevent the Census from doing its job (especially in blue states) really caused the Census Bureau to drop the ball (remember how they wanted to postpone it/cancel it entirely?). The 2020 results should be marked with an asterisk so that future generations realize what a absolute clusterf*ck it was.

F1 coming to Chicago??????

https://wgntv.com/sports/f1-may-have...-in-the-works/

I wouldn’t hold my breath. Chances are that F1 is just being petty about the NASCAR race and trying to block “Grand Prix” label usage.

F1 is very difficult and expensive to work with. Temporary festival setup for NASCAR is easypeasy compared to F1 demands.

Really interesting WBEZ article about income and education shifts taking place right now.

Lots of great interactive maps too!

Highly recommend:

Household income and education levels are on the rise in most parts of the Chicago area

Came across this story of 800-1000 Venezuelan and Nicaraguan migrants voluntarily moving to Whitewater, WI over the past 2 years. Even though Chicago, NYC, and Denver have received the most migrants, many of them are moving to small towns where they may not need work permits to get a job.

https://pbswisconsin.org/news-item/m...in-whitewater/

^ downstate cities should really be trying to attract migrants. Places like Decatur need more people...

Does anyone know if a small condo building requires screens(balcony doors)?

13-196-560 Residential buildings – Screens

https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/code...l/0-0-0-361844

Thank you for responding. I went to the Department of Buildings and was told screens were not required. Now I'm confused.

The new code section is a little different and exempts windows/doors above 50 feet. This is CBC though which applies to new buildings and major alterations (adaptive reuse, condo conversion, etc).

https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/CH...5_Ch12_Sec1211

For an existing building you are looking at the "Minimum Requirements for Existing Buildings" which does not contain a screen requirement.

Thank you for explaining. You are a valuable resource.

Bloomberg has an article talking about Chicago being one of the new hotspots for migrants seeking a place to live. At the state level, Illinois had the largest increase in migrants filing for asylum here compared to other US states, at an 821% increase from 2021. To give an idea of how significant this is, Cook County in 2023 received about as many migrants as Los Angeles County, Harris County (Houston), and Miami-Dade. While there are short-term pains with this rapid increase, in the mid- and long-term this will be beneficial to the city's growth. If we keep experience +60k population growth every year, we can easily surpass 3 million people by the end of the decade.

https://i.imgur.com/o2npCbWh.png
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/featu...t-destinations

It would be a welcome surprise if this level of migration could continue for an extended period of time. At some point, I fear something will eventually bottle it up. If Biden wins reelection, the GOP will be forced to work with the Dems on a strategy for the border to reduce the amount of asylum seekers coming into the country. If Trump wins in Nov, then we can expect a repeat of 2016-2020, when immigration to the US nearly completely dried up. Obviously, a Dem in office for the next 4 years will benefit Chicago's population growth significantly more, since a deal on the border should hopefully still allow a decent inflow of immigration, as compared to what a Trump presidency could look like.

In either case, the past few years have been a great shot in the arm for Chicago's population numbers. Here is to hoping it continues in some way shape or form going forward!

At a municipal level it's been great, at a human level it's very sad to see seemingly increasing numbers of families with young kids panhandling all over the city. I hope this pace of immigration is met with an increased coordination between city/state/feds to get these potential new Chicago residents housing and jobs.

It seems Chicago is doing just as well as any other city in this regard. They've resettled or reunited almost half of the migrants who have landed here.

I'd be interested to know how it compares to large influxes during either of the Great Migrations or large influx of Mexican immigration in the 1990s?

The real problem there is work permits/visas, which the feds are dragging their feet on. The immigrants *want* to work and set up their lives, but they can't get employment because of their status. 20+ years ago this was less of a problem, since people would be able to be paid under the table in cash. This is how the huge surge of Mexican immigrants to the city in the 80s-00s got their foot in the door. In today's near cashless economy, informal cash work is much less of an option, thus the panhandling. Unfortunately, I don't see Congress moving on remedying the situation anytime soon, because immigration is so politically polarizing. Very frustrating.

Interesting WBEZ piece on history of migrants in Chicago:

https://www.wbez.org/stories/migrant...7-ec93c2a9af34

Fernández said she would be surprised if Chicago is able to retain these thousands of migrants long-term, considering that growing economic inequality has increasingly made the city inaccessible to the working class that once flocked to Chicago in droves in the 20th century.

A 2022 UIC Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy report analyzing population trends found that “as Chicago’s population declines, working class families are leaving the region and are being replaced by a smaller number of residents holding high-paying white collar occupations and with higher levels of education.”

“Rather than a land of opportunity,” Chicago “is increasingly a land for the privileged,” the report said.

To Scarborough, the moment presents an opportunity for Chicago to learn from its past and course-correct for the future.

“Clearly, Chicago has much more to offer than the places that these asylum-seekers are fleeing. But the question that remains is, is Chicago and the city itself going to repeat some of the mistakes that it made in the past that sort of laid this foundation for decades of inequality to continue in Chicago?” he said. “Or is it going to set a different foundation that’s one rooted in support and investment of new residents in the city that can not repeat the past and change things a little bit?”