[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I read this article and that wasn’t my read—at all.

They are simply saying that the high cost of talent in coastal cities will inevitably lead to overflow employment in lower cost cities. Chicago will naturally benefit from this. I didn’t see this as a knock on Chicago’s talent.

I actually read it this way too, but don't blame emathias for reading it the way he did.

Truth is, we have top Universities in our region, the biggest issue is that we don’t have as many top paying jobs to attract the best the the brightest as NY or SF do. If we did, they would come. But companies here just don’t seem to be willing to pay top dollar, at least that’s what I seem to be hearing.

I think that's only partially true but it's more complicated than that IMO. It depends on where you are at in your career and what industry, and what kind of company you're going to. If you are senior and good at what you do, then some of the companies with actual money who don't have a problem spending it will pay you well. Some of the ones who might not be like that, maybe not as much. Chicago is a cheaper city than others, so the difference in salary can be explained sometimes with that. In all honesty, you can live in a better place alone in downtown Chicago on $100K per year than in Manhattan on $140K per year.

Let's put it this way. If I made $35K per year less in Chicago than what I currently make in NYC and paid the rent I was paying before I moved (downtown renovated luxury building), then I'd take home almost the same amount of money after rent and taxes in Chicago than I do in NYC currently on $35K less. The place I lived in Chicago was also nicer and bigger with more amenities than what I have here in Manhattan. So point being, even if that was let's say $25K difference in salary, then I'd make more money in Chicago than NYC on a lower salary. I think companies kind of know these things.......