Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
^ That reminds me of Wisconsin's (Scott Walker's WEDC) campaign to poach Chicagoans last year, where they tried to throw shade on the CTA and pretty much everyone in the city clapped back.
I mean seriously, it's a major advantage and not one that often comes up when outsiders discuss Chicago.
How do you tackle those issues with extremely limited resources? If you raise taxes without luring more jobs in or creating a growth narrative, then you're just asking Texas, Georgia, and Indiana to poach our residents and businesses. A rising tide floats all boats, especially in Chicago where we have ample land to add housing and ample unused capacity on our transit system so we can make sure growth isn't zero-sum. At least if you invest in growth and are successful, you can take some of the returns and invest in the community. I love the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund.
Also not clear that our crime issue is because we have more (or more violent) criminals than NY, LA, etc and not just because our criminals have laughably easy access to guns from Indiana. That's not a problem Chicago can solve on its own. For corruption, the best remedy is a healthy economy. Have you seen failing cities like Gary or (for awhile) Detroit? When resources are scarce, the folks with power will use that power to enrich their friends at the expense of everyone else. As for the debt problem, good luck filling that hole with declining tax revenues from a sagging economy.
Our city and state leaders have to walk and chew gum. They can't stop chasing factories and corporate expansions just because the city has other pressing issues.
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Well, that's kind of why I said I thought things would get worse before they got better. With corruption and debt (which I think are related and essentially linked), nothing will get solved without a complete system failure, such as a complete evaporation of lending for pension contributions. As far as crime... I'm not a big believer in throwing money at problems to solve them; at least not with government programs. Both NY and LA have shown (I think) that the road to safer cities is gentrification. I know that makes some people cringe or call foul. But I think it's undeniable. And for us.... those terrible neighborhoods emptying out.... It certainly has moral, social, and political implications. But they're not
really going to improve any other way.