Quote:
Originally Posted by Khantilever
I don’t to be dismissive of the fact that there does seem to be something in Chicago’s culture where we really love and admire skyscrapers in a way that other cities’ residents don’t. But how much of that is cause and effect is hard to say—Chicagoans like tall buildings because it’s already part of our identity and people who like them naturally sort into the city.
What is undeniable, however, is that the central business district of Chicago has very, very high land values. The developers who build these towers aren’t swayed by emotion—it’s cold, hard cash that’s motivating our skyline. And Chicago has the second-highest central land values in the United States.
What’s fascinating is that Chicago’s *average* land values over the metro are so low, and how quickly land values attenuate with distance to the Loop.
Source: “Land values are highest by far in the central areas of superstar cities. In New York, the value of an acre of urban land in and around the city center is $123 million. Chicago ranks second, with central urban land valued at roughly $37 million an acre, followed closely by Washington, D.C. ($36 million), and then San Francisco ($25 million), Los Angeles and Honolulu (roughly $16 million), Philadelphia ($13 million), and San Diego ($10 million). ”
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/...n-land/544706/ |
but what's odd about all of that is
"why are downtown chicago's land values so high in the first place?"
we're not an island, or a peninsula, or ringed by mountains. our city exists on one of the flattest and most unceasing plains on the planet.
and we are a stagnant region, at best. there is no high population growth here. economic growth is falling relative to our peers.
and yet we build towers unlike any other US city not name new york.
in 1993:
chicago had 9 towers over 800' tall
the entire south had 9 towers over 800' tall
the entire west had 4 towers over 800' tall
since 1993 (including U/C):
chicago has built 8 towers over 800' tall (9 once OCS pops), for a total of 17 (18)
the entire south has built 3 towers over 800' tall, for a total of 12
the entire west has built 5 towers over 800' tall, for a total of 9
and i'm not comparing chicago to other cities here, but to entire US macro-regions with many large skyscraper-building cities each, cities that have seen orders of magnitude more population and economic growth than chicago has over the past 25 years.
chicago just seems to love building tall towers, and it's a phenomenon that seems completely divorced from overall population and economic growth (or lack thereof) in the region.