Quote:
Originally Posted by Steely Dan
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.
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I think a large part of it is it's a cultural stereotype that defies the reality. Chicago really came onto the scene when businessmen in New York were being forced to start abiding by human rights laws on the East coast, so they came out to Chicago to circumvent those laws and get on with business as usual. From that heavy influence of New York money and business relocation Chicago grew into itself as an urban town like a smaller New York and it has stuck and influenced it ever since. From that influence Chicago built some fairly tall buildings, got creative with structural engineering, got into a little height competition with New York, which fed into the stereotype further. The supertalls in the '60s/'70s then solidified it. Just like crime and winter in Chicago is based in truth but is culturally warped, and thus influences the way this city operates, so does that long standing urban New York business haven vibe that has been a part of us for so long.