CHICAGO | General Discussions

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by sentinel

I secretly wish Gov Pritzker would just go 'fuck it, Illinois will take 170,000 Afghan refugees, and resettle them all throughout the state. Chicago, Rockford, Effingham, Champaign, Peoria, Cairo, you name it." That would be a great way to increase the state's population very quickly, and more importantly, increase the amount of federal money Illinois would receive.

I can only imagine the political head spinning around that, haha. But it can work out well. I grew up in Minnesota at a time when they were taking a lot of refugees from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, etc as well as Somalia and Sudan. Did the state overall pretty well after a bit too, for the most part. At first there were a few racist gangs pulling their shit but some of the groups integrated pretty well and pretty fast there.

[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by sentinel

I secretly wish Gov Pritzker would just go 'fuck it, Illinois will take 170,000 Afghan refugees, and resettle them all throughout the state. Chicago, Rockford, Effingham, Champaign, Peoria, Cairo, you name it." That would be a great way to increase the state's population very quickly, and more importantly, increase the amount of federal money Illinois would receive.

why secretly, it's a no brainer

we let racist trash dictate our lives in so many ways

[em816]

Thanks to all who have posted interesting facts and figures from the new census. This forum is a great place to get Chicago-specific analysis.

I usually just lurk, but I wanted to note that it's important to compare Illinois/Chicagoland to the nation, since national trends are powerful and often swamp local factors. The number of people in the US who marked themselves as white alone actually decreased between 2010-2020 ( https://news.yahoo.com/2020-census-f...194341557.html )

Some of this is due to more people marking mixed race/ethnicity options, as noted by other posters, but a lot is also due to declining fertility rates and the existing age structure of the white population (e.g. echo effects from the baby boom). If you do simple demographic projections based on birth, death, and fertility rates, you'll get that white population in the US is expected to fall by 10% between 2015-2060. Over the same time period, black population is projected to grow by 37% and Hispanic population by 96%. These national trends will continue to have a major effect on what we see in Chicago.

Note: I'm pulling the demographic projections above from William Frey's excellent book Diversity Explosion, which you can see a preview of here: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en...ersity&f=false

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by sentinel

I secretly wish Gov Pritzker would just go 'fuck it, Illinois will take 170,000 Afghan refugees, and resettle them all throughout the state. Chicago, Rockford, Effingham, Champaign, Peoria, Cairo, you name it." That would be a great way to increase the state's population very quickly, and more importantly, increase the amount of federal money Illinois would receive.

I openly wish he would do this, no need to do it in secret.

Fort McCoy by Madison is one of three staging points for refugees coming into the country. If there's one thing America has done well in our various overseas boondoggles it's bringing the brain drain home with us. We should take every Afghan who wants a better life in America with us. Wisconsin actually saw almost the exact same thing happen after Vietnam and the other various associated wars in Cambodia and Laos. The refugees were brought to Fort McCoy for temporary housing and then spread out around the State of Wisconsin resulting in the huge Hmong community that now exists there. That was a happy coincidence for the Hmong culturally because Wisconsin's natural areas actually provide for a continuation of Hmong cultural practices around fishing and other traditional outdoors ways of life. Probably 25% of the guests I rent my river home to are Hmong families coming for a fishing trip. It's always the whole family too, grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, and the kids. Fun to watch people enjoying a family activity like that and passing down skills that originated at "home".


Anyhow, I digress, as an American and a landlord I say bring all the Afghans back. Pack them into Chicago, Wisconsin, wherever. We have the space, why not share it? I will gladly rehab 30 more apartments and rent them to newly minted Afghan-Americans. I have a feeling my son will have some new playmates at the park in Mayfair soon as our community already has a large number of Yeminis who have fled the violence perpetrated upon them by the military industrial complex goons known as the House of Saud. Will not be surprised to see Afghans choosing this area to settle en masse given the large number of Arabic speakers already established here.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I openly wish he would do this, no need to do it in secret.

Fort McCoy by Madison is one of three staging points for refugees coming into the country. If there's one thing America has done well in our various overseas boondoggles it's bringing the brain drain home with us. We should take every Afghan who wants a better life in America with us. Wisconsin actually saw almost the exact same thing happen after Vietnam and the other various associated wars in Cambodia and Laos. The refugees were brought to Fort McCoy for temporary housing and then spread out around the State of Wisconsin resulting in the huge Hmong community that now exists there. That was a happy coincidence for the Hmong culturally because Wisconsin's natural areas actually provide for a continuation of Hmong cultural practices around fishing and other traditional outdoors ways of life. Probably 25% of the guests I rent my river home to are Hmong families coming for a fishing trip. It's always the whole family too, grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, and the kids. Fun to watch people enjoying a family activity like that and passing down skills that originated at "home".


Anyhow, I digress, as an American and a landlord I say bring all the Afghans back. Pack them into Chicago, Wisconsin, wherever. We have the space, why not share it? I will gladly rehab 30 more apartments and rent them to newly minted Afghan-Americans. I have a feeling my son will have some new playmates at the park in Mayfair soon as our community already has a large number of Yeminis who have fled the violence perpetrated upon them by the military industrial complex goons known as the House of Saud. Will not be surprised to see Afghans choosing this area to settle en masse given the large number of Arabic speakers already established here.

Afghans don't speak Arabic

[VKChaz]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

I openly wish he would do this, no need to do it in secret.

Fort McCoy by Madison is one of three staging points for refugees coming into the country. If there's one thing America has done well in our various overseas boondoggles it's bringing the brain drain home with us. We should take every Afghan who wants a better life in America with us. .........


Anyhow, I digress, as an American and a landlord I say bring all the Afghans back. Pack them into Chicago, Wisconsin, wherever. We have the space, why not share it? I will gladly rehab 30 more apartments and rent them to newly minted Afghan-Americans. I have a feeling my son will have some new playmates at the park in Mayfair soon as our community already has a large number of Yeminis who have fled the violence perpetrated upon them by the military industrial complex goons known as the House of Saud. Will not be surprised to see Afghans choosing this area to settle en masse given the large number of Arabic speakers already established here.

Though some of the Afghan newcomers will ultimately end up in IL, it reportedly isn't expected to be one of the top destinations.

While some will end up in Chicago, most fleeing Afghanistan will resettle in other parts of the country with larger Afghan communities, said Marc Adelman, the associate vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. The organization administers the state’s refugee resettlement program.

Each year, about 100 people from Afghanistan are resettled in Illinois, Adelman said. That number trails the hundreds of others who have resettled in places like Pennsylvania, Texas, California and the Washington, D.C., area, Adelman said.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/8/...a-resettlement

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by sentinel

I'm sure some of our loyal forumers will find some way to misconstrue/misrepresent the data to fit a personal narrative on how Covid and CiVil UnResST just says it isn't actually the case.

^ I'm all in favor of a thriving rental market, but I would also caution against celebrating too early.

Most of this data is before the excessive fear around Delta's new wave having had its full effect, and Pritzker's warnings yesterday about "a new round of mitigations" for this never-ending nightmare of a shitshow.

So anything that restricts concentration of people into tight spaces will hit downtown first, especially as we hit winter.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I'm all in favor of a thriving rental market, but I would also caution against celebrating too early.

Most of this data is before the excessive fear around Delta's new wave having had its full effect, and Pritzker's warnings yesterday about "a new round of mitigations" for this never-ending nightmare of a shitshow.

So anything that restricts concentration of people into tight spaces will hit downtown first, especially as we hit winter.

Landlords haven't gotten the memo yet. As my wife and I continue to look, we notice that prices at most places aren't dropping at all in downtown Chicago for apartments even relative to 1.5 months ago.

Part of me thinks it's landlords trying to partially make up for what they missed out on during the pandemic.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Landlords haven't gotten the memo yet. As my wife and I continue to look, we notice that prices at most places aren't dropping at all in downtown Chicago for apartments even relative to 1.5 months ago.

Part of me thinks it's landlords trying to partially make up for what they missed out on during the pandemic.

Well, landlords are going to charge whatever they can get away with. They can charge whatever they want but if nobody is taking the bait, then they will obviously have to lower rents.

I am actually encouraged by the downtown market being up because downtown rents set the tone for the entire city’s rental market. Right now I have a few units that are stubbornly hard to fill (despite having lowered the price a few times), so a rising market is encouraging. However, what matters to me is how badly people want to ride the trains, as a sizable portion of my portfolio is near transit.

Living downtown is a bit more Covid-safe because you simply need to walk outside to get to most destinations. But along the L line neighborhoods, transit “fear” may actually dampen interest in these neighborhoods. Covid is truly an existential problem for our cities and it would behoove our city leaders to try to reduce the fear around this virus (some of which is unnecessary) if we are ever going to make a complete economic recovery.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Well, landlords are going to charge whatever they can get away with. They can charge whatever they want but if nobody is taking the bait, then they will obviously have to lower rents.

I am actually encouraged by the downtown market being up because downtown rents set the tone for the entire city’s rental market. Right now I have a few units that are stubbornly hard to fill (despite having lowered the price a few times), so a rising market is encouraging. However, what matters to me is how badly people want to ride the trains, as a sizable portion of my portfolio is near transit.

Living downtown is a bit more Covid-safe because you simply need to walk outside to get to most destinations. But along the L line neighborhoods, transit “fear” may actually dampen interest in these neighborhoods. Covid is truly an existential problem for our cities and it would behoove our city leaders to try to reduce the fear around this virus (some of which is unnecessary) if we are ever going to make a complete economic recovery.

It's encouraging for sure, but also trust me...these landlords aren't selling some of these places. I'm also talking about Lincoln Park on a few places. I've been watching watching lot and these places aren't selling some of their units for these 1.5 months but prices aren't coming down at all. Some other things I've seen defy some logic.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

...........Covid is truly an existential problem for our cities and it would behoove our city leaders to try to reduce the fear around this virus (some of which is unnecessary) if we are ever going to make a complete economic recovery.

Oh really?

Hospitalizations hit 100,000 in United States for first time since January
Today at 10:47 a.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...-live-updates/

You have...interesting perspectives and priorities.

[Bonsai Tree]

Originally Posted by sentinel

Oh really?

Hospitalizations hit 100,000 in United States for first time since January
Today at 10:47 a.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...-live-updates/

You have...interesting perspectives and priorities.

I don't believe this is the right hill to die on but if you're getting your information about covid from the Washington Post I probably would take it with a grain of salt. This outbreak of the delta variant is overwhelmingly concentrated in the South and has changed little in Chicago's and Illinois's ability to handle covid cases. Our death rates have inched up, although not substantially compared to the winter, as well as hospitalizations. Delta IS a serious issue for parts of the country, but it is not a problem here (and will not become a problem here). If Covid has taught me anything, it's to take a deep breath and realize that the media may overstate the impacts of the virus, especially on vaccinated individuals or in areas of low spread. Look at the data, not at an article.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Well, landlords are going to charge whatever they can get away with. They can charge whatever they want but if nobody is taking the bait, then they will obviously have to lower rents.

I am actually encouraged by the downtown market being up because downtown rents set the tone for the entire city’s rental market. Right now I have a few units that are stubbornly hard to fill (despite having lowered the price a few times), so a rising market is encouraging. However, what matters to me is how badly people want to ride the trains, as a sizable portion of my portfolio is near transit.

Living downtown is a bit more Covid-safe because you simply need to walk outside to get to most destinations. But along the L line neighborhoods, transit “fear” may actually dampen interest in these neighborhoods. Covid is truly an existential problem for our cities and it would behoove our city leaders to try to reduce the fear around this virus (some of which is unnecessary) if we are ever going to make a complete economic recovery.

Where are you having a hard time renting units? I can't list mine for as low as I used to anymore without getting swamped by applicants. Just rented a 3 bed in "Marshall Square" to a young Latino couple who make $100k combined two years out of school at non profits (one does the website for a nonprofit and the other is a social worker). They are both U of C grads and have 730 and 780 credit as 24 year olds.

Literally they are the ideal tenant for me, perfect on paper and grew up in the city. I had like 10 other apps, but went with them because they have their shit the most together.

[the urban politician]

^ The nuance ship sailed away years ago on this forum, so I won’t bother

[the urban politician]

^ I should’ve figured you’d say that

It all depends on the unit and location. Some places fill like hot cakes, others require......adjustment

[the urban politician]

If 150k Afghanis moved here Chicago would be able to absorb them pretty much instantly.

Plus, Afghani women are beautiful

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Plus, Afghani women are beautiful

This is exactly the attitude their men are worried about...

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

This is exactly the attitude their men are worried about...

Welcome to America. Beautiful women get noticed.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

This is exactly the attitude their men are worried about...

This is actually part of the reasoning why women wear burkas...partially. although the larger answer is more complicated but it's one facet of it.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

This is actually part of the reasoning why women wear burkas...partially. although the larger answer is more complicated but it's one facet of it.

Yeah, but we all know that it is imposed on them.

Back in the day when I lived in Philadelphia I knew some Afghani people, and the women would laud Afghani culture and how great and important the burka was.......all while NEVER covering their faces or their heads like ever.

At least the 2 Afghani women I knew were both very pretty and they liked showing their faces living in the USA, although of course they talked up their culture.

Action speaks louder than words. When given a choice, most women want to be able to be seen.