CHICAGO | General Discussions

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Even better, Chicago is outperforming the metropolitan area & State in population growth as well as growth in income.

But I disagree with you that media is somehow at fault for reporting bad news. Murders DO deserve attention. When somebody dies of a gunshot, particularly a child, it is only a journalistic obligation to report on it and ask "why does so much of this keep happening?"

Murders have absolutely nothing to do with what I'm talking about. No straw man arguments here. We are talking about how the media all over has misused data to convince people that everyone is fleeing a few places when it's not true. And the point here is they should actually consult other data to form an opinion. This census in 2020 isn't even the first time this has happened. A few cities estimates for 2010 were way off too. Did media across the country learn their lesson? Nope. They like to sell fear all over the place. It's what sells.

This has to do with misusing ESTIMATE data and the media all over the place (not just Chicago..not even close) not understanding that it's a sample survey and has a margin of error, and has been way off in recent times. It's their fault for not talking about this in articles that the numbers arent typically super accurate. Lazy journalism at its finest for not even mentioning its a survey and has a certain margin of error.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

We are talking about how the media all over has misused data to convince people that everyone is fleeing a few places when it's not true. And the point here is they should actually consult other data to form an opinion. This census in 2020 isn't even the first time this has happened. A few cities estimates for 2010 were way off too. Did media across the country learn their lesson? Nope. They like to sell fear all over the place. It's what sells.
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^ I already acknowledged and applauded the fact that Chicago is outperforming the suburbs and the entire State, as a whole.

But net growth doesn't mean Chicago isn't experiencing a mass exodus, even though you are correct that the earlier estimates were WAY the hell off. We are celebrating the fact that Chicago didn't shrink, think about it. Well guess what, we BARELY grew, while our peers grew by a lot. The reason for that, despite white hot growth in the core, is because a TON of people are bailing. The aforementioned black exodus.

The media is reporting on that. They are correct to report on that, even though the scale is off.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I already acknowledged and applauded the fact that Chicago is outperforming the suburbs and the entire State, as a whole.

But net growth doesn't mean Chicago isn't experiencing a mass exodus, even though you are correct that the earlier estimates were WAY the hell off. We are celebrating the fact that Chicago didn't shrink, think about it. Well guess what, we BARELY grew, while our peers grew by a lot. The reason for that, despite white hot growth in the core, is because a TON of people are bailing. The aforementioned black exodus.

The media is reporting on that. They are correct to report on that, even though the scale is off.

Contrary to what O'Reilly reports, the growth wasn't just in the core although most was on on the lake. From South Shore to Evanston, there was just as much population growth not counting downtown as there was downtown in those areas combined. This entire area, if it was its own city, would have around 1 million people and have a greater growth rate than most cities. But anyway..

And obviously anyone who's stepped foot or driven through Englewood and areas around there knows there is an exodus there. However, what's dangerous is that people view sensationalist headlines and believe the entirety of the city was losing population. The fact is that the areas the city lost population in are fairly confined to a few areas. Most other places had growth or their decline was typically fairly small (except a few places like Albany Park).

I will blame the media for not being more careful with how they message what the data is. The only person in Chicago for big media I've seen make an effort to actually show nuance is Greg Hinz from Crains. Everyone else writes articles that make people believe that every corner of the city was losing population even when all surveys said otherwise. Again, only Hinz that I know.of made an actual effort to be a real journalist here.

If I had a dollar for everytime I read a comment on an article about a new development in Chicago that was "tHe CiTy Is LoSiNg PoPuLaTiOn!!!" I'd be rich. Sorry but I will blame media for not even pointing out these things.

Anyway...I think it should be a celebration for a lot of the city but hopefully those like Englewood, Lawndale, etc can get some things in order. I think what Lightfoot is doing by getting investment to those places is a good thing that couls pay off in a handful of years.