CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[the urban politician]

It’s ok to acknowledge that Rahm and Lightfoot just have different foci.

We can look at the year before the pandemic and see that Lightfoot just had different priorities than Rahm. Rahm was gunning for business and investment in a way that LL didn’t, at least not with the same zest and passion.

It’s fine, Chicago has a lot of issues, but at the end of the day I preferred Rahm’s razor edge focus on building up Chicago’s name and economy over LL’s approach to things.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

I watched that press conference this morning and thought of this thread. Great news. Those wages will certainly be nice in a neighborhood with such low rents. A married couple both working there will have their lives changed.

There's been a good number of rehabs on the south side nearby in areas like Auburn Gresham, Avalon Park, Chatham, etx actually where the interiors are actually pretty decent. Those houses usually go for no more than $250K. A household where the income is $68K/year (both work at the call center) might be able to afford that (granted their personal debt, spending, etc situation). There are some other more dates but OK houses in the area for even less.

[Kngkyle]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

It’s fine, Chicago has a lot of issues, but at the end of the day I preferred Rahm’s razor edge focus on building up Chicago’s name and economy over LL’s approach to things.

I would agree but holy hell did we dodge a bullet by getting LL over some of her mayoral rivals.

[urbanpln]

Originally Posted by Halsted & Villagio

Instead of complimenting the job of our current Mayor, it figures that the one guy on this forum with a long history of saying and even being suspended for espousing racist bullshit... it figures he would be the guy to extol the virtues of the Mayor that is no longer in office.

Like he knows what Lori is championing to the world. Like he is sitting in on all of her phone calls and meetings. Obviously she is doing quite a bit campaigning for Chicago but no, it takes this guy of dubious character to ignore what she is doing and plug the guy who is no longer here.

Not that I am a big fan of Lori, but the current health crises would be challenging for any administration, and last summer's social uprising made it damned near impossible to govern effectively.

I also believe UP seems to really admire Rahm and imo is giving him way too much credit. I believe Chicago has enough assets to sell itself. That's why I still live here (in the City limits). Two of the many reasons why we have this admiration for powerful leaders in Chicago are the culture and media in this region. The local corporate community and media love powerful leaders. It seems to be a fascination among them. We, this region, seem to need a strong father figure to lead us to the pearly gates. We like the idea that our leaders can save us from economic obscurity. This is probably true in other regions across the country but it's deeply ingrained in the culture here.

A certain segment of the population was enamored by both Daley's and Rahm was in line to become the next ultimate power broker. I did like the fact that Rahm tried to sell the City to the world but if your house is not in order shit can crumble really fast.

I worked in DPD under both administrations and experienced all of the hot air that can from the 5th floor, especially during Rahm's tenure. In my experience, Mayor Richard Daley made a larger impact on reshaping the City.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by Kngkyle

I would agree but holy hell did we dodge a bullet by getting LL over some of her mayoral rivals.

Ah, not a Willie Wilson fan i see

Lori was not my first vote, but I did vote for her in the runoff. I think she was one of the better candidates in a field full of some real crap options. She was dealt a really bad hand (Covid, George Floyd riots, etc.) and she faced a lot of damned if you do/damned if you don't decisions (Focus on protecting downtown during the riots, you get blamed for abandoning the neighborhoods. Send more forces into the neighborhoods, and Michigan Ave burns. No one is happy). For many reasons, some her fault and some not, I feel like she probably won't win reelection. That said, I think she has done better than most given the awful circumstances.

[UPChicago]

Originally Posted by urbanpln

Mayor Richard Daley made a larger impact on reshaping the City.

This!

I'll add that Lori's administration is far more equitable than Rahm's in terms of economic and community development. Her agenda will impact more Chicagoans than his which in turn is better for the City.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

It’s ok to acknowledge that Rahm and Lightfoot just have different foci.

We can look at the year before the pandemic and see that Lightfoot just had different priorities than Rahm. Rahm was gunning for business and investment in a way that LL didn’t, at least not with the same zest and passion.

It’s fine, Chicago has a lot of issues, but at the end of the day I preferred Rahm’s razor edge focus on building up Chicago’s name and economy over LL’s approach to things.

It's also a reflection of a shift in the overall zeitgeist among progressives and Democrats, nationally. Coming out of 2007-2010, there was some unity around a mantra of "jobs jobs jobs", but in recent years those movements have gotten away from that and more towards social justice on racial and class lines, with a superficially redistributive focus that they like to talk about and then enact policies that achieve the opposite. This political shift is bolstered by the extremely strong regional economies and high wage growth in the traditional Democratic strongholds on the coasts over the past ~8 odd years or so.

I think that national shift is unfortunate for Chicago and the Midwest, for many reasons, because we have a few square miles that are comparable to the prosperous coasts, surrounded by an enormous region of thousands of square miles that is otherwise somewhere between stagnation and decline - and no one has anything to say about what to do about it, other than waste some oxygen on small-bore crap like inclusionary zoning or ADUs as though those aren't destructive on net in a declining region.

But, as others have alluded to, Lori walks an interesting and narrow path between the progressive world and the more 'corporate' power bases, and within that broader political context she can be viewed positively compared to if a die-hard progressive wrecking ball got elected mayor.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by urbanpln

In my experience, Mayor Richard Daley made a larger impact on reshaping the City.

Millenium Park is great and all, and we're all happy he bulldozed Maxwell Street and relocated it to a parking lot fronting the Dan Ryan (), but the most significant legacy on the long term shape of the city was digging the pension hole from 2002 to 2011, an anchor that will hold the city down for the next 20-30 years and/or force a disruptive and damaging bankruptcy.

It took Rahm until about 2014 to take the pension problem fully seriously after it became undeniably clear that the IL Supreme Court interprets the constitutional pension clause to be an irrevocable suicide pact that elected officials can sign on behalf of the unborn - and to his credit, he took some major heat with some pretty big tax increases to at least start chipping away at the problem.

[Chi-Sky21]

It is not just the pension hole. He mortgaged the future by selling crucial city assets for much less then they were worth to pretend things were fine and not raising taxes. I still think the parking meter deal should be investigated. That was his brother, and that deal was HORRIBLE for the city.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

It is not just the pension hole. He mortgaged the future by selling crucial city assets for much less then they were worth to pretend things were fine and not raising taxes. I still think the parking meter deal should be investigated. That was his brother, and that deal was HORRIBLE for the city.

THIS.

The city could have KEPT the meters, and increased the prices themselves. The revenue would have gone directly to the city forevermore, and the cost of installing the new meters would have paid for itself in a year or less.

And EVEN though the city went through with selling the meters, it STILL could have done alright for itself if it invested that 1.16 billion. Instead, it literally used 90% of it to plug holes in the budget for 2-3 years, which any accountant will tell you is the dumbest thing you can do. You never spend endowment/principal on operating expenses.

From 2008 to 2019, the parking meters have earned 1.6 billion ($140 million in 2019 alone!), half a billion more than the city sold them for. And the private investors get to keep raking in the cash for 62 more years. So incredibly short sighted.

[urbanpln]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Millenium Park is great and all, and we're all happy he bulldozed Maxwell Street and relocated it to a parking lot fronting the Dan Ryan (), but the most significant legacy on the long term shape of the city was digging the pension hole from 2002 to 2011, an anchor that will hold the city down for the next 20-30 years and/or force a disruptive and damaging bankruptcy.

I didn't say I was a big fan and yes he did leave the City in a giant fiscal hole. What he did do was help to change how the City was viewed throughout the nation and world by focusing on beautification and building up the central area. However, in doing that many south and west side neighborhoods were falling apart and into chaos. Some southside neighbors actually improved. The ones that were strategically positioned like Bronzeville and East Woodlawn.

In the end, he deserves to be criticized. He made some major blunders (parking meters, etc.) but you also have to give him credit for taking advantage of managing the start of Chicago's revival.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by urbanpln

I didn't say I was a big fan and yes he did leave the City in a giant fiscal hole. What he did do was help to change how the City was viewed throughout the nation and world by focusing on beautification and building up the central area. However, in doing that many south and west side neighborhoods were falling apart and into chaos. Some southside neighbors actually improved. The ones that were strategically positioned like Bronzeville and East Woodlawn.

In the end, he deserves to be criticized. He made some major blunders (parking meters, etc.) but you also have to give him credit for taking advantage of managing the start of Chicago's revival.

I agree that Mayor Daley of the 1990s deserves a lot of credit and accolades. Coming out of the 1980s there was a lot of simmering antagonism along class and race lines in the city for a variety of reasons, and Daley was shrewd at bringing all sides into the fold and building as much unity as anyone could in a city like Chicago. A cynic might spin that more like buying off/neutralizing any potential opposition, but politics is a matter of perspective.

Both Daley and Rahm had a relatively clear strategy of fostering economic growth in the core to cultivate a lucrative tax base that can fund services for the entire city. There are issues with that because it meant growth in only certain types of jobs, but at least it was a coherent and logical financial strategy compared to what is on offer today (actually... what is on offer, exactly, as far as how the Chicago city or regional economy might actually grow the pie?)

The biggest issue with the parking meter deal IMO was blowing the proceeds on 2-3 years of budget holes, and secondarily in rushing the deal which meant failing to address some important details to protect the city's flexibility in the contract (i.e. construction projects, bus stops, loading zones, etc). I don't have a source handy to link to on this, but I recall hearing and reading that the valuation itself was considered pretty reasonable among the financial community given the general mix of risk and revenue potential over the long lease period. In addition to the up front payment, the vendor also shelled out for fully replacing all of the old coin meters with payboxes, which was a pretty large investment that the city would have had to eat in order to raise its rates any further (it was already getting ridiculous to be shoveling 8+ quarters in a meter and trying to keep a stash in the car, and that was before the rates were raised starting in 2009).

[the urban politician]

If promoting Chicago didn’t work, people wouldn’t be doing it.

Chicago needs a promoter. Sorry, but I don’t agree that it has crossed some sort of threshold (like NYC obviously has—although NYC still spends a ton more on international marketing than Chicago does) where it can simply sell itself on its name and assets.

Chicago hasn’t reached the “promised land” yet. It needs a leader who will hustle for it.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

If promoting Chicago didn’t work, people wouldn’t be doing it.

Chicago needs a promoter. Sorry, but I don’t agree that it has crossed some sort of threshold (like NYC obviously has—although NYC still spends a ton more on international marketing than Chicago does) where it can simply sell itself on its name and assets.

Chicago hasn’t reached the “promised land” yet. It needs a leader who will hustle for it.

I totally agree. However, given 2020 full of a pandemic (continuing now in 2021..), rioting, looting, social unrest, etc...its just not the time for any place to realistically be doing that. Hopefully on the pandemic thing sometime this summer things on that front will be a little better, and maybe we'll start to see more cheerleading again.

[jtown,man]

I can't wait to see the streets packed this summer with tourists.

The other day when it was "hot" I got a glimpse of an active Chicago again.

[urbanpln]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I totally agree. However, given 2020 full of a pandemic (continuing now in 2021..), rioting, looting, social unrest, etc...its just not the time for any place to realistically be doing that. Hopefully on the pandemic thing sometime this summer things on that front will be a little better, and maybe we'll start to see more cheerleading again.

Totally agree.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

I think that national shift is unfortunate for Chicago and the Midwest, for many reasons, because we have a few square miles that are comparable to the prosperous coasts,

^ I definitely think that this is a "grass is greener elsewhere" statement, although otherwise I agree with the rest of your post.

Trust me, outside of some of the elite cities, LOTS of people living in California or the northeast got left behind by this new "tech bubble work from home Zoom consultant" economy thingy we have going on.

Chicago isn't different. The only way Chicago differs is that Chicago's prosperous areas haven't been lifted to the stratosphere quite as highly as some of those places in NYC and SF, meanwhile we still are suffering from the decline in blue collar jobs/wages.

[jtown,man]

There was a story in the local paper in my mom's town of Jonesboro Arkansas where two college grads decided to open up a yarn (or whatever the proper name is) production plant to produce high-quality fabric in the US. *This* is what I would like to see in Chicago. We have massive amounts of underutilized industrial areas, even within the city, that could help make Chicago the workhorse of the United States again.

We just need to make it more business-friendly and have some federal laws that help increase the attractiveness of starting businesses in the US.

[the urban politician]

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/health-care/chicago-lures-life-sciences-startup-southern-california

I want to go back to talking about this stuff, and not STUPID COVID!!!!!

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

There was a story in the local paper in my mom's town of Jonesboro Arkansas where two college grads decided to open up a yarn (or whatever the proper name is) production plant to produce high-quality fabric in the US. *This* is what I would like to see in Chicago. We have massive amounts of underutilized industrial areas, even within the city, that could help make Chicago the workhorse of the United States again.

We just need to make it more business-friendly and have some federal laws that help increase the attractiveness of starting businesses in the US.

That type of thing goes on in Chicago for sure. It's just not written about as much for the masses. No offense, but landing 250 new jobs paying minimum of $100K/years is much bigger news than a few guys making a new yarn factory. Not saying it should or shouldn't be, but yeah.

There are avenues to see these things news wise but usually they are not in the forefront for press. Some of the bigger press ones are like the Method soap factory in Pullman which employs something like 400 people now.

Usually what's written about in the industrial space are things like Method. Or the fact that Nature's Fynd is now selling their products. Even a large Chinese importer of food and food products moving from NYC to Chicago in the last year or 2, the actual importing business, didn't make the news.. Look at places like The Plant on the south side for example.