CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by blazingfire

I don't think he's purposely anti-business either, but he is by default because of his tax plan. Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, etc. aren't corporate relocation magnets for no reason.

Lol the Chicago area has led all metros for over a decade in this. Don't confuse marketing headlines/anecdotes with actual data. Cities pay a lot of money to companies like Insider, Forbes, etc to write hype articles for them.

But yes, I agree he's anti business with his stupid tax plan. I think CTU told him to just promise people the best things ever so he'll get more votes than their last person. His latest is free childcare for all. Would be amazing but... $$$

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Lol the Chicago area has led all metros for over a decade in this. Don't confuse marketing headlines/anecdotes with actual data. Cities pay a lot of money to companies like Insider, Forbes, etc to write hype articles for them.

But yes, I agree he's anti business with his stupid tax plan. I think CTU told him to just promise people the best things ever so he'll get more votes than their last person. His latest is free childcare for all. Would be amazing but... $$$

Yeah, just saw that latest pander.

[cyked3]

So, I voted for Vallas round 1. Can’t say I am happy with this response at all:

Transportation
How well is the CTA working now?

Poorly.

What should be done differently?

There is an astonishing disconnect between leadership and basic performance elements the public wants and needs, including safety, cleanliness and reliability.

Where does revamping Union Station stand on your priority list?

Low.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/poli...-questionnaire

Contrast that with Johnson’s answers:

Transportation
How well is the CTA working now?

I think from the standpoint of the riders, we're fed up with CTA service. And I think CTA workers are also fed up with being assaulted and attacked. They’re not social service workers, but they often find themselves at the front lines of the social issues our City is facing. On-time performance has plummeted. People are waiting longer for their bus or train to arrive, and they don’t feel safe on the platforms. Staffing levels are way down.

What should be done differently?

There is a wide range of things that should be done differently. The CTA needs to make reliability its Number One priority. If service is fast, reliable, clean, and safe, people will leave the car at home and take the train or bus instead. I think the CTA could be more customer-oriented. Bus rapid transit (BRT) should be expanded and fully implemented across key corridors in Chicago. I want to create 500 bus priority signals to speed trips. I will work with the CTA to address the staffing shortage it is facing. There was a study that looked at this issue and its leading recommendation was to listen to the transit workers themselves, to make them a part of the decision-making process. It also concluded that transit agencies need to figure out how to have better working environments. The CTA can and must be a place where Chicagoans go and seek a fulfilling career. We need to hire and train 1,000 new bus and train operators, and we need to pay them fairly.

Where does revamping Union Station stand on your priority list?

I fully support the coalition of state, local, and federal leaders in their request for $251 million in MEGA grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation for this important project. While Chicago wasn't on the list of recipients this year, I think next year we can put together an even better proposal from an even bigger coalition.

[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by blazingfire

Sad Angela Clay won the aldermanic race. Walz seemed like a sensible moderate good for that neighborhood. God forbid Uptown stops being the ghetto of the northside. Isn't she the same lady who was protesting the Weiss development? So they elected a nimby, anti development, police defunder, progressive who thinks concentrating a bunch of "affordable" housing (aka section 8) into Uptown will make it better? okay...

I thought Vallas had this in the bag. You would think Chicago, leading the nation in homicides EVERY YEAR for 12 years straight (despite only being the 3rd largest city), leading the nation in carjackings, being the national punching bag for urban crime in America, plus all the negative stuff in general would elect someone who would prioritize bringing down crime...instead we elect a police defunder who only solution to crimes will take generations to take effect. SMH.



I was thinking Chicago would follow in the steps of NYC. Safest big city in America. Recently elected a moderate hard on crime democrat. Crime is down in every category in New York. Like Marothisu said, Chicago is what right wingers who hate cities think New York is (hate to say it but its true). New York is ridiculously safe. A city of almost 9 million people averages less than 300-400 homicides a year, and it's trending downward. I visited the Bronx and didn't feel unsafe at all. The worst hoods in New York have nothing on Chicago. Walking outside in Englewood, Austin, Garfield Park, etc. at night is playing russian roulette with your life. They're doing something right that we're not.

Best case scenario, Chicago stays the course and nothing changes. Worst case scenario, all of Johnson's tax and police plans go into effect and this city goes into the gutter. There's a reason every business backed Vallas. Also worried about CPD...another soft strike awaiting.

I'm being optimistic tho. The CTA will continue being a crime filled disaster, but hey, the new bus lanes he discussed would be nice. Hopefully the number of corporations and business that depart the city will be few.

clay is great, so happy 4 uptown

it had become way too expensive

really savoring all the i'm leaving chicago posts

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Kenmore

clay is great, so happy 4 uptown

it had become way too expensive

really savoring all the i'm leaving chicago posts

Not sure why are you so proud with your trolling..Johnson's win means everyone in Chicago loses.

[Chisouthside]

Originally Posted by twister244

Can Johnson really be worse than LL though?......

And if he is, you will see him voted out just like LL was. My beef though is I wonder how many people voted on policies versus identity politics? Did people not vote for Vallas just because they saw him as a "White Male"? I ask this question because it's a narrative Johnson peddled the ENTIRE campaign. He literally accused Vallas of being a racist in multiple debates/forums. It was a gross tactic, but it probably worked for several "progressive" voters.

after looking at the results map its obvious that the wards that suffer the most from violence voted for BJ. While Vallas highlighted crime and violence the most out of the two candidates, i wouldnt be surprised if alot of voters just saw through his fluff and deduce that in actuality his plan to combat violence either doesnt have alot of substance, or they've seen it before with not alot to show for it. I think you should give voters down there more credit than what youre giving them, though im sure alot did vote along racial lines.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by twister244

Can Johnson really be worse than LL though?......

And if he is, you will see him voted out just like LL was. My beef though is I wonder how many people voted on policies versus identity politics? Did people not vote for Vallas just because they saw him as a "White Male"? I ask this question because it's a narrative Johnson peddled the ENTIRE campaign. He literally accused Vallas of being a racist in multiple debates/forums. It was a gross tactic, but it probably worked for several "progressive" voters.

Well one thing we can be sure of is that all those folks in the 'collar wards' and places like 'old school' bridgeport among others did not vote for Vallas because of identity politics. We can rest easy on that one.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Well one thing we can be sure of is that all those folks in the 'collar wards' and places like 'old school' bridgeport among others did not vote for Vallas because of identity politics. We can rest easy on that one.

You don't think those wards (heavily populated with fire fighters and cops) voted for Vallas due to crime issues or because he is white? The black population in Chicago voted down the line for Johnson. Whites split the vote, mostly going to Vallas, and hispanics were down the middle.

Only one group voted in a monolith.

[moorhosj1]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

You don't think those wards (heavily populated with fire fighters and cops) voted for Vallas due to crime issues or because he is white?

Areas in Chicago heavily populated by cops and firefighters don't have much crime. A less generous view would be that they thought Vallas would increase their department's budgets. That's what people are saying about teachers who voted for Johnson, right?

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

YES to all this.


And - If somebody can tell me why - with our officers per capita, $s on law enforcement per capita - our homocide clearance rate is so pitiful (structurally, no part of this is new), other than "the socialists are making them go on soft strike", please share. Other than major reform is needed and frankly there is a meaningful portion of the force that is just not efficacious at the line of work.

Chicago is very underpoliced for the number of convicted criminals who actually live in the city. But there is no budget or manpower to reach optimum levels.

Mass strict incarceration for illegal gun violations does work in the long run, and a certain percent of shootings clearly trend with the number of proactive stops made by police. It’s simply much easier to convict someone for gun possession than for drive-by murders with no witnesses or video.

Otherwise if a community can’t bear those sorts of measures, then they just have to go along with the generational peaks and ebbs of criminal behavior.

[SamInTheLoop]

^ So what you're saying is that Chicago has such a higher rate of convicted felons in the population than peer cities (do we have data on it?) and that somehow that is a satisfactory explanation for our pathetic clearance rates despite our 'premium' police/law enforcement spending per capita? That's quite a claim that would require compelling evidence.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

^ So what you're saying is that Chicago has such a higher rate of convicted felons in the population than peer cities (do we have data on it?) and that somehow that is a satisfactory explanation for our pathetic clearance rates despite our 'premium' police/law enforcement spending per capita? That's quite a claim that would require compelling evidence.

Chicago has what, 115k gang members and like 11,000 cops?

10 gang members per cop, and that doesn't count the nongang members causing havoc too.

[moorhosj1]

Originally Posted by Ryanhesler

Remember during the Rahm years when Chicago was breaking tourism records yearly? CTA wasn't a complete dumpster fire and was getting expanded and lots of attention to it? Remember when corporations were moving here left and right? Under Rahm, we had the Riverwalk, 606, and all these megadevelopments start construction. Nothing happened under Lightfoot. I don't see anything happening under Johnson either. Invest south/west is the Lightfoot's biggest accomplishment and that whole thing was planned under the Rahm administration.

This view neglects any type of context. Rahm was Mayor during an absolute boom time for urban centers and building in general (near 0% interest rates for basically his whole tenure). He passed the largest tax increase in city history. Even then, the murder numbers INCREASED from 519 his first full year to 591 in his last full year. He had no plan to fix the problem either, nobody has in my lifetime. Some of the things you mention are actually happening, the CTA is being expanded, the Englewood Trail is moving forward, megadevelopments have started construction, etc.

Since then, we had COVID, which you know devastated many cities. Places like Portland and San Francisco are in decline. We are doing better than many, but it's obviously a different time. Interest rates are 5%.

Originally Posted by Ryanhesler

Of course Pritzker is going to support Johnson. He's the same guy who concocted the "Safe-T Act". I actually think Pritzker has been a great governer, but progressives absolutely suck when it comes to dealing with crime/justice.

He never really supported Lightfoot, so it's not a given. But his support isn't what's interesting. He explicitly calls out areas the BJ has learned and changed views from his campaign. These are areas people seemed very concerned about, so I think it says something that Pritzker, a person who has actually worked with Brandon Johnson, acknowledges he has pivoted some ideas.

Those areas are named as

• How we build up the economy in Chicago
• What we need to do to build the future of Chicago
• Public safety

[twister244]

Yeah, if you think it's bad here..... Got check in on SF.

That's not to defend anything going on in our city, but you need to separate out what's macro versus legacy inertia versus a reflection of current politicians and policies locally.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Ryanhesler

I see nothing but stagnation in this city meanwhile this guy's in office, same as Lightfoot.

I'm not a fan of Lightfoot nor did I vote for Johnson, but the number of employed residents of the City of Chicago in April 2023 was the 2nd most of any month since January 1990. That's as far back as the data goes, and the #1 spot (in late spring/summer of 2000) was less than 2000 people above April 2023. There's 49,359 more employed residents of Chicago in April 2023 than there were in April 2016, and 102,574 more than April 2013. Chicago actually has a higher gain of employed residents April 2023 vs. April 2016 than Los Angeles does. Chicago has a higher employed population April 2023 vs. April 2019, something that NYC and LA cannot claim.

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
https://www.bls.gov/lau/

Remember during the Rahm years when Chicago was breaking tourism records yearly?

LOL almost all of Lori Lightfoot's entire reign was during a pandemic. In 2022, the city saw just under 49 million tourists. That is more than a decade ago. I'm more curious to see what happens this year as last year had a huge increase from 2021. While it sucks it's down compared to the height, having some context really matters here and that number was still higher than the earlier years when Rahm was mayor. People mostly stopped traveling for like 1.5 to 2+ years. They finally started traveling again last summer, and I'll tell you that downtown this year already seems incredibly more active with tourists than last year (I work downtown 3 days a week).

Remember when corporations were moving here left and right?

I don't know how to tell you this, but there is still a shit load of corporate relocation and expansion in Chicago. With the exception of Kellogg relocating from Michigan, a lot aren't of the Fortune 500 size but there's still a lot opening up offices in Chicago or even relocating entirely.



I didn't vote for Johnson nor Lightfoot, but it's entirely ignorant to actually sit here and talk about this stuff while simultaneously missing the entire thing about how we're at nearly peak employment numbers for residents of the city in the last 32+ years.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ianconnor

Why haven't police been able to catch these crews? Them getting away with this just encourages more lawlessness. Catch them and give them 30 year sentences and we'll see it less.

They have before. Then things die down and then few months later some new crew strikes. This has been a method for awhile.- it's not as recent as people think. But yes anti chase policies don't help..