CHICAGO | General Developments

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Finally! A proposal to kill off Aldermanic preoregative. It’s also a way to increase housing supply, which many of us have proposed as the fairer way to create affordable housing than passing laws that criminalize landlords and rob them of their rights:

https://blog.chicagocityscape.com/al...s-9dc1e11fa7b0

Oh wow, this is actually pretty amazing. Someone can propose an apartment building and get a guaranteed decision in 90 days from the city, all without having to deal with NIMBYs. Watch Lincoln Park suddenly get flooded with proposals if this goes into effect.

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Nope, luckily. I think that usually any company that has to do with utilities or cable is the worst in regards to CSR. Hey, maybe they'll improve with new centers and training? hah okay probably not...

I'm happy for the jobs and the possible investment... but it's going to be a glorified call center.

When the corner barber shop owner wants to run $200 worth of ads on google, they call the "google call center" for help. and it's the corner barber shops that are the last remaining growth area for the advertising services company known as google.

it's not like calling the comcast call center.... but it's a call center.

[harryc]

Aug 11

[harryc]

South Wabash

[trvlr70]

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hopefully this can be reversed.

[Jim in Chicago]

Originally Posted by harryc

South Wabash

Well, it will join the other atrocity that was inserted on Wabash just south of Harrison.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

I'm happy for the jobs and the possible investment... but it's going to be a glorified call center.

When the corner barber shop owner wants to run $200 worth of ads on google, they call the "google call center" for help. and it's the corner barber shops that are the last remaining growth area for the advertising services company known as google.

it's not like calling the comcast call center.... but it's a call center.

Are you talking about Google ops center or are you talking about Peoples? If you are talking about Google then I have my hand ready for a giant facepalm for thinking their "operations center" has to mostly do with CS. Most CS that Google has is contracted out. My girlfriend is in marketing for an ecommerce company, and she does things like run ad campaigns on Google. I guarantee you the CS part is more contracted out. Google is not opening an a 5000 person glorified call center. This is stupid, especially when they are literally inventing technology right now to literally get rid of CSR for many companies. You take the term way too literally. The word operations especially in tech could mean a million different things. I'm thinking and laughing to what I do right now, which is software development. I work with many people who work in "operations" which is basically an umbrella term with numerous different types of jobs...all high skilled and well paying. None have to do with CSR at all.

[harryc]

Aug 14

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

Oh wow, this is actually pretty amazing. Someone can propose an apartment building and get a guaranteed decision in 90 days from the city, all without having to deal with NIMBYs. Watch Lincoln Park suddenly get flooded with proposals if this goes into effect.

It seems almost too good to be true? I've read about it a couple places and it seems like it will make it much easier to get zoning changes that provide density?

Like, if someone proposes a six flat in an area that is zoned for single family only...

...if that area has less than 10% affordable housing.
...and if the six flat has one affordable unit

Then the zoning change will be approved automatically within 90-days unless the board actively denies it? And the alderman can't block it? Is that correct?

We're still a long way from where I'd like to be--we should be able to build courtyard buildings with no parking as-of-right just about anywhere in the city with no red tape. But, man, if this goes through and we get some good neighborhood infill, Chicago's going to be a much more pleasant place to live, work and spend time in in a decade or two.

[Chisouthside]

I was recently contacted by a recruiter for a google contract job to do batch data analysis for imagery taken inside businesses, they literally have people going inside everywhere and taking pictures and as much as google automates everything they still need people for individual QA, especially to refine their machine learning algorithms, when you're taking about the quantity of data that google processes theyre gonna need quite a few people. And thats just for picture data on tops of all the other data they process for google services. I know of another friend who works for another huge tech company in the southbay and his floor has a 100 people doing cloud data metrics alone, even with all the automation you still need quite a bit of humans

Originally Posted by marothisu

Are you talking about Google ops center or are you talking about Peoples? If you are talking about Google then I have my hand ready for a giant facepalm for thinking their "operations center" has to mostly do with CS. Most CS that Google has is contracted out. My girlfriend is in marketing for an ecommerce company, and she does things like run ad campaigns on Google. I guarantee you the CS part is more contracted out. Google is not opening an a 5000 person glorified call center. This is stupid, especially when they are literally inventing technology right now to literally get rid of CSR for many companies. You take the term way too literally. The word operations especially in tech could mean a million different things. I'm thinking and laughing to what I do right now, which is software development. I work with many people who work in "operations" which is basically an umbrella term with numerous different types of jobs...all high skilled and well paying. None have to do with CSR at all.

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

It seems almost too good to be true? I've read about it a couple places and it seems like it will make it much easier to get zoning changes that provide density?

After reading it again, it seems that if it's a simply rezoning, then the project can be in any ward in the city. If it's a PD, then it must be in a ward with less than 10% affordable housing.

This will help a lot of smaller developers, who now they don't have to go through neighborhood organizations just to build a six flat. I can also imagine downtown developers benefiting since they can propose a massive project without having to deal with Ald Reilly.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Are you talking about Google ops center or are you talking about Peoples? If you are talking about Google then I have my hand ready for a giant facepalm for thinking their "operations center" has to mostly do with CS. Most CS that Google has is contracted out. My girlfriend is in marketing for an ecommerce company, and she does things like run ad campaigns on Google. I guarantee you the CS part is more contracted out. Google is not opening an a 5000 person glorified call center. This is stupid, especially when they are literally inventing technology right now to literally get rid of CSR for many companies. You take the term way too literally. The word operations especially in tech could mean a million different things. I'm thinking and laughing to what I do right now, which is software development. I work with many people who work in "operations" which is basically an umbrella term with numerous different types of jobs...all high skilled and well paying. None have to do with CSR at all.

That, and customer service departments like a call center aren't going into prime office markets. They are typically in rural and inexpensive areas of the country, where cost of living is low and so are the wages. There's a reason why anytime you call a major corp like Verizon or Comcast you get connected to people in Georgia, Oklahoma City, El Paso.... or India

[Zerton]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

is this more in tune:

We are bringing you non-renovated, poorly maintained, and undesirable housing at low low affordable prices.... looking for an illegally converted garden apartment that floods when it rains? logan square is your place! cash only please and no written leases.

I've always thought the term "garden" unit was such a funny euphemism. Yeah... you're in the dirt! (I lived in a Logan Square garden unit for years.)

[harryc]

Originally Posted by Zerton

I've always thought the term "garden" unit was such a funny euphemism. Yeah... you're in the dirt! (I lived in a Logan Square garden unit for years.)

The best thing is to combine the garden apartment with a clogged catch-basin. Never realized before that the tub is the lowest point in the system when it backs up.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by harryc

The best thing is to combine the garden apartment with a clogged catch-basin. Never realized before that the tub is the lowest point in the system when it backs up.

The tub fills up with free "fertilizer" for your "garden unit" whenever it rains!

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

After reading it again, it seems that if it's a simply rezoning, then the project can be in any ward in the city. If it's a PD, then it must be in a ward with less than 10% affordable housing.

No it only applies to "affordable applications" as defined by the proposed ordinance which only occur in "underserved wards".

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

This will help a lot of smaller developers, who now they don't have to go through neighborhood organizations just to build a six flat. I can also imagine downtown developers benefiting since they can propose a massive project without having to deal with Ald Reilly.

Funny you should mention Reilly.
About the only ward I can think of that might qualify as underserved is the 42nd. Reilly of course didn't sign on.

Wicker Park, where I keep a close watch on these things, has had a major decline in affordable units over the years. But, according to the ACS our lower quartile contract rents are still below $900. Meaning around 25% of the units should qualify as affordable.

And we're probably the highest rent portion of the 1st and 32nd wards and are probably balancing the Streeterville portion of the 2nd.

A quick check of some Lincoln Park tracts, show pretty much the same thing.

Best I can tell, the only outcome would be to streamline some multi family downtown. And then only it they plan to build the required affordables on site. Which no one wants to do.

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by PKDickman

No it only applies to "affordable applications" as defined by the proposed ordinance which only occur in "underserved wards".

Affordable applications were apparently given two definitions: A PD "for property located in an Underserved Ward", and "shall also mean any application for a zoning change which triggers the" ARO, assuming the application provides on site units. The article also highlighted the two definitions

About the only ward I can think of that might qualify as underserved is the 42nd. Reilly of course didn't sign on.

I believe the city's designates affordable units as being exclusively to people at 60% AMI or below, so a ward with cheap rents can still be considered underserved if the units aren't exclusive. In the ARO pilots, it looks like affordable units can be leased from 80%-100% AMI. Either way, I'm surprised that the ordinance was vague about this and didn't make this explicitly clear

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Are you talking about Google ops center or are you talking about Peoples? If you are talking about Google then I have my hand ready for a giant facepalm for thinking their "operations center" has to mostly do with CS. Most CS that Google has is contracted out. My girlfriend is in marketing for an ecommerce company, and she does things like run ad campaigns on Google. I guarantee you the CS part is more contracted out. Google is not opening an a 5000 person glorified call center. This is stupid, especially when they are literally inventing technology right now to literally get rid of CSR for many companies. You take the term way too literally. The word operations especially in tech could mean a million different things. I'm thinking and laughing to what I do right now, which is software development. I work with many people who work in "operations" which is basically an umbrella term with numerous different types of jobs...all high skilled and well paying. None have to do with CSR at all.

It's not stupid, but thanks.

I worked at Google for 3 years here in Chicago. I know what I'm talking about. 90% of Google employees are in ad sales/ad support.

It's a call center for selling ads to and supporting small companies like your corner barber shop that buy these ads. The SMB market requires a lot of manpower support.

But calling it a call center does not get tax incentives raining down on you from politicians now does it?

[PKDickman]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

Affordable applications were apparently given two definitions: A PD "for property located in an Underserved Ward", and "shall also mean any application for a zoning change which triggers the" ARO, assuming the application provides on site units. The article also highlighted the two definitions

I still had the ordinance up on my computer and took another look.
You're right. They added the "any application the triggers" portion below the PD definition and it muddied the waters.

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

I believe the city's designates affordable units as being exclusively to people at 60% AMI or below, so a ward with cheap rents can still be considered underserved if the units aren't exclusive. In the ARO pilots, it looks like affordable units can be leased from 80%-100% AMI. Either way, I'm surprised that the ordinance was vague about this and didn't make this explicitly clear

The only definition that applies to this is 2-45-115(B)

“Affordable housing” means (1) with respect to rental housing, housing that is affordable to households earning up to 60 percent of the Chicago Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area median income

No mention of income limits, or eligibility criteria, just that it is affordable to them.

Works out to $889 for a studio and $1015 for a 1br.


The pilot areas are sections 117 and 119. Their definitions shouldn't apply, but 115 is sufficiently interwoven into those sections that I am uncertain as to whether this would apply to any pilot projects, all pilot projects, or just the "first units" in the pilot projects. In fact, it could supercede the pilot areas all together.

In any event, it is so poorly drafted that corporation council is gonna have a lot of billable hours working out the implications.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

It's not stupid, but thanks.

I worked at Google for 3 years here in Chicago. I know what I'm talking about. 90% of Google employees are in ad sales/ad support.

It's a call center for selling ads to and supporting small companies like your corner barber shop that buy these ads. The SMB market requires a lot of manpower support.

But calling it a call center does not get tax incentives raining down on you from politicians now does it?

Except that's not a call center, just because people are using a phone doesn't mean it's a call center. No one I know would consider sales teams a "call center", that's absurd. Call center is like "umm my gas is shut off"... "Did you pay your bill?"... "No"... "..." Or "my Google home won't work"... "Did you plug it in"... "No"... "..."