CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[SpireGuy]

Tracy Baim posted this on FB and I think there's a lot of truth to it:

"My 8-point plan for J.B. Pritzker to heal the rifts facing Dems for November:
1) See if his opponents are interested in top-level appointments in his administration, and announce ASAP.
2) Hire their teams, those who want to continue working on gov race.
3) For every dollar he spends on the race, match that with another dollar for social service agencies in Illinois, new money into old problems.
4) Have Lt. Gov. nominee Juliana Stratton even more out there, as she is his biggest asset.
5) Be wonky and aggressive on his plans for change, including solving financial crisis. Don’t dumb it down, people want real answers, not generic mission statements.
6) Put significant resources into Dem candidates across the state, for Congress, state seats, county seats, etc., that are close or at risk.
7) Help re-build a new Dem Party in this state, taking on Madigan’s machine by helping engage new leaders for the future. Show that you are independent of Madigan, even while you might work with him on some issues.
8) If elected in November, have a very bold plan in place to recruit a very diverse staff, top-level appointments, agency leaders, etc., from across the city, county and state. Do like Obama, get the smartest people from all backgrounds and skill sets—including people actually impacted by the problems."

[Vlajos]

^ that's a lot of "who cares?"!!!! What Illinois needs is a real fiscal plan that won't further soak the taxpayers. So far all JB has done is propose higher income taxes and new spending.

That is a recipe for disaster.

[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

^ that's a lot of "who cares?"!!!! What Illinois needs is a real fiscal plan that won't further soak the taxpayers. So far all JB has done is propose higher income taxes and new spending.

That is a recipe for disaster.

x2

[Vlajos]

Maria Pappas should run for Cook County President. I think she is the only high level official that seems to care about taxpayers. She consistently reduces spending, has made her office more efficient. Things like this.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...property-taxes

[left of center]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

I think a progressive state income tax would better allow Illinois to better fund public schools at the state level.

A progressive income tax would require changing the Illinois constitution. If we're doing that, lets also amend the whole "benefits to public employees may not be diminished" clause thats bankrupting our state.

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ As I've stated many times, along with many others, and without any sensible refutation of my point having materialized:

Chicago gentrifies or dies.

Period.

So if you "fight" gentrification (which I don't even know quite how you do that) you are an enemy to the city, as far as any reasonable person who cares about Chicago is concerned.

A bit on the dramatic side, but I completely agree. The exponential growth in pension debt that's burdening the city can only be solved by an equal or greater exponential growth in property valuations in the city.

The question is, how long will this model be sustainable for? Something needs to happen on the spending end of this equation.

Originally Posted by Vlajos

^ that's a lot of "who cares?"!!!! What Illinois needs is a real fiscal plan that won't further soak the taxpayers. So far all JB has done is propose higher income taxes and new spending.

That is a recipe for disaster.

Exactly. All these pols look to the revenue side of things. We are already one of the highest taxed states in the US. We absolutely need to cut waste and unsustainable spending. There really is no other solution. Driving out the tax base with ever more draconian tax levies just makes the problem worse. In the end, you will only be left with net beneficiaries of the tax code, with no one left to pay into it. The whole system will grind to a halt and leave everyone worse off for it.

[left of center]

^ When Preckwinkle was looking for across the board cuts to all County departments (this was shortly before the sugar tax was voted on, or after there was a vote to repeal it), Pappas not only matched the amount in cuts Preckwinkle was looking for (other heads put up a fight to keep their level of funding), she went ahead and made even more cuts than requested, which she cited as additional waste that was unnecessary for her and her office to perform their job.

Pappas is indeed a rare breed of politician in Illinois.

[Vlajos]

^ yep, I think almost all the county department heads except Pappas hemmed and hawed at budget cuts.

[left of center]

^ Read about that in the Trib about six weeks ago. I haven't seen too much outrage directed at Madigan, at least as of yet. Hopefully something comes of it, but considering how long this news has been out for already, I'm not all that hopeful.

[KWillChicago]

West loop boom still boomin. My friend from out of town was asking why there are so many cranes west of the expressway. The only answer I could give him was because the west loop is awesome. I suppose it is chicago's brooklyn. Keep the towers coming.
https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/3/27...oop-apartments

[emathias]

Originally Posted by KWillChicago

West loop boom still boomin. My friend from out of town was asking why there are so many cranes west of the expressway. The only answer I could give him was because the west loop is awesome. I suppose it is chicago's brooklyn. Keep the towers coming.
https://chicago.curbed.com/2018/3/27...oop-apartments

Chicago's Brooklyn? Don't be absurd.

Brooklyn was an independent city, has a population, by itself, approximately equal to all of Chicago's current population, and is 70 square miles.

The West Loop is about 2.5 square miles, has never been an independent city or even really much of an independent neighborhood until recently, and has a population a bit hard to calculate with all the recent changes (loss of some old inventory, addition of much new inventory) but is probably between 75,000 and 100,000.

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by emathias

Chicago's Brooklyn? Don't be absurd.

Brooklyn was an independent city, has a population, by itself, approximately equal to all of Chicago's current population, and is 70 square miles.

NYC and Chicago have a very similar annexation history and timeline so that comparison holds.

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohisto...ages/3716.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Greater_New_York

[Kumdogmillionaire]

Originally Posted by emathias

Chicago's Brooklyn? Don't be absurd.

Brooklyn was an independent city, has a population, by itself, approximately equal to all of Chicago's current population, and is 70 square miles.

The West Loop is about 2.5 square miles, has never been an independent city or even really much of an independent neighborhood until recently, and has a population a bit hard to calculate with all the recent changes (loss of some old inventory, addition of much new inventory) but is probably between 75,000 and 100,000.

Talk about being overly literal much? It's a lighthearted comparison in a non-scientific manner to explain something to someone in layman's terminology. C H I L L A X

[10023]

^ However, I have in the past described all of the gentrified part of the city west of the Kennedy (so Wicker Park, Bucktown, Ukrainian Village, Logan Square, etc) as “Chicago’s Brooklyn”.

That was like 10-15 years ago when all of that was gentrifying, and gentrification was spreading out along the Blue line like it followed the subways in Brooklyn. It did feel like a pretty distinct area from the less trendy, but traditionally affluent, stretch of the city along the lake (which would of course be the equivalent to Manhattan).

Obviously it’s much smaller, but Chicago is much smaller.

[Skyguy_7]

Originally Posted by emathias

Chicago's Brooklyn? Don't be absurd.

I often hear Bucktown/Wicker Park being compared to Brooklyn. I think it's spot-on. North and Damen is about as Brooklyn as you're gonna get outside of Brooklyn.

[10023]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

I often hear Bucktown/Wicker Park being compared to Brooklyn. I think it's spot-on. North and Damen is about as Brooklyn as you're gonna get outside of Brooklyn.

Yeah and I think you include that whole part of the city, including Logan Square of even Humboldt Park, etc. It’s still kind of sketchy, like Bushwick.

[LouisVanDerWright]

None of these areas remind me of Brooklyn. The neighborhoods of Chicago are unlike just about anywhere else on Earth and in a good way. You can't beat the original venacular character of Chicago. We don't have the soul crushing density of most of New York and that's not a bad thing, not all metrics are measured by size. Quality of life in the average Chicago neighborhood is closer to something you would see in Europe than most NA cities.

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

None of these areas remind me of Brooklyn. The neighborhoods of Chicago are unlike just about anywhere else on Earth and in a good way. You can't beat the original venacular character of Chicago. We don't have the soul crushing density of most of New York and that's not a bad thing, not all metrics are measured by size. Quality of life in the average Chicago neighborhood is closer to something you would see in Europe than most NA cities.

The closest approximation you'll find to these Chicago neighborhoods are in Milwaukee, as Chicago is effectively just a larger version of Milwaukee. Similar building styles, density and demographics.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

The neighborhoods of Chicago are unlike just about anywhere else on Earth and in a good way. You can't beat the original venacular character of Chicago.

AMEN!

I call it "goldilocks urbanism" (not too oppressively soul-crushing, not too depressively soul-sucking, it's just right).

And I fucking love it!

So much functional urbansim AND so much greenery all at the same time!

What kind of magnificent cosmic lottery did I win to get to live here?

[10023]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

AMEN!

I call it "goldilocks urbanism" (not too oppressively soul-crushing, not too depressively soul-sucking, it's just right).

And I fucking love it!

So much functional urbansim AND so much greenery all at the same time!

What kind of magnificent cosmic lottery did I win to get to live here?

Most of Brooklyn is “Goldilocks urbanism” too. Same with London, or any old cities that developed before the automobile. Manhattan and now the central area of Chicago are really unique in the West in that they’re not.

[left of center]

Back when Chicago was growing by leaps and bounds, the east coast elite were horrified by what they saw as the sprawl and suburban development of Chicago... residential buildings set back several feet from the sidewalk, a parkway of grass and trees between the sidewalk and the street... a small grassy front yard... these all went against the development patterns of cities like Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, etc. at the time. (Ironically today this would be considered dense and vibrant neighborhood development in much of the country.) I don't recall where I read this tidbit exactly, I assume it was Nature's Metropolis, or City of the Century; both excellent books that I highly recommend.

Quite frankly this development style, which blends greenery with attractive urbanism, strikes a great balance that provides for a great quality of life to residents. That, and alleys. God bless alleys.