CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[marothisu]

This is not really big news, but interesting. They were in Rolling Meadows and making the not so huge move to Chicago near O'Hare. For those of you who understand the inner workings of how this might affect the city - how much money might this mean for the city per year (let's say no incentives were offered from the city)? A few million? More? Less?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...409-story.html
Construction equipment-maker Komatsu to move U.S. headquarters to Chicago

Chairman and CEO Rod Schrader said in a statement that the company is making the move to be close to transportation options and to help attract prospective employees living in the city and studying at nearby universities. The new office also has an open floor plan, which the company said it hopes will foster collaboration between teams.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

This is not really big news, but interesting. They were in Rolling Meadows and making the not so huge move to Chicago near O'Hare. For those of you who understand the inner workings of how this might affect the city - how much money might this mean for the city per year (let's say no incentives were offered from the city)? A few million? More? Less?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...409-story.html
Construction equipment-maker Komatsu to move U.S. headquarters to Chicago

Can't be a huge impact, some sales taxes and re taxes will be generated but nothing substantial I imagine.

Still good news. It must be tough trying to get people to work in Rolling Meadows.

[the urban politician]

Another successful Chicago startup:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...unicorn-status

[Justin_Chicago]

BallotReady Raises $1.5M To Expand its Voter Guide Platform Nationwide

Chicago startup BallotReady, which aims to help voters make more informed decisions, announced Wednesday that it has raised $1.5 million in a seed round that will help the company expand its service to all 50 states by the fall midterm elections.

Investors in the round include InvestHER Ventures, Wakestream Ventures, New Media Ventures, Hard Yaka and Grubhub CEO Matt Maloney.

As part of the new funding, the startup is bringing on Mike Saunders as its new chief technology officer. He is the founder of online food ordering and delivery company Dotmenu, which he sold to Grubhub in 2011.

BallotReady, founded by Alex Niemczewski and Aviva Rosman in 2015, has created a platform that gives people information about candidates up and down their ballot, particularly in local elections. The startup, which was also one of Chicago Inno’s 18 startups to watch in 2018, says that it has more comprehensive data on local elections than the RNC and DNC. During the Illinois primary in March, BallotReady’s voter guide reached 7 percent of all the state’s voters.

“There is enormous interest around the upcoming 2018 midterms,” Niemczewski, CEO, said in a statement. “We are excited to be nationwide this fall, helping voters make their voices heard beyond the major races and deep into their community leadership, creating change at every level.”

BallotReady received foundational support from the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics and won the college’s New Venture Challenge in 2015. The startup’s advisory board is led by David Axelrod, known for being the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, and Mike Murphy, a political consultant who has advised politicians like John McCain and Jeb Bush.

“Across the country there are over 500,000 local elected officials,” Niemczewski said. “We think there’s a huge opportunity to help voters choose the next half million, hold them accountable, and make democracy work the way it should.”

article: https://www.americaninno.com/chicago...rm-nationwide/

[Justin_Chicago]

Logistics software maker Project 44 raises $35 million

Logistics software companies continue to be one of the hottest sectors of Chicago's startup economy.

Project44 raised another $35 million, led by Boston-based investor OpenView. The deal comes just a couple of months after Four Kites, another Chicago-based logistics software company, raised $35 million. Last summer, ShipBob, a supply-chain services and technology company for small businesses, raised $17.5 million. "It's great to see the Chicago entrepreneurial community continuing to grow and lead in another sector," said Vic Pascucci, a veteran of the startup scene here who is managing partner of Lightbank, a venture fund launched by Groupon co-founders Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky. The fund isn't involved in any of the deals.

The company is growing fast. It now has about 80 employees, about half of them in technology roles, said McCandless. He expects to hire another 200 within about 18 months. Project44 has built an impressive customer list that includes GE Transportation, Uline, Technicolor, ABB, Steelcase, Echo Global Logistics, R.R. Donnelley, Worldwide Express, Schneider Logistics and GlobalTranz.

Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...tures-pritzker

[the urban politician]

This is great to see:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...cago-tv-center

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

This is great to see:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...cago-tv-center

Yeah, just read this. Sounds promising for the citys ability to get more filming business.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

This is great to see:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...cago-tv-center

OK, great for Cinespace, but I'm actually kinda pissed about this. How the hell is traffic supposed to circulate in that area now that there is no connection E/W from Ogden to 21st Street? The only N/S road between California and Western is already Washtenaw and there is a 3 block backup on Washtenaw at 21st street every day at rush hour already. Add that to the endless line of trucks servicing Lagunitas that line up along the viaduct on 19th and this neighborhood will basically be gridlocked 24/7. If they are going to do this they need to do some serious work to the side streets which also have a bunch of stupid ass anti-gangbanger dead ends including one at 18th street.

I own property in the area and can tell you that the success of the area has been great, but this is going to create some serious headaches for anyone living between 21st and Odgen and Western and California. I had to lay on the horn for like two blocks straight the other day to get the oafs who parked their semi trucks basically in the middle of 19th street to move it. I usually don't take 19th (which is a two way road that the semis reduce to like a .85 way road) because of that and instead go in through the studio. With these closures there is literally no way to get to Washtenaw (which as I said is the only street in the area that passes under the viaduct). Where is all the traffic to Lagunitas' parking lot going to go? All the way to Douglas Park and back in from the West at 16th?? They already made Washtenaw one way a few years ago which was a total disaster that took drivers like a year to figure out since, again, it's the main connecting street in the area and was two ways forever before that.

I probably shouldn't be complaining because this is basically going to double the value of my retail space as Washtenaw becomes some sort of weird minor arterial one way street that empties all traffic from the Studio and Lagunitas, but I can't help but feel like the people who actually live there are going to suffer. I hate to say it, but they might have to rip up Washtenaw and widen it so it can become a proper two way street again. I just don't see how the area continues to function otherwise.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

OK, great for Cinespace, but I'm actually kinda pissed about this. How the hell is traffic supposed to circulate in that area now that there is no connection E/W from Ogden to 21st Street? The only N/S road between California and Western is already Washtenaw and there is a 3 block backup on Washtenaw at 21st street every day at rush hour already. Add that to the endless line of trucks servicing Lagunitas that line up along the viaduct on 19th and this neighborhood will basically be gridlocked 24/7. If they are going to do this they need to do some serious work to the side streets which also have a bunch of stupid ass anti-gangbanger dead ends including one at 18th street.

I own property in the area and can tell you that the success of the area has been great, but this is going to create some serious headaches for anyone living between 21st and Odgen and Western and California. I had to lay on the horn for like two blocks straight the other day to get the oafs who parked their semi trucks basically in the middle of 19th street to move it. I usually don't take 19th (which is a two way road that the semis reduce to like a .85 way road) because of that and instead go in through the studio. With these closures there is literally no way to get to Washtenaw (which as I said is the only street in the area that passes under the viaduct). Where is all the traffic to Lagunitas' parking lot going to go? All the way to Douglas Park and back in from the West at 16th?? They already made Washtenaw one way a few years ago which was a total disaster that took drivers like a year to figure out since, again, it's the main connecting street in the area and was two ways forever before that.

I probably shouldn't be complaining because this is basically going to double the value of my retail space as Washtenaw becomes some sort of weird minor arterial one way street that empties all traffic from the Studio and Lagunitas, but I can't help but feel like the people who actually live there are going to suffer. I hate to say it, but they might have to rip up Washtenaw and widen it so it can become a proper two way street again. I just don't see how the area continues to function otherwise.

If traffic gets too nightmarish, just open up some of the cul-de-sacs and put in a few parking bans. 19th wouldn't even be that bad if idiots didn't park along the north side of that street... they're just asking to get whomped by a passing semi. From curb to viaduct there's like 30' of asphalt, which is almost enough for two interstate-width traffic lanes. Maybe put in a traffic signal at 19th/California.

Really should have had Cinespace commit to some of these improvements, right now all they have to do is beef up some turn lanes...

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by ardecila

If traffic gets too nightmarish, just open up some of the cul-de-sacs and put in a few parking bans. 19th wouldn't even be that bad if idiots didn't park along the north side of that street... they're just asking to get whomped by a passing semi. From curb to viaduct there's like 30' of asphalt, which is almost enough for two interstate-width traffic lanes. Maybe put in a traffic signal at 19th/California.

Really should have had Cinespace commit to some of these improvements, right now all they have to do is beef up some turn lanes...

Or they will get sideswiped by a passing property management pickup. I had to pull in my mirrors the other day to get down 19th. I see the semis get into Lagunitas but have no idea how they get out. There's not enough room for a pickup to squeeze through so I have no idea how the semis get back out of there.

And no, Im not turning NIMBY, I'm just wondering how on Earth traffic is supposed to circulate in an area of only one ways surrounded on two sides by film studio and railway viaduct.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

This is great to see:

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...cago-tv-center

Interesting. I remember reading that Cinespace was getting shaken down by the unions and costs were increasing, driving away potential business. Hopefully that's been taken care of... Cinespace has grown to be very important for Chicago's branding. The more shows/movies are filmed here, the more awareness for the city overall. Hiring locally and bringing in Hollywood dollars to the south side is a major benefit as well.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by left of center

Interesting. I remember reading that Cinespace was getting shaken down by the unions and costs were increasing, driving away potential business. Hopefully that's been taken care of... Cinespace has grown to be very important for Chicago's branding. The more shows/movies are filmed here, the more awareness for the city overall. Hiring locally and bringing in Hollywood dollars to the south side is a major benefit as well.

It's cool to see the filming industry make a return to Chicago. I think the studios were mostly on the far north side? Edgewater/Andersonville area?



The 0.3%: Million-dollar earners in Illinois

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...rs-in-illinois

Wonder why Ohio was left out.

[the urban politician]

^ Turnin NIMBY on us?

It's the price of success!

[marothisu]

^ On par with Texas and Florida, and above Pennsylvania - not bad.

[the urban politician]

^ So despite our population decrease we have the most number of million dollar earners than ever.

Watch all the boomsayer bloggers and journalists like--NEVER--pick up on this little factoid.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ So despite our population decrease we have the most number of million dollar earners than ever.

Watch all the boomsayer bloggers and journalists like--NEVER--pick up on this little factoid.

Of course not, or the fact that Chicago gained the most 6+ figure earners of any city except for LA and NYC since 2010 despite being hugely out gained in population in that period by nearly every city in the country THe percent change was also higher than Los Angeles.

Journalism today mostly sucks. Chicago Tribune had a story yesterday or today about "Why is Chicago violent crime in decline?" which highlights the fact that shootings are down 32% compared to last year and homicides are down 26% compared to last year. This is great especially given a trend, but they did not talk about any other violent crime. Assaults so far this year are actually up compared to the same period in 2016 and 2017, though definitely down compared to 2010. Robberies are down. Point is - they didn't talk about anything other than shootings and homicide as if those are the only types of crime that are categorized as violent crime. This is just lazy.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Of course not, or the fact that Chicago gained the most 6+ figure earners of any city except for LA and NYC since 2010 despite being hugely out gained in population in that period by nearly every city in the country THe percent change was also higher than Los Angeles.
.

I don’t remember seeing this data. You got a source for this?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I don’t remember seeing this data. You got a source for this?

I think I posted it in December. It's from the American Community Survey. I'll find the table number when I'm back home. Chicago gained something like 25k more households earning 6+ figures than Houston despite Houston outgaining Chicago by 200K total people and Chicagos population staying almost the same. But again, news won't pick this up because they are too dumb to realize that population is just one of many indicators of a city or urban area, and isn't always indicative of what's really going on. Most of the articles from Crain's with data came from me. It was not their own investigation.

[marothisu]

On the above too, I was curious as to which Community Areas gained the most since 2010. This is using ACS table B19001 - since it's by census tract, it has to be the 5 year. The numbers overall for the city will differ a little bit from the 1 year, but still.

The greater downtown area (let's say Near North, Near West, Near South, and the Loop) increased by 16,045 households, which was an increase of over 17%. This total change just downtown alone was more than the entire cities (individually) of Miami, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Cleveland, Memphis, New Orleans, St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, etc and not much lower than Atlanta. If we add in Lakeview, Lincoln Park, West Town, and Logan Square to this then that's an increase of 27,092 households. From the above list also add in Atlanta, Raleigh, Columbus, San Antonio, Oakland, etc. Not much lower than the entire city of Boston and Dallas. Just saying...that's kind of impressive for a geographic area that has 533,000 people in it, or just about 20% of the city's population.

Change from 2010-2016 in $100K+ Earning Households:
1. Near North Side: +5481 households (+29.1%)
2. The Loop: +4395 households (+93.5%)
3. Near West Side: +4185 households (+60.9%)
4. West Town: +4042 households (+37.2%)
5. Lake View: +3002 households (+16.2%)
6. Logan Square: +2470 households (+37.6%)
7. Near South Side: +1984 households (+50.5%)
8. Lincoln Park: +1533 households (+10.9%)
9. Portage Park: +1506 households (+37.8%)
10. Lincoln Square: +1408 households (+33.4%)
11. Norwood Park: +1280 households (+28.1%)
12. Albany Park: +1159 households (+42.4%)
13. North Center: +1088 households (+18.1%)
14. West Ridge: +997 households (+22.2%)
15. Irving Park: +898 households (+21.8%)
16. Uptown: +871 households (+15.8%)
17. Belmont Cragin: +844 households (+34.5%)
18. Garfield Ridge: +831 households (+30.4%)
19. Edgewater: +658 households (+12.7%)
20. Jefferson Park: +602 households (+23.4%)
21T. Forest Glen: +599 households (+19.9%)
21T. Mount Greenwood: +599 households (+26.1%)
23. Dunning: +507 households (+14.9%)
24. West Lawn: +502 households (+53.5%)
25T. Bridgeport: +494 households (+30.7%)
25T. Clearing: +494 households (+33.6%)
27. Lower West Side: +489 households (+60.1%)
28. Morgan Park: +483 households (+22%)
29. Ashburn: +470 households (+16.5%)
30. Washington Heights: +418 households (+34.6%)
31. Edison Park: +405 households (+26%)
32. Avondale: +360 households (+17.3%)
33. Humboldt Park: +327 households (+26.6%)
34. Austin: +315 households (+10.5%)
35. South Shore: +312 households (+22.5%)
36. O'Hare: +302 households (+27.1%)
37. West Elsdon: +284 households (+47.5%)
38. Brighton Park: +270 households (+28.9%)
39. Hyde Park: +257 households (+9.6%)
40. McKinley Park: +236 households (+48.2%)
41. Archer Heights: +233 households (+57%)
42. Kenwood: +231 households (+12.6%)
43. Hermosa: +226 households (+33.2%)
44. Grand Boulevard: +221 households (+20.7%)
45. South Lawndale: +192 households: (+18.2%)
46. Roseland: +176 households (+10.7%)
47. Montclare: +160 households (+22.2%)
48T. Gage Park: +156 households (+26.2%)
48T. West Englewood: +156 households (+47.9%)
50T. East Garfield Park: +138 households (+30.7%)
50T. Hegewisch: +138 households (+18.9%)
52. Pullman: +132 households (+79.5%)
53. Beverly: +123 households (+3.8%)
54. North Park: +121 households (+7.9%)
55. North Lawndale: +101 households (+19.4%)
56. Armour Square: +62 households (+12.2%)
57T. Fuller Park: +55 households (+611.1%)
57T. Washington Park: +55 households (+25.2%)
59. Burnside: +34 households (+69.4%)
60. Riverdale: +14 households (+41.2%)
61. East Side: -8 households (-0.9%)
62. Woodlawn: -12 households (-1.2%)
63. Avalon Park: -35 households (-6.1%)
64. South Chicago: -44 households (-5.8%)
65T. Douglas: -74 households (-7.5%)
65T. Rogers Park: -74 households (-2.2%)
67. Oakland: -81 households (-23%)
68. West Garfield Park: -82 households (-28%)
69. New City: -92 households (-10.7%)
70. Chicago Lawn: -113 households (-8.7%)
71. South Deering: -143 households (-30.8%)
72. Englewood: -146 households (-27.8%)
73. West Pullman: -149 households (-11.3%)
74. Greater Grand Crossing: -171 households (-18%)
75. Auburn Gresham: -219 households (-13.7%)
76. Calumet Heights: -311 households (-26%)
77. Chatham: -340 households (-21.4%)

2016 Community Areas by Total Number of $100K+ Earning Households:
1. Near North Side: 24,331 households
2. Lake View: 21,524 households
3. Lincoln Park: 15,559 households
4. West Town: 14,914 households
5. Near West Side: 11,053 households
6. The Loop: 9096 households
7. Logan Square: 9036 households
8. North Center: 7092 households
9. Uptown: 6372 households
10. Near South Side: 5910 households
11. Edgewater: 5856 households
12. Norwood Park: 5838 households
13. Lincoln Square: 5627 households
14. Portage Park: 5495 households
15. West Ridge: 5484 households
16. Irving Park: 5009 households
17. Dunning: 3913 households
18. Albany Park: 3891 households
19. Forest Glen: 3609 households
20. Garfield Ridge: 3561 households
21. Beverly: 3369 households
22. Austin: 3325 households
23. Ashburn: 3320 households
24. Belmont Cragin: 3293 households
25. Rogers Park: 3217 households
26. Jefferson Park: 3179 households
27. Hyde Park: 2942 households
28. Mount Greenwood: 2896 households
29. Morgan Park: 2682 households
30. Avondale: 2442 households
31. Bridgeport: 2104 households
32. Kenwood: 2059 households
33. Edison Park: 1965 households
34. Clearing: 1964 households
35. Roseland: 1824 households
36. South Shore: 1701 households
37. North Park: 1662 households
38. Washington Heights: 1626 households
39. Humboldt Park: 1556 households
40. West Lawn: 1441 households
41. O'Hare: 1415 households
42. Auburn Gresham: 1376 households
43. Lower West Side: 1302 households
44. Grand Boulevard: 1289 households
45. South Lawndale: 1246 households
46. Chatham: 1246 households
47. Brighton Park: 1205 households
48. Chicago Lawn: 1192 households
49. West Pullman: 1175 households
50. Woodlawn: 995 households
51. East Side: 919 households
52. Douglas: 909 households
53. Hermosa: 906 households
54. Calumet Heights: 884 households
55. West Elsdon: 882 households
56. Montclare: 881 households
57. Hegewisch: 869 households
58. Greater Grand Crossing: 779 households
59. New City: 771 households
60. Gage Park: 752 households
61. McKinley Park: 726 households
62. South Chicago: 721 households
63. Archer Heights: 642 households
64. North Lawndale: 622 households
65. East Garfield Park: 587 households
66. Armour Square: 570 households
67. Avalon Park: 537 households
68. West Englewood: 482 households
69. Englewood: 380 households
70. South Deering: 322 households
71. Pullman: 298 households
72. Washington Park: 273 households
73. Oakland: 271 households
74. West Garfield Park: 211 households
75. Burnside: 83 households
76. Fuller Park: 64 households
77. Riverdale: 48 households

[the urban politician]

The greater downtown area (let's say Near North, Near West, Near South, and the Loop) increased by 16,045 households, which was an increase of over 17%. This total change just downtown alone was more than the entire cities (individually) of Miami, Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Cleveland, Memphis, New Orleans, St. Louis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, etc and not much lower than Atlanta. If we add in Lakeview, Lincoln Park, West Town, and Logan Square to this then that's an increase of 27,092 households. From the above list also add in Atlanta, Raleigh, Columbus, San Antonio, Oakland, etc. Not much lower than the entire city of Boston and Dallas. Just saying...that's kind of impressive for a geographic area that has 533,000 people in it, or just about 20% of the city's population.

This quote in particular I found intriguing.

Great sleuthing as always, man. Do you happen to know if Chicago performs quite as well when using metro instead of city data?

Also, if you compare Chicago’s gain to Houston, I’m willing to wager that the gain of such households in Houston is over a wide swath of that massive city’s miles and miles of suburban tracts. For Chicago, a majority of that growth is within the confines of truly dense urbanity.