CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[the urban politician]

Crains is generally fairly balanced. I'm pretty sure that most of its writers are big time Chicago boosters. But they probably don't want to paint too rosy of a picture lest we rest on our laurels. It makes sense--Chicago has plenty of challenges.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Crains is generally fairly balanced. I'm pretty sure that most of its writers are big time Chicago boosters. But they probably don't want to paint too rosy of a picture lest we rest on our laurels. It makes sense--Chicago has plenty of challenges.

I'm not convinced after personal dealings with a few of the writers. I think they much more easily write articles about negative things than positive ones. This is based on my own first hand experience with them. And maybe it's not all of Crain's that I'm talking about. It's mainly one or two people

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Crains is generally fairly balanced. I'm pretty sure that most of its writers are big time Chicago boosters. But they probably don't want to paint too rosy of a picture lest we rest on our laurels. It makes sense--Chicago has plenty of challenges.

Except why pick this one month? I would agree generally that they are balanced but this is just a weird statistic. If it was a year long trend, I get it.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Except why pick this one month? I would agree generally that they are balanced but this is just a weird statistic. If it was a year long trend, I get it.

Their editing also could use some work considering it was written in their article that Chicago has had steady population decline since 2010 even though the decline was first noted in most surveys in 2014 and another I don't think was until 2015. Completely inaccurate to write that, yet it passed through editing. Journalistically lazy.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Their editing also could use some work considering it was written in their article that Chicago has had steady population decline since 2010 even though the decline was first noted in most surveys in 2014 and another I don't think was until 2015. Completely inaccurate to write that, yet it passed through editing. Journalistically lazy.

I was noticing that. Is it me, or has the census revised up the population numbers of previous years?

[the urban politician]

Journalists are indeed largely lazy.

Many already are opinionated, they bitch about the Internet, but they to some degree own the fate of their profession. Too many of them are more interested in catchy headlines than in depth reporting.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I was noticing that. Is it me, or has the census revised up the population numbers of previous years?

I remember reading that they can sometimes adjust their previous estimates, but forget where I read that. One thing they don't do is base estimates off of the official census. Near North was under estimated by something like 8000 people versus the real census, but in the 2011 acs they estimated based on the previous survey, not the actual census.

This is why the Census says to not compare acs numbers against the official census...but people/journalists are dumb so they do it anyway. Case in point...don't be surprised if near north right now is actually like 95,000 people instead of around 86k people because of this.

Whole city numbers were pretty accurate for 2010 census vs. Acs, but don't be surprised to see some areas in the 2020 census be way above what the acs says. In the end, this is more important because the Census is used as a way to see which services are under or over represented in small sections of any town, city, etc

[VKChaz]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Their editing also could use some work considering it was written in their article that Chicago has had steady population decline since 2010 even though the decline was first noted in most surveys in 2014 and another I don't think was until 2015. Completely inaccurate to write that, yet it passed through editing. Journalistically lazy.

Or maybe today's print media is just having trouble affording copy editors

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by VKChaz

Or maybe today's print media is just having trouble affording copy editors

The fact that the forum here could catch the mistake instantly but they couldn't speak volumes. I don't think it has anything to do with affording copy editors. I think they just aren't that good or don't question enough.

[MayorOfChicago]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Except why pick this one month? I would agree generally that they are balanced but this is just a weird statistic. If it was a year long trend, I get it.

One thing I thought right away is this March and really this entire spring were quite cold and cooler than last year. There's always a huge surge when warm weather hits of hiring, additional people for patios, servers, everything tourist related. I would hope the April/May number catch up when the warm weather FINALLY gets here.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by MayorOfChicago

One thing I thought right away is this March and really this entire spring were quite cold and cooler than last year. There's always a huge surge when warm weather hits of hiring, additional people for patios, servers, everything tourist related. I would hope the April/May number catch up when the warm weather FINALLY gets here.

Beginning of the year for most places usually lags. It reminds me of some article a few years ago that was giving crap to Chicagos unemployment rate in January. My friend brought it up all worried until I showed him about 30 cities and how only one didn't have a big increase in unemployment in every January since 1990. A few months later, Chicago's unemployment rate was 1.5% lower than that article and tied with NYC. These things come and go in waves..but people are way too trigger happy to report negative news even in light of a reality like this.

[left of center]

Coinbase is allowing customers to make big trades in the shadows in attempt to lure big Wall Street traders to its exchange
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/coinb...trading-2018-4

Coinbase, the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency company, is making big moves to shake off its scrappy startup roots and transform into a first-class trading firm.

The firm is starting to support block trades for its clients, people familiar with the matter told Business Insider, showing that Coinbase is serious about competing with rival cryptocurrency exchange Gemini and other over-the-counter trading firms for business from institutional and high-net-worth clients.

...

Moving to Chicago

A key component of this expansion appears to be hiring talent from the Wall Street world. Recently, the company brought on Chistine Sandler from Barclays. It also hired Eric Scro from the New York Stock Exchange as its vice president of finance.

The company is also opening an office in Chicago, several people told Business Insider. Chicago, home to CME Group, the Chicago Stock Exchange, and Cboe Global Markets, is full of trading talent. Coinbase's office in Chicago may be up and running by the third quarter of 2018, one person familiar with the firm's plans said. Coinbase already has some staff based in the city including engineers Kyle Kavanagh and David Caseria. The firm right now has temporary office space for staff in Chicago.

The crypto-plot thickens. Looks like CME's and CBOE's early jump on Bitcoin futures is having a positive impact for the city. Would be great if Chicago became a central hub for blockchain exchanges and investment firms. Interesting times ahead.

[marothisu]

Coinbase opening a Chicago office is pretty interesting. Probably won't be too big to start out with if they're expecting this thing up and running by end of 3Q. I'm guessing no more than 15 or 20 people to start. Still cool though.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Coinbase opening a Chicago office is pretty interesting. Probably won't be too big to start out with if they're expecting this thing up and running by end of 3Q. I'm guessing no more than 15 or 20 people to start. Still cool though.

I have to ask, what is coinbase?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I have to ask, what is coinbase?

It's a cryptocurrency exchange (you can only exchange a few different types on it), one of the most well known. I think they have around 15 million users, maybe more now. They did over $1B in revenue last year apparently...

https://www.recode.net/2018/1/22/169...enue-secondary

[left of center]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Read my last post ..

Seemed like both our posts were in agreement? I did post this before reading your latest post on the subject matter, so I do apologize if you felt I was repeating your point.

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I have to ask, what is coinbase?

Basically what marothisu said. While its limited to only 4 different cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Etherium, Litecoin & Bitcoin Cash), they are arguably the 4 most popular and with the largest market cap, with Bitcoin being the absolute dominant one. (Ripple is the obvious odd man out here, but its more of a digital payment platform instead of a decentralized currency with a blockchain ledger). Coinbases's exchange (GDAX) is the largest of its kind in the United States, and Coinbase is trying to capitalize on its market position as trading cryptocurrencies becomes more mainstream.

Seeing as how Chicago is a major financial hub, it would be great for a California unicorn to start investing that VC cash in the city and make sure the city's financial industry keeps up with the times.

[marothisu]

^ Sorry. Didn't mean for it to come off that way.

[marothisu]

RE/MAX Luxury Report on Metro Chicago Real Estate: $1 Million-Plus Home Sales in 1st Quarter Reach New Heights, Prices Rebound

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...300639431.html

he market for Chicago-area homes selling at $1 million or more showed broad strength in the first quarter of 2018, according to the RE/MAX Luxury Report on Metro Chicago Real Estate, a quarterly analysis of market activity. First-quarter sales totaled 489 units, the most in that quarter since RE/MAX began tracking luxury sales in 2011 and an increase of +7.5% over the same quarter last year.

Perhaps of even greater significance was the +5.5% increase in the median sales price of $1-million-plus homes, which came in at $1.35 million. It was the second consecutive quarterly gain following four quarters in which the median price declined in comparison to the same period one year earlier.

A third encouraging result for the quarter was a continued reduction in the number of unsold homes listed for at least $1 million. Luxury listings fell -5.6% to 2,742 units, declining only -0.6% in the City of Chicago but falling -8.4% in the suburbs where the inventory had been especially high for the last few years. Even with that reduction, existing luxury listings in the suburbs still represent a 22.5-month supply of homes based on the pace of first-quarter sales. In comparison, there is an 11.8-month supply of luxury homes in Chicago.

Chicago's luxury-attached-home market enjoyed an upbeat first quarter, with 140 luxury units changing hands, +16.7% more than the same period in 2017. That compares to 120 luxury detached homes sold in the quarter, a decline of -1.6%, but still the second strongest first-quarter sales figure for luxury detached homes since RE/MAX began tracking that data in 2011.

The combined +7.4% increase in city luxury sales for the quarter came along with an uptick in average market time to 166 days, a 12-day increase. And while the inventory of luxury homes for sale in the city remained essentially stable, falling just -0.6%, that result masked an interesting split. The inventory of luxury attached homes, spurred by new development, rose +12.9%, while the detached luxury inventory was down -14.7%, reflecting a recent slowing of new construction in that category.

[Vlajos]

Interesting report marothisu

[emathias]

Originally Posted by left of center

...
Seeing as how Chicago is a major financial hub, it would be great for a California unicorn to start investing that VC cash in the city and make sure the city's financial industry keeps up with the times.

There is a lot of local money in Chicagos financial industry. Trading and exchange expertise in Chicago has few peers on this planet. New York and London may lead in VC and general finance, but in trading I don't think they're any better than Chicago. CME remains the largest financial exchange on the planet by multiple measures.