I posted on another thread how far Chicago has fallen in the U.S.

Growing up in 70s and 80s Chicago was seen as a cool place. The Second city, vibrant, people flocking. I understand loss of manufacturing jobs since then, but what can be done to see the city flourish again.

If you look around at the big cities NYC is on its own place. Basically the "capital" of the country let alone world. L.A. is No. 2.

Chicago used to be in that consideration, not even close now. Also, bigger citie with higher real estate and more desirability are Miami, San Fran Seattle metro, Boston and metro. Philly is getting close. Then you have Houston that I personally find hideous, but constant growth since the 90s.

Then the smaller cities like Austin, Nashville have been the boom cities, on a lesser note Atlanta, Charlotte.

So what can be done?

Chicago weather sucks, nothing can be done about that, but it sucked in the 60s and 80s.
I think an overhaul of our tax structure. At 5% now which is not bad, but the property taxes esp in in the burbs are just insane and one can only write off 10K off taxes.

So what can be done for CHicago and Chicagoland.

The pros - a beautiful downtown area, great entertainment, restaurants when no pandemic. Great sports scene. Great culture.

It just seems like Chicago has been unsexy to people in all industries. No free agent in the NBA wants to play here, everyone I know up here who gets a job elsewhere is gone, look at the stats since 2000.

Can anything be done to reverse course? Curious some thoughts

Turn the loop and environs into a permanent movie studio lot for making tall-building based blockbusters

Another Great Fire, like 1871, 1874, or the stockyards.

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An unjust law is no law at all--St. Augustine of Hippo

Cause tried and true
I see the light in you
Oh, can you dig in my soul?
Could you smell my whole...
life?--Gener and Deaner

Climate cataclysm.

The intensifying and impending droughts across the southwest are going to send people back to Chicago in droves.

Chicago has got clean drinking water and plenty of it.*

We'll be back, baby!


* Just ignore the fact that Lake Michigan serves as the region's collective toilet.

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I was led to believe that Lake Michigan steams like a young man's dreams and that the islands and bays are for sportsmen.

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An unjust law is no law at all--St. Augustine of Hippo

Cause tried and true
I see the light in you
Oh, can you dig in my soul?
Could you smell my whole...
life?--Gener and Deaner

Get rid of the liberals

People will think this is a joke but long investors are bullish on chicago for this reason. In fact, I just finished a conference where it was voiced by people with more money and intelligence than I.

Chicago will continue to have the significant natural advantages it has had for 150 or so years. Some of those advantages may diminish a bit but others are increasing.

I think we are poorly represented politically. It is damaging us in many facets of life. I can see a glimmer of hope of it changing as the old guard is pretty old. On the other hand, I don't exactly have full confidence in the abilities of the replacements.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

isn't there a cap on the Chicago diversion from Lake Michigan

Yup.

As much as I've grown to hate these midwestern winters, when/if I move I will not stray too far from the Great Lakes.

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It's not just lake water. The central location. Very little incidence of natural disaster. Relatively higher grade above sea level to counter rising water. Relatively temperate climates. Ability to access markets by water, rail, air and road. Regional dominance with no real challengers presenting themselves within 500 miles.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I think the state and the city could turn around if it kept and provided the means for local talent to thrive. We are already losing more than half of college students to other states. U of I responded by bringing in Chinese students who just return home. Something as basic as keeping our own talent should be enough to help turn things around.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

I think the premise of the OP is flawed to begin with. 2020 was an anomaly as Covid and riots changed the playing field but prior to that Chicago was absolutely considered a great city. Whether it's as "cool" as NYC, LA or Miami in the eyes of millennials doesn't really matter when it's still viewed as a popular destination worldwide. Also, the suggestion that Chicago was cooler in the 1970's & 80's than now is absurd. For all of his many flaws, the younger Daley left Chicago as a much better tourist destination with a reputation as a world-class city. Not only is it much more aesthetically pleasing but the quality of restaurants and attractions has gone up exponentially in the last 2 decades.

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“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
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wfr's idea of keeping homegrown talent here isn't a bad idea, but its incredibly hard to keep the talent here if you tax the shit out of them.

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Yeah, Chicago is seen as a step below Washington now, which is viscerally disgusting to me, but we're not looking up at fucking Charlotte, come on.

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It's not even taxing at first. I know that a lot of people leave the state because they get nice scholarships including full tuition at a lot of places, but the in-state schools offer nothing. Starting there would be great.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

I have never understood why the Illinois state university system doesn't enter into reciprocal agreements with bordering states on tuition, especially the Big 10 schools.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

They should be matching offers for the best students. My boy goes to a private, east coast school for less than it would have cost to go to U of I. I think Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa were all less expensive out the door as well.

The in state university should always be the cheaper alternative.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Back in the day it was. That is a big reason why I went. I don't know which genius changed that.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

If you score a 30 or above you get free tuition at several SEC schools. So you get nice weather, great football (and parties), and a chance to go away from home for less than half the price. It's a disaster in planning and managing higher education in the state.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Illinois literally created a strategy to recruit international students to plug in diminishing or uncertain funding from the state. They wanted to have at least 20 percent international (mostly Chinese) so that those students could be counted on paying full out of state tuition. At that point the university became a private institution that was chasing the highest possible tuition

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

they are already trying...changing the name of norwegian-american hospital because 'no more norwegians live in the area', is a fantastic start. the hospital wishes a name that reflects the inhabitants of the community - despite norwegian-americans who pitched in and built the hospital to serve yesterday's, today's and tomorrow's community. given that, i'm sure some clever citizens can conjure up a great name for the hospital.

the poor norwegians are taking big hits in recent sjw times: last year, a bed & breakfast in michigan got hit because the owner of norwegian descent, flew a norwegian flag on the property - which unfortunately, looked like a confederate flag to some SJWs.

the flags do not look alike at all, but, pressure forced the flag to come down.

this thread calls for ideas for a new chicago, this is the new america.

Contrast that with what the new CEO of the Vegas Sands Co, who acknowledged considering selling their Vegas assets and is looking for new markets, like New York. It stands to reason that Chicago would present a similar opportunity, also meeting the above referenced criteria.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Wisconsin and Minnesota had reciprocity but I think Wisconsin cut it off because too many people were going to Minnesota for school and staying there.

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It is still going on as far as I know, also Wisconsin has it with all of the directional Illinois schools.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

As of 2018, IL directional schools (aka Not U of I) had reciprocity with MN and WI directional.

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Chicago's issues began before that. The entire state has been bleeding residents all decade and that's not going to change anytime soon. The pension time bomb is still ticking and no one wants to stick around when that one goes.

People who stay in the Chicago area will continue to move to the suburbs, but even then it won't offset the overall loss in population the state is suffering. The one thing just about every Illinois transplant agrees on is the fact that they don't want to go back.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

I thought Chicago's hay-day of fun and livability w.out too much Lincoln Parkification west of Ashland was from the mid 90's until the housing crisis. Canary in the coal mine event happened in 2002? approx-- first time Daley offered parking ticket amnesty and then rolled out or at least got aggressive with the Denver boot and the bullshit hundred dollar street-cleaning tickets. Recall one of my co-workers who attended UofC in the 80's/90's still had parking tickets from back then he got amnestied out of / paid off at huge discount. Plus whenever the hookers disappeared from North Ave, tho that might've been as much due to craigslist as gentrification.

There are quite a few public schools doing this. As you suggest, this strategy isn't far removed from cutting off your nose to spite your face.

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If you're going to live in a major American city, Chicago is pretty hard to beat.

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It's a catch-22.

Chicago has been risin', pre-pandemic.

This metro area went from being a downtrodden blue-collar city to a touristy fashionable city. Much safer than in the 70s and 80s.
Thanks to Daley.

And more recently, theyve started doin' more movies and TV shows here.

The problem is, it's lost its character. I don't even know what a typical Chicagoan is these days. Everybody, especially in the city is a fake white uber liberal, mostly from other states and countries, that likes museums, favors bikers over drivers, defends gays and trannies over heteros, and hates Trump. But still sexually conservative and overall segregated (this is what I mean by fake). The values that come from working class, industrial environments unfortunately are ridiculed. The good part though, is that it keeps getting replenished with hot women.

As far as on the world stage, Chicago is nothing. Nobody abroad thinks of Chicago when coming to the U.S. At all. They think of New York. Chicago is a place they land at for practical reasons, e.g., job, or school, or something. And then they see how shiny it is in the summer and they think it's a great city. But ultimately, nobody that comes here stays here. They end up going to the coasts at some point.

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