Chicago's Collapse (Wilmette, Macomb, Effingham: sales, attorney, house)

[prairiestate]

Let me preface by saying I really do love Chicago, and for that reason, it has not been fun listening to the news lately.

First, I'll admit to overstating the case a bit. Chicago is doing "ok". The economy is ok; people are moving to the region, plenty of tourists are still arriving. However, I think the reason we are doing "ok" is largely because of our size. Like McDonalds or Wal-Mart, we're almost too big to fail. Even when things are going poorly, we are still getting by. We could be doing so much better though, but our problems are increasing exponentially, and our politicians are acting even more stupidly and shortsightedly than usual. Many of these issues are statewide, but they certainly impact the Chicago area, and Chicago is obviously critical to the state.

For instance, the one constant throughout Chicago's history is we have always been the nation's transportation hub. O'Hare, finally, is being expanded; though well over budget and behind schedule. Rail freight is being diverted to other Midwest cities because we're at capacity on our rail lines. There is a program, CREATE, that is meant to alleviate these bottlenecks, both on the tracks and on the roads by eliminating the worst grade crossings. However, there is no funding, nobody trying to push it through, and several railroads have already pulled out of the plan because it's a dead end. Many of our roads are in poor shape, and traffic is horrible. However there is almost no money for new roads. It takes years to approve a simple resurfacing job on residential streets because of budget cuts and layoffs at IDOT. The majority of school funding comes from property taxes, which means that the poorest parts of the state will never have up to date text books or modern science labs. Funding for state universities has been largely stagnant or even declining in some schools over the past 5 years. The overall tax burden is high, and the tax structure can be complicated, providing a disincentive for companies seeking a place to do business. Some of the most popular state parks have been threatened with closure in recent years because of funding problems. Transit in the Chicago area is once again teetering on the verge of collapse because of corruption, mismanagement, and a lack of planning. Much of the infrastructure of the CTA is literally about to collapse, and there is no real plan to do anything about it. There is a tremendous amount of sprawl, and no significant cooperation or planning on a region wide level to promote smart growth.

There are a few reasons why there are no cures in sight. First, the people of this state cannot effect change. The city, county and state political machine holds 100% of the power. For instance, I can even tell you with near certainty that our next governor will be Lisa Madigan, our current attorney general, and daughter of Michael Madigan, the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. Second, our great leaders aren't even making a pretense of being concerned of the needs of the state and it's people anymore. The only thing they are concerned about are themselves, and it's never been clearer. It's seems like every day our governor gets before the microphones to proclaim how wonderful his plan for universal health care and a huge tax increase for business is, how he will not approve a budget that isn't exactly what he wants, and how the evil state legislature is thwarting his grand schemes. It's almost Orwellian. Everybody knows the guy is an idiot, and this is never going to happen. Yet, if he tells us about it enough, maybe we'll believe him and it will come true.

Chicago is truly the greatest city in the country. Yet I grow more frustrated living here every day. I can't bear to see what will happen if we pass a gross receipts tax in this state or Chicago transit agencies double fares or cut service by half. Just one of those things happening will be devastating, let alone all three. Actually, I doubt any of them will ultimately happen, but there are still no solutions to all of these numerous and massive underlying problems.

Thanks for listening, nothing like a good rant to make you feel better.

[Drover]

I can agree with a lot of what you're saying... but I think a substantial CTA fare hike may be overdue; or at the very least, we should consider restructuring the way fares are collected. CTA riders have been getting a (nearly) free ride off the taxpayers for a while now; and long-haul riders are subsidized by short-trip riders. I don't think people understand how insanely cheap it is to only have to pay two bucks to ride a train from, say, Wilmette all the way down to 95th Street. That's over 30 miles for two bucks, or as little as $1.58 if you use a Chicago Card. There's no reason why it should cost exactly the same to ride a train for 30 miles as it does to ride it three blocks. I don't know how to efficiently implement a zoned fare system, but Metra does it and so do transit systems in other cities. I realize there are hyperbolic howls of stepping on the poor every time fares are raised by a measly 25 cents, but actual paid fares account for well under half the CTA's revenues. You know damn well ad sales are not picking up anywhere near the balance. This can't go on forever; CTA riders are going to have to step up and shoulder a more realistic share of the cost of the services we use. People in Effingham and Macomb are becoming understandably irked by having to repeatedly bail out Chicago commuters.

[Chi2NYC?]

but cta riders also pay in time. trains aren't always that frequent, and it takes far longer to get from one end of a line to another compared to driving (with exceptions during rush hour).

[mdz]

1) the O'hare thing is not going to solve anything in terms of capacity, last stat I heard was maybe 1.5% more departures. Maybe. the main reason they're changing the runways is to decrease current delays.

2) Agree with you totally on the CTA aspect Drover--there should be a graded pay system

3) When I heard Lisa Madigan was running for AG, I thought to myself "Oh great, more of the same". I voted against her, and I have to say that my initial impressions were wrong. She is one of maybe 2 politicians in Illinois (Pat quinn being the other) that seem to actually do things because they're right, not because they're politically expedient. With the way things are now, I'd love to have her as governor.

Otherwise, I hear you prairiestate, it's hard to have much pride being an Illinoisian lately.

[prairiestate]

Maybe I'm cynical , but the only reason Lisa is going after Blago's administration is so she can become governor. The machine will get her a large percentage of the vote, and indicting our current governor (or helping the feds do it) will clinch her election. Other then that, I will have to concede she's doing a pretty good job.

[Drover]

I just don't see how it can be good for any Democrat's immediate gubernatorial aspirations to have the sitting governor of their own party indicted. Ryan's corruption helped to put an end to 24 straight years of GOP governorships.

I think Madigan would have stiff competition for the nomination from Jesse White. His name is on a lot more public buildings and documents than Lisa's.

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by Chi2NYC?

but cta riders also pay in time. trains aren't always that frequent, and it takes far longer to get from one end of a line to another compared to driving (with exceptions during rush hour).

yeah, in a way the loss of time sucks, however, i know for a fact i would much rather sit on the bus/train for an hour rather than get behind the wheel with all the people trying to play NASCAR in rush hour. the traffic was so bad when i moved here, my brother refused to ride over with my mom to visit me. so, i'm sucking it up, and getting some reading done in the time lost.

[cvatasoiu]

Originally Posted by mdz

1) the O'hare thing is not going to solve anything in terms of capacity, last stat I heard was maybe 1.5% more departures. Maybe. the main reason they're changing the runways is to decrease current delays.

2) Agree with you totally on the CTA aspect Drover--there should be a graded pay system

3) When I heard Lisa Madigan was running for AG, I thought to myself "Oh great, more of the same". I voted against her, and I have to say that my initial impressions were wrong. She is one of maybe 2 politicians in Illinois (Pat quinn being the other) that seem to actually do things because they're right, not because they're politically expedient. With the way things are now, I'd love to have her as governor.

Otherwise, I hear you prairiestate, it's hard to have much pride being an Illinoisian lately.

1. that is absolutely correct.

[pandabear]

These types of problems are not specificly unique to the city of chicago. If chicago is on yhe brink of collapse, than LA is on the brink of a meltdown, and NYC is on the brink of armageddon.

[midwest1]

Maybe Chicago/Cook County might want to rediscover the benefits of the 2-party system. The government and its unions/pension funds will be the death of the place.

Why not try a Republican, particularly at the county level. The Stroger Cabal is one of the most disgusting examples of corruption and nepotism in the history of the area. Throw those bums out and reform.