Noticing vacant storefronts

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Chicago3rd

"Just the facts ma'am"
http://www.cushwake.com/cwmbs3q12/PD...icago_3q12.pdf

"Assets with parking spots are especially attractive to buyers in the City of Chicago."

[Vlajos]

I just pulled a retail market report for Chicago Metro done by REIS. The City has an overall vacancy rate of about 8%. The suburbs are like 12%.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by chicagobear

I walk a lot around the north side and it struck me that I am seeing a lot more vacant storefronts and office space than was the case a few months ago. I am not sure if this says something about the economy or not.

Our entire country has too much retail space. (The Death of the American Shopping Mall - Jeff Jordan - The Atlantic Cities)

I think this new-fangled thing called the internet has something to do with it.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I just pulled a retail market report for Chicago Metro done by REIS. The City has an overall vacancy rate of about 8%. The suburbs are like 12%.

I have never seen these things as "city vs suburbs". The reality is that despite the loud trumpeting of some mindless boosters of "rails over car" the CITY IS BECOMING MORE LIKE THE SUBURBS because of natural market forces (and inability of the city to afford the transit infrastructure once dreamed of...).

When the burden of ill thought tax breaks shifts pulls businesses not from other states but from one part of the region to another the losers are all taxpayers that are left to make up those giveaways.

A wiser way to deal with these issues is by working in a broad regional way but decades of criminal profit taking by elected official in some cities has made such things all but impossible.

And still the low information voters return the crooks to office.


This is NOT just something to blame on Amazon.com -- there are lots of VERY successful retailers with business models that depend heavily on physical stores, the key is that those stores, whether they are small places like Trader Joe or enormous places like Wal~Mart or Costco respond quickly to the shifts in consumer tastes. That requires a fast moving logistics chain which is best served by an efficient system of trucks and roadways... Distributuion centers in places like Bolingbrook feed into high volume roadways in places like Schaumburg, Naperville or Oak Brook. The city can do this to some extent like where they've redeveloped Elston and even down on their luck area like Maywood can adapt (Kiddieland gives way to Costco...) but it certainly is repulsive to the Ivory Tower types that want everything to fit their pinko world view of artisans hand crafting head scarves for a subsistence level existence...

[Lucky Clover]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I have never seen these things as "city vs suburbs". The reality is that despite the loud trumpeting of some mindless boosters of "rails over car" the CITY IS BECOMING MORE LIKE THE SUBURBS because of natural market forces (and inability of the city to afford the transit infrastructure once dreamed of...).

When the burden of ill thought tax breaks shifts pulls businesses not from other states but from one part of the region to another the losers are all taxpayers that are left to make up those giveaways.

A wiser way to deal with these issues is by working in a broad regional way but decades of criminal profit taking by elected official in some cities has made such things all but impossible.

And still the low information voters return the crooks to office.


This is NOT just something to blame on Amazon.com -- there are lots of VERY successful retailers with business models that depend heavily on physical stores, the key is that those stores, whether they are small places like Trader Joe or enormous places like Wal~Mart or Costco respond quickly to the shifts in consumer tastes. That requires a fast moving logistics chain which is best served by an efficient system of trucks and roadways... Distributuion centers in places like Bolingbrook feed into high volume roadways in places like Schaumburg, Naperville or Oak Brook. The city can do this to some extent like where they've redeveloped Elston and even down on their luck area like Maywood can adapt (Kiddieland gives way to Costco...) but it certainly is repulsive to the Ivory Tower types that want everything to fit their pinko world view of artisans hand crafting head scarves for a subsistence level existence...

Andddddddddddddd there it is....

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I have never seen these things as "city vs suburbs". The reality is that despite the loud trumpeting of some mindless boosters of "rails over car" the CITY IS BECOMING MORE LIKE THE SUBURBS because of natural market forces (and inability of the city to afford the transit infrastructure once dreamed of...).

Chet, do you define zoning as a "natural market force"?

[chet everett]

When I went to school the term "natural market forces" was understood to be equivelent to to "supply and demand" -- things that are in demand will see their price rise and things that are available in excess see their price fall.

In the view most economists have about zoning the desire for landowners to maximize the value of their property is generally enhanced by a cooperative view that sees compatible land uses clustered together, thus residential districts give way to retail corridors and industrial activity is grouped so that it benefits from having a concentration of synergistic uses. In the micro- view towns that recognize the value of requiring things like specific setbacks for aesthetics or some minimal radius for loading docks benefit from having zoning codes that allow landlords to charge higher rents. I am aware that there are those that believe urban planning can force unpopular behaviors upon citizens but my experiencce is that such efforts as as futile as those of landscapers to confine college students to a single perimeter sidewalk when anyone with half a brain can see that a diagonal path is more desirable

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by chet everett

When I went to school the term "natural market forces" was understood to be equivelent to to "supply and demand" -- things that are in demand will see their price rise and things that are available in excess see their price fall.

Ah, but you see, here is the rub - the amount of land in Chicago is fixed. But what are you allowed to do with it/build on it is rather fluid, depending on how well you can play the zoning game.

Zoning is IMO a perfect example of how the idea of a free market and a pure supply & demand chart is utterly laughable.

With zoning, the government in the stroke of a pen can raise the value of your land or lower it, on an exponential level.

What do you think would sell for more, a parcel zoned for single family, or one zoned for a skyscraper?

Same question, but throw in the mix a parcel across the street, and instead of considering only residential density, throw in manufacturing (and heavy vs. light) and truck traffic and pollution.

Econ 101 textbook crapola aside, join me in the real world and tell me what you think.