Why did Chicago start losing population so suddenly? (Justice: sales, apartment)

[BigLake]

Originally Posted by Screenwriter70

Who in their right mind would choose to move to Chicago? Or any city with half a million + people?

People who like progressive, vibrant, urban environments that offer an opportunity for very high-paying jobs, career development in their field and numerous ancillary career and educational opportunities. Also, cultural, dining, sports and entertainment options that one could *never* contemplate in cities with less than half a million people. Chicago certainly has a number issues (and more now so than perhaps a dozen years ago), but it's still one the 3-5 most attractive urban cities in the U.S., and frankly, in the upper half of that 3-5.

Not picking on you, but urban city dwellers could very easily turn the tables on your question and ask why anyone would want to live in a small city or rural environment. It's a trade-off. It's fine to challenge the status quo, but people need to make decisions that are right for them and not decry or call to judgment decisions of others.

[Bluefox]

Immigration is the main factor, with the tax climate being a not distant second. Chicago never got another infusion of immigration like what it saw in the 1990s. LA and New York are also hemorrhaging domestic migrants, but immigration is still fairly high there. But domestically, they are in as bad if not worse shape than Chicago.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by BigLake

It's trade-off. It's fine to challenge the status quo, but people need to make decisions that are right for them and not decry or call to judgment decisions of others.

LOL!! In this political climate, neither side is keeping with this advice, at all, as good as it might be. We very rapidly morphed into basically two different societies. You could see this coming for a while but over the last few years it's really taken hold.

Anyway, I definitely think the immigration factor is huge with respect to Chicago's population loss. From the early 1990s up until the housing crash, the economy was booming here in a way that had never been seen before, so so we drew a lot of immigrants, mostly from Mexico. They filled up Little Village and Pilsen, and then started moving out to Berwyn, Cicero, Aurora, etc. Both of those Community areas lost substantial population between 2000 and 2010, as the suburbs became their preferred destination.

Other areas of course grew but generally, those saw smaller affluent households. What's interesting to me is why it started declining in 2014. I wonder what the significance of that year was. That's what I do not know. It's far enough removed from the housing crash and it wasn't like the economy was doing terrible. It wasn't doing great but we weren't in a recession or anything.

[Maki_Chicago]

We left after 20 years because we were only able to get a house in 2012 because property values tanked and interest rates were rock bottom; after that taxes kept climbing and health insurance through work was around 1200 a month for a crappy HMO. Couple that with taxes and the lousy (slow/ regularly skipped stop) public transport(no car to save $$) from our area and it was only a matter of time. I had said “I’ll never move.” 6 years Later I was gone. Now in northeast, and relatively high taxes seem like a relief. There was no way I could retire there.

I lived in Lakeview for 15 of the 20 and will always remember that time fondly.
Chicago is my kind of town, but I am not Chicago’s type.

Ps

I think health insurance/impact of taxation on employers and trickledown effect on employees may be a reason.

Also, all the families we knew left city when kids reached school age or they were affluent and sent them to private schools.

[Vlajos]

The recession ended and job growth picked up nationally providing better opportunities in places with lower cost of living. Lower income people got tired of the out of control violence in certain communities. The population loss is solely attributed to households making less than the area median income. Households making more are than the median are growing in the city.

[frimpter928]

It's a mix of things. Less immigrants which fueled a lot of that growth. Nowadays it's probably easier to make it as an immigrant in a city like Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, etc than a Chicago, SF, or LA.

Second thing is that both the city and the state are poorly run.

The shift from being a balanced blue collar and white collar city, to becoming more and more white collar, pushing the blue collar folks out.

Then there is the cold. The cold does not help one bit. I wouldn't say it's the prime factor, but it's definitely a factor. For me that is one of the reasons I want to leave.

Truth be told I love Chicago and it's my favorite US city, but if I weren't from here and let's say emigrating from another country, Chicago would not be as appealing as some other cities in the US. While not the most expensive, it's not the cheapest either, heavily taxed, and an economy that only caters to white collar professionals, with a corrupt government and some problems with violence. Then there is the cold.

If you are moving from another country, usually it's for a better life, and as much as I hate cities like Houston and Dallas, those cities definitely give you just as much opportunity while also making life that much more affordable.

[Chicago_Person]

Originally Posted by Screenwriter70

Who in their right mind would choose to move to Chicago? Or any city with half a million + people?

Stay in hickville. Get out of the Chicago forum.

[dtcbnd03]

Originally Posted by Screenwriter70

Who in their right mind would choose to move to Chicago? Or any city with half a million + people?

I would. Tons to see and do within walking distance of my front door or accessible by public transpo.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by frimpter928

Second thing is that both the city and the state are poorly run.

If you ever wanted to know what Illinois government would be like if Republicans ran it perpetually instead, look at Texas.

They just sacked their Speaker of the House for being a corrupt MF, and it barely made a news item.

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by jfre81

They just sacked their Speaker of the House for being a corrupt MF, and it barely made a news item.

The difference being that they sacked him. Our mobster of a SoH will probably be there until he dies of old age.

Also Texas isn't bad considering it is booming in fact many Illinois residents are moving there.