Is Chicago the new Detroit? (place, expensive, live, state)

[dementor]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

Chicago gained population from 1990 to 2000. It remains to be seen whether it gained population from 2000 to 2010.

It did, but it does not change the fact that it lost 700,000 isnce 1950.
In other words, Chicago is smaller and less dense than it was 60 years ago. The city is shrinking, which is especially strange since, unlike Boston or New York, it does not have any competition in the area.

[NowInWI]

"Chicago and it's suburbs have been home to some of the fastest growing areas of the country", according to cencus data released 3/19/09. "Chicago had the seventh largest population increase in the country."Chicago-Area Population Grows: New Census Data

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by dementor

It did, but it does not change the fact that it lost 700,000 isnce 1950.
In other words, Chicago is smaller and less dense than it was 60 years ago. The city is shrinking, which is especially strange since, unlike Boston or New York, it does not have any competition in the area.

So Chicago lost 20% of its population. Boston has lost 25%. Does that mean Boston is dying at a faster rate than Chicago?

PS: Holy crap! Pittsburgh has lost 50% of its population since 1950. That's almost as bad as Detroit. Maybe Pittsburgh is the next Detroit.

[northEnd]

Originally Posted by NowInWI

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Chicago metro had the nation's fourth fastest growing county (Kendall County). Ninety-four of the top 100 fastest growing counties were in the South or West, and the remaining six were in the Midwest. (U.S. Census Bureau News press release 3/19/09).

Kendall County is where Wayne and Garth are from!

It's as far from Chicago as NH is from Boston.

[Hendu]

Originally Posted by northEnd

Hey, that tall building on the right is where I work. If you paid attention to the photo, you could see that the sun has barely risen. Do people shop in Chicago at 7 AM?

And for the record, shopping is not one of the ways Bostonians measure the quality of any city, but clearly it is for Chicagoans.

Sure, the death of a major and historical downtown shopping district is no biggie to Bostonians.

Downtown Crossing still at crossroads - Boston Business Journal:

Maybe you guys can take a page from Chicago.

Chicago's pedestrian mall solution: traffic - The Boston Globe

And just for good measure, here's one on Boston's office vacancy rate.

Greater Boston vacancy rates spiked in Q1 - Boston Business Journal:

[NowInWI]

Originally Posted by northEnd

Kendall County is where Wayne and Garth are from!

It's as far from Chicago as NH is from Boston.

Anyone can look at a map and see that's not true.

[dementor]

Originally Posted by NowInWI

"Chicago and it's suburbs have been home to some of the fastest growing areas of the country", according to cencus data released 3/19/09. "Chicago had the seventh largest population increase in the country."Chicago-Area Population Grows: New Census Data

Stranegely they did not post any numbers for Chicago proper....

[oakparkdude]

Population change of large, established pre-automobile cities since 1950 census :

NYC +5%
Chicago -20%
Boston -25%
Phlly -25%
DC -25%
Baltimore -33%
Cincinnati -33%
Pittsburgh -50%
Detroit -50%
Cleveland -50%
St. Louis -60%

All of these cities (except NYC, of course) hit their peak population at the time of the 1950 census. Suburbanization since then has led to near uniform population losses of these cities. Some of these cities have recently seen a reversal of their population loss, while others continue to plummet.

[dementor]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

Population change of large, established pre-automobile cities since 1950 census :

NYC +5%
Chicago -20%
Boston -25%
Phlly -25%
DC -25%
Baltimore -33%
Detroit -50%
Cleveland -50%
St. Louis -60%

It's hard to believe that New York can still grow. I have not seen those number before but I remember seeing a table where Chicago was still losing population in the past 10 years while most cities with exception of Philiy and possibly Boston was gaining...

[NowInWI]

Originally Posted by dementor

Stranegely they did not post any numbers for Chicago proper....

Strange or not, it says Chicago and it's suburbs are home to some of the largest and fastest-growing areas of the country.