Chicago's "brain drain" and culture of "mediocrity" (Lincoln: homes, to buy)

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Ah yes, the people who have come to be known as "bros". You yourself have said that this group doesn't define Lake View, and that they are a small subset of a larger neighborhood. And frankly, a lot of them are from Chicago suburbs, which certainly make up most of the student population of UIUC.

Lake View is a huge onion, with a whole lot of layers.

On the one hand it's a mecca for young twenty-somethings from Big 10 schools. On the other it provides social service networks that the vast majority of Chicago (regardless of color) seemingly refuses to. A battered women's shelter, a national runaway organization, Wellington UCC, etc., etc.

There are also quite a few older people and retirees who have paid off their homes or condos and are likely invisible to most of us here.

Dwarfing all of these groups IMO is an increasingly well-educated upper middle class that is harder to neatly summarize.

For years and years I have met people from around the City (all 3 sides), country (both sides of the Mason-Dixon) and the world (both hemispheres) who have moved to Lake View.

The schools are increasingly seen as desirable, and the infrastructure and housing stock are very good. But the bigger driver is it's fun. Wrigley, concert venues, bars, restaurants, etc. You can travel around the world in terms of experiencing authentic cuisine and music.

My general sense is, people's experiences in a community as large as LV are dictated by their own habits and routines. The Community Area has roughly 95,000 people. (Champaign has ~ 80,000, Urbana ~ 40,000 by way of comparison)

So to the topic - there is nothing resembling a brain drain in Lake View. There is no exodus of anybody, of any color. Quite the opposite, it is attracting the creative class types who want to put down roots and stay in a dense urban neighborhood.

I distinguish these folks from the traditional "grew up in the burbs, work/play in the City, raise the kids in the burbs" demographic, but there is definitely an overlap.

The only drain happening in LV is poorer and lower middle class folks, who get squeezed by the rents and overall higher cost of living.

[Lookout Kid]

^^I have to agree with the above. It goes against the "Lake View is just a post-college frat party" meme that's all over the internet and popular press, and those of us who have longer, more in-depth experiences of the neighborhood know this is not the whole story.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

Chicago has some serious history. If there was a book written about the true history of corruption, racism, gang culture and architecture, it would be a best seller.

Royko's books about Mayor Daley I were excellent, and sold fairly well, too, I believe..

[MichiVegas]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

So to the topic - there is nothing resembling a brain drain in Lake View. There is no exodus of anybody, of any color. Quite the opposite, it is attracting the creative class types who want to put down roots and stay in a dense urban neighborhood.

The vast majority of the yuppie crowd in Lakeview departs for the suburbs once kids come around. You're right that there is no net "brain drain", because younger people take their place, and the cycle repeats, but that doesn't mean that most people don't just look at it as a temporary stopoff.

If you have money and kids, there are better locations (IMO). If you don't, you wouldn't have bought/rented there in the first place.

Just thinking of a condo building I know extremely well, of the 12 units, I think only 2 are owner-occupied (one a gay couple, another a single woman, no kids with bot) and the rest are renter-occupied, (almost all with people ages 25-40 just married or coupled and sometimes with pre school-age kids). These renters move to the suburbs once kids reach around 3-4, and the condo owners (living in the suburbs) then rent to the next couple moving into that 30-something stage of life.

This is a building constructed mid-2000's, just south of Belmont, west of Broadway, on one of the best blocks in ELV (possibly best block in this general vicinity).

So the neighborhood is thriving, and will probably always be so, but is something of a transient "middle-ground" area, for people with too much money and age to be living in Streeterville or River North One Bedrooms, but not quite ready to head off to Northbrook. This is the compromise, and it works well for a few years.

These families don't want to pay for Latin (or can't pay), CPS sucks compared to the nicer burbs, and Catholic schools aren't that good, aren't that cheap, and not for everyone. Winters like this, with a 2-year-old cooped up in an urban condo, you will be screaming for a back yard and basement.

[grapico]

I don't see why Chicago couldn't get to CA or NYC/DC levels in top jobs though. I think that was the point, but right now the top industry jobs (for some industries) just aren't there. I have to admit, I felt a bit stifled in Chicago job wise. For me in tech, and now in a specialized media field, there are definitely better opportunities elsewhere. By better I mean, more numerous, higher paying and more room for career advancement. Other industries could fare differently though, I can't really speak for them. It was a prime determinate in leaving not once but twice. I worked in Chicago plus was later educated in Chicago , so I guess I'd be included in this "brain drain." Yes Chicago is cheap, however part of the reasons places like SF, DC, NYC, LA are so expensive is you have quite a bit more people in higher salary positions that boost the rent. Personally I think the problem stems most from city and state leadership positions.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by MichiVegas

The vast majority of the yuppie crowd in Lakeview departs for the suburbs once kids come around. You're right that there is no net "brain drain", because younger people take their place, and the cycle repeats, but that doesn't mean that most people don't just look at it as a temporary stopoff.

If you have money and kids, there are better locations (IMO). If you don't, you wouldn't have bought/rented there in the first place.

I think there's some truth to that, but it varies widely depending which swath of LV you're looking at. The high rise buildings between LSD and Broadway are not filled with majority young people who aren't settled. There are more kids there than you would ever believe, and extremely successful people who own the units. Just look at Nettlehorst, Chicago Day School, Mt. Carmel - you have a lot of neighborhood kids, you just don't likely notice them unless you are near a school right before/after the bells ring.

Broadway - Sheffield seems more transient like you describe. But once you start moving west and hitting Racine, Lakewood, Southport, etc., you are talking city lots that are now worth over half a million bucks. And there are plenty of nuclear families happily settled in there.

Anyone remember Chili Macs on Broadway? The owner moved next door to us (near Agassiz) in the late 80s. Bought a dilapidated 2 flat, gutted and converted it to a beautiful and functional SFH. There are way more people like that than you'd know if what you do in LV is just hit places geared towards twenty-somethings.

And no slam on twenty-somethings is intended, btw - when I was 25 I sure as hell wasn't doing anything that put me in an orbit with people even in their mid-30s and up.

[marothisu]

^ Agreed. Only part of Lakeview is transitional. I know many people in Lakeview in their 30s to 50s who have lived there for years, who are settled down. I know others who have moved from there, but it's to other parts of town. Lakeview East, for example, is a pretty quiet and solid area full of many different types of people. Yes there's transplants abound, but many of them do stay there even after they're married.

Actually I have a friend who lives just off Sheffield and is getting married in a few months. He's moving to Southport with his now fiance after they get married. I have another friend who lived in Lincoln Park and moved to Southport after he got married last year.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by MassVt

Royko's books about Mayor Daley I were excellent, and sold fairly well, too, I believe..

Boss is a classic, but it is pretty focused on Da Mare. I highly, highly recommend the published collections of his columns:

One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko: Mike Royko: 9780226730721: Amazon.com: Books

There are a few like this, I re-read them every couple of years.

[Lookout Kid]

At one time we had planned to settle in Lake View in the Nettlehorst School District with our family (we lived just north of there). Keep in mind that many of the CPS K-8 "neighborhood schools" that have improved are in Lake View due to families staying there (Nettlehorst, Burley, Blaine). Other decent CPS options are beginning to emerge. Mt. Carmel has served the area for many many years. Park View Montessori and the Lycee Francais were just across Irving Park Road from Lake View for many years. The real estate ain't cheap, and it's definitely not within the realm of possibility for everyone--but you see increasing numbers of well off families staying in Lake View indefinitely.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

Boss is a classic, but it is pretty focused on Da Mare. I highly, highly recommend the published collections of his columns:

One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko: Mike Royko: 9780226730721: Amazon.com: Books

There are a few like this, I re-read them every couple of years.

"Like I Was Sayin'" is also a very good compilation...