Macy's hit during the looting, will now vacate Water Tower Place (Magnificent Mile) (Chicago: lease, violent crime)

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by NoMansLands

So what can Chicago do RIGHT NOW ?
The city can enter the disadvantaged neighborhoods with truckloads of food and necessities and give it out for free. The city can also get the word out that looting will not be tolerated and that the penalties will be severe, essentially saying "no more steal freebies" come get the ones offered.
Is this giving out too much "free stuff" as some republicans snidely complain about?

Yes and no, while feeding the people so to speak is always a good idea; it also reinforces the very government dependence/low self-esteem you spoke of.
Building trades are a good way to go, I've known more than 1 gang member who expressed the desire to learn. Money for alternative education is generally an easy sell to taxpayers, this could be of more benefit in the long-term; and male mentoring programs since so many have incarcerated fathers.

[NoHyping]

Should also be noted that Mayor Lightfoot released a statement on the very possible/likely loss of N Mich Macy's and noted that still back in Febuary. Macy's notified the mall owners that they would probably not renew their lease when it was up.

https://chicago-suntimes-com.cdn.amp...ayor-lightfoot

Lord and Taylor vacated the other side space in 2006 when the New Mall owners wanted a tenant that was willing to pay more rent. That turned out to be. The American Girl store.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...om-water-tower

Lord and Taylor then also closed the State St store that year due to poor sales claimed.

[columbusboy8]

Originally Posted by NoMansLands

I feel your pain, who would want to invest in an area after riots and looting if there was no protection going forward? Just about nobody. That's why the Mag Mile has to be protected. It's also Chicago's core, tourism spot, and an area that keeps Chicago as a reputable and desirable place to live and visit. Let that disintegrate and people and businesses will leave. Stopping the rioting and looting is crucial, not an option. The sooner the better and less fall out.
However......something must be replaced for the black population, income. There's going to be more B&E if income during covid is not there. Many of these people do not qualify for unemployment, or very little. I remember waitressing during some of my college years and most tipping was under the table, official wage was $2.51 at the time. How are these types of job history supposed to get by on whatever is given to them for unemployment? Bottom line is people are going to do whatever they have to do to survive, survival comes before morality of obeying the law. To those who might dispute that, I ask them to honestly answer what they are going to do if they are going to get evicted and have nowhere to go. Steal or get evicted? I think it's a no brainer for most people. And yes, not all of those looters are poor people going to be evicted, some are just opportunists. However we can't ignore the fact that many lower paid jobs are tips and similar that are not replaced by unemployment. Some of these people may accept their fate and move in together in even more cramped quarters to survive, sure. But when a person's luck has run out and they see other options they may take them, legal or not. I'm just asking people to think through what it truly must be like to live a life of hardship.
Yes it is time to let the "I'm a descendent of slavery so something is owed to me" mindset go. But it is not time to let go that most poor black people are severely at a disadvantage by their education level and marketable skill level. You and I Sunbiz, do not know what it is like to not be able to form a proper sentence in the English language or spell the words or fill out a job application. That is not common in severely impoverished neighborhoods. We so often forget just how much of a disadvantage there is. How to look through the eyes of a young black man that does not understand the question on a job application.

I believe there is also a severe low self esteem problem that is pervasive in the impoverished neighborhoods. "Pull yourself up by your boot straps" I don't believe exists as a mindset if you have no history pulling up your boot straps successfully within your family, neighborhood, or inner city culture as having ever had a better life. It's like believing in living on Mars. We have to at least consider that this is true and remember that these people do suffer from this. They've never known high self esteem, they don't know what it feels like. I truly believe they suffer from culturally low self esteem mass depression.
As for your comment that they need to unite, unfortunately they do seem to have organized to unite.....they've united on social media for planned mass lootings. Not what we would hope for. We must react to the truth of the moment not what we hope they would do or what we would do.
So what can Chicago do RIGHT NOW ?
The city can enter the disadvantaged neighborhoods with truckloads of food and necessities and give it out for free. The city can also get the word out that looting will not be tolerated and that the penalties will be severe, essentially saying "no more steal freebies" come get the ones offered.
Is this giving out too much "free stuff" as some republicans snidely complain about?
No, it is no different than the offerings during the great depression. This pandemic is similar. Exteme times call for extreme measures.
Yes black people need to help out here, and I'm sure many are speaking out against what the criminals are doing.
I fully agree that ignoring the black inner city murder rate is akin to genocide. The police force in those neighborhoods needs to be massive all the time until it stops, cameras on every corner, national guard, whatever it takes. And you know what is sad about all of that? It's convincing black people that they do indeed matter enough to protect their lives, that the rest of us CARE ENOUGH to do something about it. That we would send in the troops not to penalize them, but to protect them. Getting that message across is not easy, the black community themselves must be involved.

Since Obama, Clinton, Harris, Pelosi, Sharpton, etc. don't TRULY care about black people, why should white people care, especially since ONLY Black Lives Matter to black people. Interesting comments, but blacks aren't going to guilt me into helping them, as long as they whine and play the black card ad nauseum! Many of their problems are their own fault! Don't deny that!

[Robert9]

Originally Posted by columbusboy8

Since Obama, Clinton, Harris, Pelosi, Sharpton, etc. don't TRULY care about black people, why should white people care, especially since ONLY Black Lives Matter to black people. Interesting comments, but blacks aren't going to guilt me into helping them, as long as they whine and play the black card ad nauseum! Many of their problems are their own fault! Don't deny that!

Hard to argue with any of that.

[MaryleeII]

Originally Posted by Jimmyp25

First domino ...soon the magnificent mile will be the new 8 mile

Well put!

[dtcbnd03]

On one hand...Macy's has been on the decline for years. I visit the State and Michigan locations and their stores feel tired and empty. It's simply waaaay too much retail space for the online world. I expect Macy's to file bankruptcy in the next five years due to covid and online retail.

On the other hand....this is the epitome of why businesses do not invest in Chicago's black neighborhoods. Why invest when your stores are constantly destroyed, looted, etc. Macy's is a snapshot of the numerous businesses that have pulled out of black hoods creating retail and food deserts we hear about all the time. Yet we don't hear about that in Asian, Hispanic, Indian, etc etc etc hoods.

[Robert9]

Originally Posted by dtcbnd03

On one hand...Macy's has been on the decline for years. I visit the State and Michigan locations and their stores feel tired and empty. It's simply waaaay too much retail space for the online world. I expect Macy's to file bankruptcy in the next five years due to covid and online retail.

On the other hand....this is the epitome of why businesses do not invest in Chicago's black neighborhoods. Why invest when your stores are constantly destroyed, looted, etc. Macy's is a snapshot of the numerous businesses that have pulled out of black hoods creating retail and food deserts we hear about all the time. Yet we don't hear about that in Asian, Hispanic, Indian, etc etc etc hoods.

That is exactly right!

[NoMansLands]

What's the answer then? If not kindness and trying to bridge the divide? This is a serious question.
Do we have the police come down hard on looters?
What do we do if that means another black person is dead at the hands of the police which then leads to more rioting? We don't want a repeat of '68.
What is the solution?

[dtcbnd03]

Originally Posted by NoMansLands

What's the answer then? If not kindness and trying to bridge the divide? This is a serious question.
Do we have the police come down hard on looters?
What do we do if that means another black person is dead at the hands of the police which then leads to more rioting? We don't want a repeat of '68.
What is the solution?

The solution is two fold:

White people and police need to understand reform is necessary. Black people can not be treated like second class citizens. While we are a majority white country we have to understand that minorities should be treated equally and with respect and the same opportunities as others. The few cops that clearly abuse their powers like in the case of George Floyd and Philando Castile need to be held accountable legally. Simple adjustments to mindsets will go a long way.

Black people need to review their own culture and start to emulate others when it comes to families, values and work ethic. Look to the Asian, Hispanic and Indian communities for perfect examples. This "us against the world" mentality will not work. Also no one will listen when they continue to kill thousands of their own while calling out the handful of cases where its done by a white/cop. They have to realize that there is an appropriate "margin of error" when cops deal with citizens and some shootings are justified even if they appear incorrect when slowed down and reviewed by the media. Much different given split second decisions. Some examples are Breonna Taylor and Rayshard Brooks.

In the meantime we need a strong leader that comes down HARD on those who break the law. I'm all for stop and frisk too in communities based on violent stats. Either get your violent crime stats under x% and until then do stop and frisk.

[TBideon]

The rumor the last few years was the Loop's Marshall Fields/Macy's was on the verge of closing, They even vacated several higher floors. And just because Water Tower's branch is closing (maybe) doesn't mean the Loop's is out of the woods.

It's all so sad. This is a pretty bad time in our country, and Chicago in particular.