Opinion: Chicago Will Rise Again! (Montgomery, Fulton: homeowners insurance, schools, contractor)

[midwest1]

And a summary, not from me, of the Gary housing market.

https://learn.roofstock.com/blog/gar...-estate-market

[RegionAire]

Originally Posted by midwest1

Hi owmuch do you want to bet? Gary is about to shock a lot of people ..unlike the ICY COLD north shore that gradually angles Northwest towars Milwaukee and oblivion....the South Shore follows the natural curve of the Lake towards the Southoand East, basically towards everything Chicago is connected to, on a larger scale

Well, I kind of get your enthusiasm but it seems a bit polyanna. Take a drive out of Miller sometime and get back to me. There are no million dollar homes being built on 15th Street, or in Glen Park, or anywhere else in Gary. Just devastation and waste.

If I was 40 years younger, I would buy an entire city block and sit on it. Gary is a geographic gold mine...in the future. Until then, the population will continue to decline but at least buildings will get demolished to make way for development.

[midwest1]

I disagree. A close friend of mine is a top region real estate guy and he said more and more rehabbing is happening throughout the city, not just Miller and Glen Park. I'm not a native of the Region, when I talk to folks in Chesterton Highland Crown Point, region natives, they are so negative on Gary...often for personal/family history reasons.

It's the Chicagoans/Illinoisans that are driving the Renaissance. The 46403 area code (Miller/Aetna) saw SunBelt level growth in the last census. That will continue. Again, I will bet money the city will either grow or stop shrinking in the next ten years.

[RegionAire]

Originally Posted by midwest1

I disagree. A close friend of mine is a top region real estate guy and he said more and more rehabbing is happening throughout the city, not just Miller and Glen Park. I'm not a native of the Region, when I talk to folks in Chesterton Highland Crown Point, region natives, they are so negative on Gary...often for personal/family history reasons.

It's the Chicagoans/Illinoisans that are driving the Renaissance. The 46403 area code (Miller/Aetna) saw SunBelt level growth in the last census. That will continue. Again, I will bet money the city will either grow or stop shrinking in the next ten years.

Renaissance...Sun Belt level growth. I'm a Region native and I can't ever see those happening without a major political structure rehab first. The reason for skepticism is we have witnessed decades of appalling corruption and outright theft from the citizens of Gary by their elected officials. Again, it's a gold mine that nobody can dig until competent machinery is installed. We've squatted on the OP's thread long enough! Be good.

[midwest1]

I don't necessarily think this is highjacking the thread. I grew up on the North Shore, lived all over the North Side and never gave a thought to NWI/theRegion/Gary.

My point is that Chicago is lucky to border a small-government, low tax, biz-friendly suburban region such as NWI. Going forward, the Regions growth will actually help Chicago/land get back it's mojo.

The urban core of the Region (WhitingHammondEastChicagoGary) peaked at almost 400,000 residents, now down to around 200,000. If these cities can manage to start to turn around and thrive, which I believe they really are, that offers Chicago area residents an affordable urban lifestyle at a fraction the cost of the city or other urban burbs such as Evanston or Oak Park...with much better beaches

For a few generations, the elite of Chicago/land lived to the North, NW, and West. The Region was the ugly stepchild of both the Metro and the State of Indiana. Well, that is shifting quickly. The Region is on a roll, and Gary is just one part of that story. Eventually, Chicago will begin to realize that Gary/the Region are a definite plus for Chicagolands's future.

[IronWright]

Originally Posted by midwest1

I don't necessarily think this is highjacking the thread. I grew up on the North Shore, lived all over the North Side and never gave a thought to NWI/theRegion/Gary.

My point is that Chicago is lucky to border a small-government, low tax, biz-friendly suburban region such as NWI. Going forward, the Regions growth will actually help Chicago/land get back it's mojo.

The urban core of the Region (WhitingHammondEastChicagoGary) peaked at almost 400,000 residents, now down to around 200,000. If these cities can manage to start to turn around and thrive, which I believe they really are, that offers Chicago area residents an affordable urban lifestyle at a fraction the cost of the city or other urban burbs such as Evanston or Oak Park...with much better beaches

For a few generations, the elite of Chicago/land lived to the North, NW, and West. The Region was the ugly stepchild of both the Metro and the State of Indiana. Well, that is shifting quickly. The Region is on a roll, and Gary is just one part of that story. Eventually, Chicago will begin to realize that Gary/the Region are a definite plus for Chicagolands's future.

I definitely agree that Northwest Indiana is on an upward trajectory. Michigan City is seeing major public/private investments. Many Chicagoans own 2nd homes in Long Beach and spend weekends in Michigan City. The South Shore's double track project is under construction currently and kicking off a string of downtown developments.

The city has also reached a deal with a Fortune 500 company that's yet to be announced to build a manufacturing facility on 150 acres within the city that will bring hundreds of "high paying jobs."

https://www.insideindianabusiness.co...y%20the%20city.

$80 million mixed-use development with new train station:



$240 million mixed-use hotel/apartment/condo/retail building:



$40 million apartment building:



Plans for a mixed-use development with a Riverwalk across from the casino:

[midwest1]

I love Michigan City!

[Urbanphile]

Dc metro has moved past Chicago in stature and economy. What most don’t realize is that Chicago will only maintain as its best scenario.
The high property taxes will continually have significant retirees relocate and move elsewhere for better weather/lower carrying costs for their homes. Companies will also potentially relocate to the south, as that region is forecast to contain more than 40% of nations population in 20 years.

[IronWright]

Originally Posted by Urbanphile

Dc metro has moved past Chicago in stature and economy. What most don’t realize is that Chicago will only maintain as its best scenario.
The high property taxes will continually have significant retirees relocate and move elsewhere for better weather/lower carrying costs for their homes. Companies will also potentially relocate to the south, as that region is forecast to contain more than 40% of nations population in 20 years.

I've said many times on here that Chicago is at the forefront of what is believed to be the future economy by being the U.S. hub of quantum networking and by having the only School of Molecular Engineering in the nation at UChicago.

Scientists at the school just made a breakthrough discovery of a new material that can be made like plastic but conducts electricity more efficiently than metal. They exposed it to heat, air & humidity, chilled it, and dipped it in acid and nothing impacted its function. The material can be shaped in any imaginable form and can be made at room temperature. This could potentially revolutionize processing and electronics technology.

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/univ...conducts-metal

If Chicago is where the next generation Intel, Google and Apple equivalents are founded we can throw out every bleak projection for the city. The U.S. Dept. of Energy, Illinois, Chicago, Argonne, Fermilab, UChicago, Northwestern, UIC etc. are all working together on a collaborative effort to establish the "quantum internet." Those involved equate it to the type of early investments and cooperation between government and academia that led to the creation of Silicon Valley. David Awschalom believes the scope will be similar. "Maintaining" being Chicago's "best scenario" is understating how valuable the work/research being done in Chicago is and the role the city will play being the center of R&D for quantum initiates.

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by Urbanphile

Dc metro has moved past Chicago in stature and economy. What most don’t realize is that Chicago will only maintain as its best scenario.
The high property taxes will continually have significant retirees relocate and move elsewhere for better weather/lower carrying costs for their homes. Companies will also potentially relocate to the south, as that region is forecast to contain more than 40% of nations population in 20 years.

DC has high taxes too and a higher cost of living than Chicago. DC winters are milder than Chicago's for sure (anyone recall President Obama, the Chicago native, scoffing at the schools being closed after 1/2 inch of snow fell on the ground?) but the summers are scorching hot and humid with no sea or lake breeze. The thing that props up Metro DC are all of those well paying private contractor jobs for companies doing business with the Federal Government. The trend is for such companies to locate near DC but that trend does not necessarily have to hold in the future. As for the South, it has its problems too. There will likely come a time when we have an economically conservative president balk at giving enormous amounts of aid to southern states to assist them from ever increasing weather and climate disasters (hurricanes, drought, etc.) and erstwhile Northern state residents will realize that moving down there wasn't all that was made to be. It is then that places like Chicago will look good again.