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Hi, I'm new to City-Data. I don't plan to be on much. I started this thread, because lots is going on in Chicago now. However, I'm not sure if the right things are going on in Chicago.
I believe my hometown is a beautiful city. However it needs to improve it's image. Most people do not respect the city of Chicago or the Mid-West for that matter. Everyone always says, "Who cares" or "So what" But If Chicago doesn't start gaining respect as a city. Our population will continue to decrease and people will avoid the Great City of Chicago.
You must be wondering. What are you talking about? We just got George Lucas Museum, and a lot of recent films have been filmed here. Tourism is up in Chicago, our Downtown has experienced population growth. We still got a president in the white house, and so on so on...All this is true, every now and then we come out of the shadows. But, is this all enough? How long would we remain out of the shadows? We get so caught up in our gains, we forget about continuous growth and gains. We often are put against NYC, SF, and LA. Many don't think we measure up to those cities. They see us as the next Detroit. It's a tired argument, but one that needs to be addressed. So far we haven't actually shown lasting positive improvements.
I think Chicago, needs to create it's own brand and identity. A brand outside of the whole Second City, Windy City, and City of Broad Shoulders stuff. These names are so old, and I think they make Chicago look more inferior. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I don't think Chicago needs to be like NYC or LA. I actually hate when everything we do New York or LA is Mentioned all the time. For Example: We have Broadway in Chicago??? we have a lot of streets named after cities in California and an actually street called California. With all these new movies, talks about "Hollywood" in Chicago have come up. This kind of stuff irritates me to no end. Which is weird, because the film industry started in Chicago. It is often forgotten because Chicago doesn't promote itself and allows outsiders to promote it. Sorry, this was long
Anywho tell me what you think we need to do to improve this. To separate ourselves from the negative, and other Major Cities.
I'll agree that the names like "Second City" are old. The thing is that it depends on who you talk to for reputation. For different people, Chicago has different reputations. For people who don't know much of anything about the city, they go off of what they hear in the news - like crime. For others, it's known as one of the top food cities in the US. For others, they think about music and festivals.
The things that need to be addressed are obviously crime and some sectors' unemployment rate. I think the thing with crime is that the media preys on peoples' stupidity when it comes to math. They will say that Chicago had the most homicides, which is true, but what they don't tell you is the homicide rate and why it's more important. Still bad, no doubt, but it's not top 10, but many people because they don't know these things just assume that the highest number = highest rate.
If the violent crime got better, then the entire reputation would come with. Still, there's a reason why the city is in the top 5 most visited cities in the country. There's still many positives, and there's many people who understand this and understand that there's a lot to do and you won't be in danger doing so necessarily. There are many projects going on right now to bring in more tourists, and tourism is one way to get the city $$. Money that can be used in many other positive ways more than just attracting even more tourists.
I'll agree that the names like "Second City" are old. The thing is that it depends on who you talk to for reputation. For different people, Chicago has different reputations. For people who don't know much of anything about the city, they go off of what they hear in the news - like crime. For others, it's known as one of the top food cities in the US. For others, they think about music and festivals.
The things that need to be addressed are obviously crime and some sectors' unemployment rate. I think the thing with crime is that the media preys on peoples' stupidity when it comes to math. They will say that Chicago had the most homicides, which is true, but what they don't tell you is the homicide rate and why it's more important. Still bad, no doubt, but it's not top 10, but many people because they don't know these things just assume that the highest number = highest rate.
If the violent crime got better, then the entire reputation would come with. Still, there's a reason why the city is in the top 5 most visited cities in the country. There's still many positives, and there's many people who understand this and understand that there's a lot to do and you won't be in danger doing so necessarily. There are many projects going on right now to bring in more tourists, and tourism is one way to get the city $$. Money that can be used in many other positive ways more than just attracting even more tourists.
I agree that Chicago has many different reputations to different people. It's great that we're amongst the top being toured. But tourism doesn't equal people wanting to stay. Our City is still shrinking in most neighborhoods. How do we get people to actually want to live here. I feel crime wouldn't be an issue if we gave people other things to focus on. We don't advert attention away from crime by promoting our positives. Instead we expect people to see our greatness on their own. And it doesn't work like that. Lots of cities have high crime areas. But it doesn't stop people from living in those cities or making them second homes.
I agree that Chicago has many different reputations to different people. It's great that we're amongst the top being toured. But tourism doesn't equal people wanting to stay. Our City is still shrinking in most neighborhoods. How do we get people to actually want to live here. I feel crime wouldn't be an issue if we gave people other things to focus on. We don't advert attention away from crime by promoting our positives. Instead we expect people to see our greatness on their own. And it doesn't work like that. Lots of cities have high crime areas. But it doesn't stop people from living in those cities or making them second homes.
It doesn't 100% equal people wanting to stay, but that's true of everywhere. There are many people who I've met who have moved to Chicago because they visited and liked it enough and wanted to come back. There is no doubt that tourism has an immediate impact on who wants to move there. Someone who lives in a place where they want something better and visits any city and has an amazing time will start thinking about that. I've even met a few people who visited Chicago and literally never went back to where they were from. So yeah, it's not 100%, but nothing is anywhere. It easily helps with bringing in new residents though. Assuming that people never want to come back is so false. I've met my fair share of tourists who say "I'd love to live here" upon their visits.
The thing that you may not be realizing is the population migration. There are a lot of lower and lower middle class people who've been in Chicago for awhile moving out because there are better opportunities elsewhere. On the other hand, there are others moving in. Is it as many as those moving out? Maybe not, but to think that people aren't coming and moving into the city is false. There are actually a number of people moving in, just like there are those who are moving out. I pay very close attention to new construction in Chicago. Very, very close. I tallied up some totals YTD the other day and so far this year there have been about 4000 units in multi unit/mixed use buildings that have been permitted this year as new construction and another almost 300 single family homes. Then there's about 500+ more units that are conversions (i.e. places that were industrial use before) with more in the pipeline that have hit the zoning board lately. Now, this isn't going to compare to cities like Houston, but there's a reason why these things are getting permitted - because there's actual demand for it. This is counting the entire city, not just downtown or Lincoln Park or whatever (actually, Lincoln Park doesn't have a ton going on. Bronzeville actually has more going on right now).
You're right too in that all cities have high crime areas, but Chicago gets a really bad reputation for it, even if the rates aren't top 10. The media paints it as if it's #1 in rate. Most other cities do not get this treatment, including Detroit which has a homicide rate 3X higher than Chicago. Most people talking crap about Chicago has to do with the crime, so if that improved then you'd hear about it less (also, the fact that Obama is from Chicago has to do with the media taking swings at it).
It doesn't 100% equal people wanting to stay, but that's true of everywhere. There are many people who I've met who have moved to Chicago because they visited and liked it enough and wanted to come back. There is no doubt that tourism has an immediate impact on who wants to move there. Someone who lives in a place where they want something better and visits any city and has an amazing time will start thinking about that. I've even met a few people who visited Chicago and literally never went back to where they were from. So yeah, it's not 100%, but nothing is anywhere. It easily helps with bringing in new residents though. Assuming that people never want to come back is so false. I've met my fair share of tourists who say "I'd love to live here" upon their visits.
The thing that you may not be realizing is the population migration. There are a lot of lower and lower middle class people who've been in Chicago for awhile moving out because there are better opportunities elsewhere. On the other hand, there are others moving in. Is it as many as those moving out? Maybe not, but to think that people aren't coming and moving into the city is false. There are actually a number of people moving in, just like there are those who are moving out. I pay very close attention to new construction in Chicago. Very, very close. I tallied up some totals YTD the other day and so far this year there have been about 4000 units in multi unit/mixed use buildings that have been permitted this year as new construction and another almost 300 single family homes. Then there's about 500+ more units that are conversions (i.e. places that were industrial use before) with more in the pipeline that have hit the zoning board lately. Now, this isn't going to compare to cities like Houston, but there's a reason why these things are getting permitted - because there's actual demand for it. This is counting the entire city, not just downtown or Lincoln Park or whatever (actually, Lincoln Park doesn't have a ton going on. Bronzeville actually has more going on right now).
Sure tourism makes some people want to stay. But is it enough? We got to stop settling for just some. My problem is, we are a top city. A few things here and there doesn't cut it. We once had a population of 3.5 million people. How do we get that back? A little growth simply isn't good enough, a few people saying Chicago is cool, isn't good enough. We got to get people actually talking about Chicago. This year, Chicago has gotten a lot of buzz. But what about next year? and the year after that? and so on...This is why I feel we need to improve our reputation and keep ourselves present. While some people do enjoy Chicago. Some isn't exactly a lot.
Sure tourism makes some people want to stay. But is it enough? We got to stop settling for just some. My problem is, we are a top city. A few things here and there doesn't cut it. We once had a population of 3.5 million people. How do we get that back? A little growth simply isn't good enough, a few people saying Chicago is cool, isn't good enough. We got to get people actually talking about Chicago. This year, Chicago has gotten a lot of buzz. But what about next year? and the year after that? and so on...This is why I feel we need to improve our reputation and keep ourselves present. While some people do enjoy Chicago. Some isn't exactly a lot.
I don't think that Chicago is much different than any other place. There's been a lot of people who have moved to Chicago strictly off of one or a few vacation visits. I am friends with a few people like that really.
This is what I was talking about before though - surely a city with 3.5 million people before wants that back, but it's not the end all be all of things. Quality of population matters probably more than that and just looking at the pure numbers is a rather naive way of looking at things. You want the right people in your city and the right people coming to your city, not just "anybody we can get."
I know what you're saying, but I think it's more complicated than what you think. The thing that Chicago needs to do more of is expand its tourism from other areas, which it is doing. But in the end, back to what I said before and quality of population is way more important. If the population decreased by 100,000 people but it was even safer - I'd take that over the safety staying the same and it increasing by 100,000 to be honest.
I don't think that Chicago is much different than any other place. There's been a lot of people who have moved to Chicago strictly off of one or a few vacation visits. I am friends with a few people like that really.
This is what I was talking about before though - surely a city with 3.5 million people before wants that back, but it's not the end all be all of things. Quality of population matters probably more than that and just looking at the pure numbers is a rather naive way of looking at things. You want the right people in your city and the right people coming to your city, not just "anybody we can get."
I know what you're saying, but I think it's more complicated than what you think. The thing that Chicago needs to do more of is expand its tourism from other areas, which it is doing. But in the end, back to what I said before and quality of population is way more important. If the population decreased by 100,000 people but it was even safer - I'd take that over the safety staying the same and it increasing by 100,000 to be honest.
I think in order for Chicago to have another population boom (which might not be a good thing) or getting a lot of quality people like you mentioned is the city has to be the best at an industry. San Francisco is the best in the tech industry, New York for finance and art, Los Angeles for entertainment. Quality people are going to go to places that offer the best. Chicago does have a great food scene, so it probably attracts great chefs, but what else? Then again maybe the best thing Chicago has is its diversified economy.
I don't think that Chicago is much different than any other place. There's been a lot of people who have moved to Chicago strictly off of one or a few vacation visits. I am friends with a few people like that really.
This is what I was talking about before though - surely a city with 3.5 million people before wants that back, but it's not the end all be all of things. Quality of population matters probably more than that and just looking at the pure numbers is a rather naive way of looking at things. You want the right people in your city and the right people coming to your city, not just "anybody we can get."
I know what you're saying, but I think it's more complicated than what you think. The thing that Chicago needs to do more of is expand its tourism from other areas, which it is doing. But in the end, back to what I said before and quality of population is way more important. If the population decreased by 100,000 people but it was even safer - I'd take that over the safety staying the same and it increasing by 100,000 to be honest.
I completely agree with you about quality people coming in. I don't want just anybody to move in. I'm just tired of our people moving out. Our city isn't only losing bad apples, we are losing a lot of Chicago talent. A lot of actors and musicians move out of this city. A lot don't even come back or even mention Chicago when they make it big. If we can't keep our own native talents/quality people? How do we attract and keep new quality people?
I think in order for Chicago to have another population boom (which might not be a good thing) or getting a lot of quality people like you mentioned is the city has to be the best at an industry. San Francisco is the best in the tech industry, New York for finance and art, Los Angeles for entertainment. Quality people are going to go to places that offer the best. Chicago does have a great food scene, so it probably attracts great chefs, but what else? Then again maybe the best thing Chicago has is its diversified economy.
Yes, for a population boom you need that, but there are industries that are luckily improving. I think to have a boom is something special and rarely actually happens in places, at least nowadays. Just in a few areas. The tech industry in Chicago has actually been increasing a lot in the last 18 months and continues to get even more people, funding, etc. People are starting to notice - The Economist wrote an article about it a few months ago even. 1871 is also about to expand its floor space by 50% soon, along with other incubators, and then of course there's the manufacturing/tech think tank that's going on Goose Island that will open sometime next year that has a lot of big names behind it (i.e. Lockheed Martin, GE, Rolls Royce, etc).
I don't think a boom is going to happen, but there's no doubt that some industries have been ramping up quietly in the last few years. What also helps is big relocations getting on the news. For example, ADM coming to Chicago and even the Lucas museum. All of that helps. With the industry comes people from other areas and then that is a mixed bag of opinions. Chicago just needs to not have another terrible winter I have a coworker who moved to Chicago from SoCal (who also did some schooling in Spain) right before the winter, and hated the city but because it was so cold. Now he likes it a lot and has said on a few occasions "If Chicago was located in Southern California or somewhere with similar weather, it would probably be the best city in the world." Not sure if I agree with him 100%, but it kind of shows you what peoples' perceptions are.
I will say this though - I think part of the reputations of Chicago are kind of old. I will say that I moved to Chicago without knowing a lot about it and my opinions of it beforehand were way off. A lot of people on the coasts think that Chicago is really unsophisticated, Al Capone town. I've seen it in news story comments from SF before and just hearing it from others. They really think that the stock yards still exist and Al Capone types really still run the town. My Aunt and Uncle, in their early 60s, are from LA (my Uncle grew up in NYC) and didn't visit the city until 2010. Upon visiting they wondered how they'd never been there before and said they'd leave LA for Chicago if the winter was warmer. They've visited since as well, and have plans to visit again soon. I know a lot of people never even give it a chance to visit, and I think part of that has to do with the reputation of what the city is actually like. I guarantee you a lot of peoples' views of it are 20+ years old.
Last edited by marothisu; 06-28-2014 at 09:02 PM..
I think in order for Chicago to have another population boom (which might not be a good thing) or getting a lot of quality people like you mentioned is the city has to be the best at an industry. San Francisco is the best in the tech industry, New York for finance and art, Los Angeles for entertainment. Quality people are going to go to places that offer the best. Chicago does have a great food scene, so it probably attracts great chefs, but what else? Then again maybe the best thing Chicago has is its diversified economy.
We are largely known for Architecture and Urban Planning. We have the best layout, skyline, and downtown in all of america. Despite other cities not wanting to admit this. I bet if you talk about Architecture and Urban Planning to someone in that field. Chicago may just be the first city that comes to mind. But for some reason we haven't taped into this; by actually turning it into something. Example: Wall St is the home to New York's Financial District. Most people talk about this street, even if they know nothing about it. New York City has set the tone for everyone to know, when you come down this street you are entering our finance section.
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