Cackling over urban cores faltering makes no sense to me. There are a lot of blue-collar jobs that rely on the presence of white-collar work in the cities. Losing all that activity is terrible for the entire economy, and I don't see how bugging off to the fringes of Bentonville fully escapes that.

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There is going to be a lot of pain. There are so many small businesses that rely on commuters. Now it's all going to Zoom, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, etc.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

COVID payments/extended UI will transition into UBI

The audience of this board is skewed. Primarily shut-in suburbanites or cranky ex-pats basking in Sun Belt sprawl.

i agree with most. lived in city all my life.

when i was a kid - downtown was a bit seedy, 'bad' neighborhoods surrounding downtown..lots of great, 'safe' neighborhoods on NW and SW sides.

today - downtown area and surrounding areas are better....subtract recent social unrest. those numerous 'great' and 'safe' NWside & SWside neighborhoods are now tiny enclaves of dwindling trump voters and city workers who vote democratic to keep their pensions going.

i remember when jane byrne moved into cabrini. at that time, logan square area was garbage. now, logan square is a hot neighborhood and i believe that lightfoot and her wife live in logan square.

Yeah. It's really awful. I don't think it's something to revel in. You can't bus tables from home. I guess everyone can go out to Elk Grove and work for Amazon, at least until they automate even more of that.

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I know of so many bars, restaurants, etc. That are gone just in the suburbs. There are many that made their year on the office lunch crowd. There are so many lives impacted by these loses. And it's barely even the tip of the iceberg. The companies that clean offices, the auto repair shops, the coffee and water suppliers, dry cleaners, gas stations etc. All of that just disappeared, and when it returns is in question. Even if it goes back it's going to be a fraction of what it was for a long time.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

The Downtown, West Loop and South Loop areas of the City were bustling pre Covid. River North, Wicker Park and Lincoln Park too. Hyde Park is still Hyde Park. The College Scene here is also pretty good too. Secondary Ed wise Chicago is home to some of the best schools in the country.


Most of the people that leave Chicago aren't leaving because of crime. They leave because they cannot afford to live here anymore. There are about 6-7 neighborhoods that have high crime rates (out of 77) and thats about it.

As Reader stated it was much wilder back in the day (Particularly when those "buildings" were up) than it is now.

It's not so much cackling about it so much as matter of fact stating that it's what the future holds.

I can't say for sure where people will move to, but if I was someone in Chicago and could suddenly work my 6 figure job remotely, I'd move somewhere warmer.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

It will take a board outing.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Not everyone is a pussy afraid of winter. 4 seasons are great

This was a conscious choice that was made. When 18 and 19 year olds have been asked to sacrifice in wars to maintain our way of life, they did so. But with this thing, people 65 and up were unwilling to make a possible sacrifice to maintain that way of life. Now that way of life is gone.

It's as if after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt said that we cannot risk anymore lives and allowed Japan to seize California.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

Accommodations could have been made for them, but they were determined to say if they couldn’t join the party no one could have one.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Not a bad idea in hindsight.

It's disgusting.

When Biden says we've lost more lives than all of WWII, it's the biggest fucking insult to our citizens.

That was 400,000 young 20 year olds with a future, basically losing a whole generation.

This is mostly people basically on their deathbeds. You cant compare the two.

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Regarding office space, there was a point in the early 90s where many downtown properties were offering the last 5 years rent-free on a 10 year lease for a full floor. One reason? The fax machine meant that fewer businesses had to have a downtown Chicago presence, especially law firms and banking-related businesses.

Banking consolidation had already created vacancies in the West Loop in the last decade, and more jobs were moving west of the River and closer to the two big Metra stations. I haven't visited the Loop for a full year now, but a lot of those jobs will likely go to a mix of remote and regional.

Several B/B- office buildings in the Loop were converted to hotels in the last decade. It used to be the W City Center (the old Midland) was really the only thing near the CBOT, otherwise you walked over to the Palmer House. Now there are probably 1000 more rooms between the JW Marriott, the Gray, the Hyatt across from the Chase Tower, and even a LaQuinta and a Hyatt Place over on Franklin. If nobody is traveling for business and nothing is at McCormick place, there are going to be some expensive failures.

The Loop is headed towards an era similar to the late 80s, where everything was a ghost town at 6pm. I worked 3-8pm weekdays during those days, and it was pretty grimey on both sides of the river.

The only saving grace is that the South Loop is dozens of times more vibrant than 30 years ago. Much more housing, for example. Even the jail isn't much of a deterrent. If storefront rents along Dearborn, State, and Wabash come down, there is a chance that that quadrant becomes much more of a real neighborhood.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

It means nothing.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

And then the colleges will find new and more attractive spots for their students.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

JORR inspired Death Panels.

We've come a long way from Obamacare fear-mongering.

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I was thinking the other day about how scarcity of resources and a failure to beat back covid will probably mean that we'll legalize euthanasia at the federal level during this administration, but we live in America, so we'll have to give it a name like "the Strategic Compassion Initiative."

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And trumpettes like JORR will cheer it under his breath.

Because he's been told to by Twitter.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Okay, Boomer.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

This person is seriously a fucking retard.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Yikes...

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where's the damn jail?

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Shut the fuck up.

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Since this thread is about helping Chicago, the Panels should let the victims have their last meal be a burger at Telegram Sam’s place.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Yup. We've come to a point where if you have a pre-existing condition it isn't a surprise to die from what is also considered a "bad cold" by the same people.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

You can purposely miss the point if you want to. Right now we're asking young men to die in Syria and for what? Most wars are economic in nature. That being the case, how could we ever ask a bunch of young people to risk their lives in order to help the U.S. economy when we weren't willing to ask a bunch of old people to do the same?

If you're 12 years old right now, old people are handing you a shit country. Downtown Chicago looks like a busted down town in Ohio after the factory left. When that kid turns 18 and he's asked to go fight in some war of choice based on economics, why would he go? Why would anyone? The Boomers wouldn't sacrifice for him.

This really is about the Me Generation just doing what they've always done.

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General Jim wears Fort Bragg down... to get it!

I'm not missing any point. It's just two extreme sides. "Lock everything down" vs. "Only the old and nearly dead are dying from this".

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!