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Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

chicagobusiness.com

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Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#41

Post by spamizbad »

mactintyre wrote: post #38
RubenSandwich wrote: post #9

I'm going to dispute this claim. Pittsburgh, PA has skyscrapers[1], defined as any building with or over 40 floors, and is more affordable then Chicago[2]. In fact Atlanta, GA also fits in this category as well. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_P... [2] https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...

According to your source (Wikipedia), Chicago has around 78 buildings over 550 feet. Pittsburgh has 19 and Atlanta has 16. So the article is right and Chicago is still in a league of its own in that regard.

That Chicago number will be over 80 by the end of the year.

Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#42

Post by [deleted] »

RubenSandwich wrote: post #9

I'm going to dispute this claim. Pittsburgh, PA has skyscrapers[1], defined as any building with or over 40 floors, and is more affordable then Chicago[2]. In fact Atlanta, GA also fits in this category as well. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_P... [2] https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...

[deleted]

Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#43

Post by dan-0 »

beefalo wrote: post #21
maxsilver wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "About an hour and a half north you'll find another American city that has skyscrapers" If Milwaukee counts as a "skyscraper city", then practically every city in the US counts, and the term becomes mostly meaningless.

It really should be "city livable without a car" because that is what really separates Chicago from all of the other affordable midwestern cities.

This is pretty much it. I haven't lived in Chicago, but have a lot of friends from there and did some research while on my last jobs search. Putting affordability next to availability of public transportation, Chicago is probably the best mix I found. Unfortunately, as others had mentioned, the job market couldn't make it worth it for me.

Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#44

Post by halfxengineer »

remyp wrote: post #5

I've lived in Chicago for nearly 10 years and will continue preaching its advantages to anyone who will listen. Crime isn't as big a problem as people think it is (it's isolated to a few long-disadvantaged neighborhoods), it's affordable, cars are optional, and we have two airports to escape the winter weather.

I like to keep Chicago in my back pocket as a city to go and enjoy from time to time.

Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#45

Post by wuliwong »

RubenSandwich wrote: post #9

I'm going to dispute this claim. Pittsburgh, PA has skyscrapers[1], defined as any building with or over 40 floors, and is more affordable then Chicago[2]. In fact Atlanta, GA also fits in this category as well. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_P... [2] https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?cou...

I didn't read the entire article and then got blocked by a paywall but I do not believe "skyscraper city" is well defined, so not hard to dispute.

According to this list https://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?10=1 Chicago has the second most skyscrapers of any US city. Philadelphia is #7 on that list and is still affordable. If Philly is not considered a "skyscraper city" than that means there were only 6 or less of them in the United States to begin with.

Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#46

Post by tomjakubowski »

rayiner wrote: post #36

Don't worry, the government is hard at work putting a stop to affordability: http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/ct-re-re... .

> In 2017, Chicago renters making the median income spent more than half their workdays earning enough money to cover the rent, according to an analysis from HotPads, an apartment search platform.

Seems more like living in Chicago is actually already unaffordable for most of its residents, contrary to TFA.

Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#47

Post by debt »

acover wrote: post #18
debt wrote: post #14

I've been saying this for years . The math is pretty straightforward: as cost of living skyrockets in most cities, any city that has the infrastructure and housing to accommodate large numbers of people will win the race. So for example, at this point San Francisco and the Bay Area are in fact losing the race even though surrounding economy is booming; all because housing is lacking and incredibly unaffordable and th…

Do you have any evidence? From what it seems like the disparity is increasing between big cities and not.

Anecdotally, the push by larger companies to find sister cities to house their 2nd HQ's seems to be lending credence to my theory. The cost of living is high near their HQ so they move all their lower cost operations into another HQ into a lower cost of living areas such as Chicago.

Chicago/Austin/NYC welcomes them open arms and huge tax breaks and huge inventory of available housing.

Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#48

Post by logfromblammo »

I like the feel of Chicago, but while living there, I couldn't stand the aura of political irresponsibility. And the city is functionally bankrupt, even if they can't declare it as a matter of law.

Nobody should move to a city that sells off its capital to pay for operating expenses. Nobody who lives there should support any incumbent officer that went along with it.

Touting affordability in an artificially restricted, un-enumerated class sounds like starving vampires desperately advertising for new blood. Chicago's nice, but it is surrounded by cities that are more attractive in terms of fiscal stability: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Madison, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Indianapolis. And Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh are all in the same metropolitan aggregate, with similar cultures.

I really want Chicago to be better than it is. I'm not sure that Illinois can make it in the long run without amending the home rule exceptions for Chicago out of its constitution. It gave the Chicago Political Machine (read Boss by Mike Royko, if you haven't already) its own playground and has driven a gigantic wedge between the city and the entire rest of the state.

Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#49

Post by francisofascii »

pducks32 wrote: post #35
ChicagoDave wrote: post #31

Chicago is the magic kingdom of all cities. The lakefront, transportation systems, forest preserves, museums, restaurants, theater, activities, and good old Midwestern common sense provide a combination of cosmopolitan and blue collar flavor. I can't count how many people have moved here and commented that they were shocked how easygoing people were and making long-lasting friendships was easier than they'd ever imag…

You're making me miss my hometown. Everything there is just amazing, I love the city and the people in it. The people are so kind and the transportation is stellar, and you can listen to Fred & Angi on your way to work.

Reminds me of a line from West Wing: "I meet so many people who can't wait to tell me they're from Chicago and when I meet them, they're living anywhere but Chicago." :)

Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City

#50

Post by psweber »

pducks32 wrote: post #35
ChicagoDave wrote: post #31

Chicago is the magic kingdom of all cities. The lakefront, transportation systems, forest preserves, museums, restaurants, theater, activities, and good old Midwestern common sense provide a combination of cosmopolitan and blue collar flavor. I can't count how many people have moved here and commented that they were shocked how easygoing people were and making long-lasting friendships was easier than they'd ever imag…

You're making me miss my hometown. Everything there is just amazing, I love the city and the people in it. The people are so kind and the transportation is stellar, and you can listen to Fred & Angi on your way to work.

Hey, I can help with your home sickness.

It's brutal winter here for 8 months followed by a manic, hot four months of summer. No spring or fall. It takes two hours to get to anything that could reasonably be called nature. The people are great, but their main form of socializing is heavy drinking. It's cold? Let's drink about it. It's hot? Let's drink about it.

It's great, but no city is perfect.

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