There's another factor keeping housing prices down in Chicago, relative to Boston, New York, etc.:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-chicago-population...
Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
81–90 of 111 posts
Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
#82I'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…
This is the opposite of what is happening if you look at the population changes of their respective MSAs. Chicago's is barely growing and SF added an estimated 9% to the population from 2010-2017. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_statistic...
Growth will stagnant once the area reaches capacity. There is no political will to relax zoning to increase housing inventory to meet the new demand as existing residents are becoming very rich from their increased property values.
Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lake effects winters are nothing to scoff at. Cold temperatures, wind, and excessive snow/freezing rain make for some really miserable times.
Sitting here in the middle of a heatwave, I have to ask: are they really that bad when you can just add warm-weather clothing? Or when even just moving will generate some heat? I've heard in Wisconsin you have to breathe a certain way to warm the air before it gets to your lungs, so maybe that's the problem? I've only lived in hot climates, so I have no concept of true cold. But with how summers have been getting hot…
Overall it's really not as bad as people make it out to be. Of course I've lived here all my life. There are periodic cold snaps where it gets way below freezing, but typically it is in the 20's (F). The trick for winter is to embrace it, and wear appropriate clothing. For snow removal you may need heavy machinery (I just use a sleigh shovel, works great). For clothing, a good flannel shirt with a vest jacket and hat goes a long way (keeps you from getting too warm, and your body acclimates to the temps).
Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
> it’s written into the state constitution Which can be amended if there is popular will. I don’t think state pensions are enforceable under federal law.
Do you know if they can modify existing contracts ? So they take out that article but I doubt it applies to the contracts (pensions) done while the provision was in force.
Yes, but only with a constitutional amendment.
Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
#85Earlier 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.
I used to live in Milwaukee without a car.
It wasn't as easy as it is in Chicago, but it's also not so much harder that I'd call someone crazy if they thought it was worth getting to pay half as much in rent.
Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lake effects winters are nothing to scoff at. Cold temperatures, wind, and excessive snow/freezing rain make for some really miserable times.
Sitting here in the middle of a heatwave, I have to ask: are they really that bad when you can just add warm-weather clothing? Or when even just moving will generate some heat? I've heard in Wisconsin you have to breathe a certain way to warm the air before it gets to your lungs, so maybe that's the problem? I've only lived in hot climates, so I have no concept of true cold. But with how summers have been getting hot…
A few years ago I met a woman from Alaska. She told me she went to college in Chicago and she barely made it through the first winter. Her friends said "What's your problem? You're from Alaska!" She replied "You don't understand. We never get this cold at home."
Of course Alaska is a big state and not all of it is freezing, but still. Chicago winters are impressive.
Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
The article specifically mentions Boston, San Francisco, Washington and New York as other skyscraper cities. I think their "definition" of skyscraper city is a more about density than just the number of 40+ story buildings. I think possibly the only legit "skyscraper city" that has been left out according to the article's "definition" would be Philadelphia which is affordable still.
Wikipedia doesn't show anything in Washington, DC, higher than 15 stories, for what that's worth. I certainly have never thought of it as a "skyscraper city".
Washington D.C. has a height limit for buildings[1]. I think the article was just mentioning it as an example of an expensive city, not trying to call it a skyscraper city.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Height_of_Buildings_Act_of_191...
Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
#88I have only two problems with Chicago: 1. Winter 2. It's in Illinois. Which will take a century to dig itself out of a century of being the most corrupt state government in the US.
Louisiana is the most corrupt state and has been for quite some time.
Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
#89I'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 tried living in Chicago without a car… I wouldn’t say it is as optional as you suggest.
> I tried living in Chicago without a car
Really depends on where you live and want to be. This is true everywhere (NYC, SF, Seattle, etc.)
Re: Chicago Is America's Last Remaining Affordable Skyscraper City
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
The article specifically mentions Boston, San Francisco, Washington and New York as other skyscraper cities. I think their "definition" of skyscraper city is a more about density than just the number of 40+ story buildings. I think possibly the only legit "skyscraper city" that has been left out according to the article's "definition" would be Philadelphia which is affordable still.
This is very astute, I was using the term "skyscraper city" primarily as colorful contrast with low-density Sunbelt cities.
Philadelphia is indeed the other contender! They weirdly haven't seen explosive job growth though, despite being an excellent city. They also don't have innovative land use policy. But the vast, partially abandoned north Philly is a "reserve army of underemployed land" keeping a check on prices--as is the excellent, fully electrified suburban regional rail network inherited from the Pennsy. Maintains a wide swathe of commutable land w/in 45 mins of CBD.