This article is part of the State of Chicago. In comments to previous installments, some folks have highlighted recent positive news for Chicago - job announcements, the decline in unemployment rate, some indications of a housing market uptick, and improved hotel occupancy - as evidence that perhaps I spoke too soon or was wrong about Chicago. Well, if I'm wrong, I'd happily take that. If Chicago starts back up on a 90s-like upward trajectory, that would clearly be something to celebrate. On the other hand, there are risks that come … [Read more...]

In my article "The Second-Rate City?" I noted Chicago's very strong economic and demographic performance in the 1990s and contrasted it with the very poor performance in the 2000s. Then I outlined several problems with Chicago I thought helped drive the struggles. A few people asked a very fair question, saying, "All the negative factors you cite about Chicago (e.g., clout, business climate) were equally as true in the 1990s as in the 2000s, so what really made the difference?" I want to try to respond to that today. First, let's ask … [Read more...]

This article is part of the State of Chicago. Before I say anything else I want to give a shout out of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. I've been pounding on the idea that Chicago has been overly focused on "global" at the expense of its traditional domestic and regional role as "Capital of the Midwest," a role which, like it or not, still greatly shapes the city's economic fortunes. As recently as May, the Guardian (UK) was saying that, regarding luring the NATO summit to Chicago, "Emanuel is motivated by a desire to reposition the city from … [Read more...]

This is the second installment in my "State of Chicago" series. Last time I looked at Chicago's 70s and early 80s horrible struggles followed by rebirth and robust out-performance during the 1990s. Today we turn our attention to the first decade of the 21st century. During the 2000s, Chicago experienced a bit of a two-track performance. Parts of the urban core continued to grow robustly, fueled by the real estate bubble and perhaps the greatest urban condo building boom in America. The culinary, cultural, and other scenes in Chicago only … [Read more...]

This article is part of the State of Chicago. I've had it in my head for over a year now to do an in-depth exploration of Chicago, a project I've called "State of Chicago." Today I want to kick that off as a series of posts that expand on the themes in my recent article "The Second-Rate City?" First, I'd like to list three reasons why I wrote that piece: 1. To bring to the attention of Chicago the very poor statistical performance of the city on basic demographic and economic measures. 2. To write a corrective to the many … [Read more...]

"Although still high in absolute terms, GDP and labor productivity growth rates are sluggish - both by US and international standards. The Chicago Tri-State metro-region's contribution to national growth has slowed over the past decade and the region does not stand out as a top knowledge hub. Despite a dynamic and numerically large labor force, the region has experienced virtually no growth in the size of its prime working-age population and displays limited ability to attract and retain talent when compared to its US peers. More worrisome are … [Read more...]