Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
The headline ain’t the meat of the subject: “But that still places us 3rd from last place among 20 metro areas tracked by CoreLogic. So now Dallas and Las Vegas are behind us but those are two markets that have done exceptionally well over the last few years.” “A few things are readily apparent from the graph. For instance, we still haven’t fully recovered back to the bubble peak. In fact, Chicago is one of the few metro areas that hasn’t. In fact, we look so bad relative to most other areas that I’m going to have to do a… Read more »
“I’m sure sky high property taxes in Illinois have nothing to do with the trend lag at all.” Chicago +’s: + lower housing prices + good schools in some areas + deep and expansive job market + world class culture, access health care, culinary, museums Chicago -‘s: — insane real estate taxes — harsh winter climate — progressive infestation — high crime/car jackings/muder — long commute times — crumbling infrastructure — long drives to mediocre outdoor activities — high poverty — expensive home prices in ‘hip’ neighborhoods (lincoln park no more expensive than Seattle) — fewer and fewer college grads… Read more »