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The historic Gold Coast, featuring 100-year-old mansions, opulent condos and designer boutiques, has lost some of its most illustrious residents and appeal in recent years as the city’s high taxes and crime encouraged the wealthy to relocate. Those staying in Chicago are opting for more modern homes in trendier areas, leaving Gold Coast properties sitting on the market for months. Now a plan to boost taxes on the sale of homes of $1 million or more could further depress deals in the neighborhood, whose residents include the billionaire Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
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Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
27 Comments
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
2 Comments
Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
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.
WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times falsely blame Texas Gov. Abbott for 2020 to 2024 surge in Chicago Latino HIV, AIDS infections – Wirepoints Quickpoint
March 31, 2026
11 Comments
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
Stick a fork in it: Chicago’s done. There’s nothing left but nostalgia, unemployable, angry minorities, street crime out of control, and masses of (mostly) illiterate indigents. Cities need a reason for being, an economic/jobs engine, and an edge over competing cities. Chicago has none of these any more, and the breakdown of civil order represents a negative edge vs other markets. Once upon a time, the city had commodities markets (physical and financial), stockyards, and meat packing by dint of its location. It had steel mills and other manufacturing. It connected the natural resources of the interior with the markets… Read more »
My recently deceased father (I had no relationship with him – he didn’t care for me) lived on the Gold Coast. He built a 70 office global business. There is now no office in Chicago after his death. The principals left for other cities, as they can service their clients from places other than Chicago. In the year before he passed away, there were a number of carjackings near the Racquet Club. I thought of the wonderful valet guys, who used to worry about grabbing a free parking spot in the neighborhood to now worrying about guests being jacked. I… Read more »
Thanks to you and Dan for those very worthwhile comments.
Excellent!
Excellent!
Ken Griffen was the fattest rat and he smelled the water first. Lightintheloafers and Fred Flintstone said good riddance.
I can tell you as an ex-Detroiter there is nobody in Griffens league living in the Detroit city limits. When all the high earners desert Chicago it will resemble Detroit.
The continued decline of Haitago is in progress. The next to show it face is our friend Squeezee the python, ever silent
He just continues to restrict and need more
Money, the citizens also quietly leave, a higher and higher burden on
Citizens who can’t pay.
After choking on their crumpets, I’ll wager the elite are reconsidering their voting choices now.
“I’ll wager the elite are reconsidering their voting choices now.” Not really, they’ll just fly to the next field over and destroy that crop.
no kidding.
Liberalism has ALWAYS been a mystery to me. I always believed it was the greatness of America and the goodness of its people, that has kept liberalism from its logical conclusion of failure. NEVER did I think that liberals would have a comeuppance for their beliefs, and voting.
Liberalism was a mystery to me too, until I had an extended discussion (verbal and written) with a hard-core liberal. I learned that liberals have a different concept of “means” and “ends”, and consequently no understanding of cause and effect. Liberalism is performative, completely dedicated to DO THE RIGHT THING. The Right Thing has been pre-ordained by the cult leaders, and is not in any way impacted by actual negative results. As in any closed system, information contrary to the dogma is explained away by outside forces. They invented CRT and structural racism for that purpose. One can never question… Read more »
Liberalism is a mental disorder. I’ve had the same experience you have.