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Summary and audio linked here.
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.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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Some enterprising soul should start a tour bus company featuring Plywood Avenue the former Mag Mile, Michigan Ave.
Downtown Chicago peaked pre-covid and the nosedive decline is inevitable. The Stay Close to Home orders have made people realize that it is a terrible idea to funnel 1,000,000+ people every day, at the same time of day, into a central location, dozens of miles from their homes. It’s way too much of a hassle. The days of the 45-1 hour commute downtown at 8:00am, working all day, and then drinking/eating in some cramped overpriced restaurant are over. I know my new lifestyle involves a 15 minute drive to a suburban officepark/industrial complex. And when restaurants reopen eventually, I’ll drive… Read more »
Yes, skyscrapers are somewhat obsolete now, they are single-purpose buildings made for office workers to be in close proximity, paper pushers or skills that happen using only computers no tool boxes or trucks type of jobs. So the main pillar for the existence of skyscrapers is to put massive numbers of people in proximity in order to collaborate and do admin, engineering or creative work using computers, no hands get dirty kind of work. Well the internet and VPN networks have suddenly removed that need for physical proximity of those workers, the main conceptual pillar that justifies needing a skyscraper… Read more »
I think you’re half right, massively large office buildings in centralized locations far away from where people live are going obsolete. AKA downtown. But smaller mid-sized buildings in the suburbs closer to home will have some usefulness. Some offices still need to exist even with remote work. What I’ve heard from people, and my own observations, is that the lack of a commute (or a shorter commute to a decentralized location) has really put workers in a different, more positive mindset. The time they gain not participating in the rat race commute and worthless water cooler chat and boring board… Read more »
You guys fail to realize that the problem with decentralized employment hubs, aka suburbs, is traffic. Yes it’s 15 minuets to go from Lombard to an office on I88 but try Lombard to Lake County at rush hour. It could be 2 hours some days, one way. The central core model works very well as 120+ years of perfecting have shown. If anything the city outer neighborhoods should be repopulated making that commute into the loop shorter than say the metra from Huntley. I envision the future as a combination with much more flex time but the Loop still remains… Read more »
Glad that ABC 7 with their many democrat related employees have such a hard hitting piece.
DUH Jag Boy and Lighthead have done what they were after.
This is totally on Lori, Sophia King and the Grant Park Advisory Council who gave into the blm terrorists when they took down the Columbus statues. This sent a message to the feral predators that anything goes. These three have destroyed chicago’s Tax base.
She must be fired.
Some people will hesitate to shop in downtown Chicago because of the muggings and robberies in broad daylight. Go figure.