-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
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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Don’t hold your breath in anticipation, Steve. You may pass out for lack of air, when in May downtown streets are as empty as now in February.
My company just sent out a survey about returning to work. One of the questions listed about a dozen amenities we’d like to have implemented to return. Things like child care, health club, personals trainer and gym classes, beer and wine, etc. I still answer there was no way I’m going back if I have to wear a mask.
Before long, Lori will establish a telecommute tax/surcharge. Lori destroyed the city with her idiotic decisions. Now you will pay for her bungling!
I’m in tech and I can tell you that there are so many opportunities to work from home. I won’t be making the commute into the city anytime soon.
As long as employees have leverage due to the very tight labor market, the number returning to the office will be much lower than expected. There are people who moved out of state and will simply quit if pressed to return to the office. Employers may actually win some concessions by letting employees work remotely. The old model is gone.
Wow! News from the wishful thinking caucus! Welcome Back! Lol. You know who wants people back? The criminals, as things stand now the pickings are a little stingy. Not much to gain robbing piss bums.
If you can do your job with a phone and/or a computer, then why would you go back to 10 plus non-productive hours of commuting each week — and the expense of gas, tolls, parking, etc. (which now gives you thousands of extra dollars left in your wallet).
Especially now that you are more productive than you ever were in the office — with the freedom to manage your own time/restore work-life balance,
And why would you want to deal with the crime-ridden hell-scape that Chicago has become today.
Funneling over 1,000,000 people into the loop every day from the far flung corners of metropolitan area is a logistical nightmare. It’s a long commute for everyone including those who live in the city and take public trans and those who live near the downtown and drive (just getting down washington street to the parking garage can take 20 minutes in the morning). Communiting to a central business district is so 20th century.
And Chicago is one of THE best large cities for moving people in and out. Chicago’s model still works but it’s become a luxury to live right off one of the transit lines with quick commutes – like inner suburbs with express Metras or off the quicker L lines. If you’re driving 15 minuets to a Metra station out in Cary then taking an hour + train in then you’re doing it wrong. The express from Elmhurst or Hinsdale is only like 20 min. Our highway system into the city is woefully inadequate for the volume of traffic and trucking… Read more »
“The express from Elmhurst or Hinsdale is only like 20 min” Plus 5-10 minute drive to the train station, plus 5 minute wait on platform, and then a 5-15 walk or bus ride from Union/C&NW to the office. Best case scenario is 35 minutes if you live close to train and work one block from station. Otherwise its a 50 – 55 minute commute each way. My express train was 27 minutes or something it it was a 50-55 minute trip from door to door on a good day. Compare that to my situation now that I’ve changed offices and… Read more »
When I was commuting down town, same thing for me. About one hour each way. Then there are the days the train is late, you just miss your train or work late and no more express trains. Look at all the wasted money sitting in the parking lots. Paying for a car/insurance to sit in a lot all day.
The only downside of not going to the office? Without your co-workers around, you have to sexually harass yourself. Doesn’t have the same zing.
Debtsor…I’ve got to know. Do you now miss running the gauntlet of homeless crazies and wilding yutes to get to the office? I made the same change you did about 6 months ago and life has been so much better
Way less homeless people now but a lot more sketchy looking people, need to keep looking over your shoulder. My total commute with a 25 minute express train is 55 minutes.
Right? 55 minutes is a long time each way. Now that I drive to a suburban office park, it’s like 22 minutes from door to door. It changes everything, really. Just not having to wait on a cold train platform for a late, crowded train on a 13 degree morning is awesome. I walk out to my garage, back the car into the driveway and warm it up for 10 minutes, get back in and drive to work, listening to Dan & Amy.
I don’t miss going downtown one bit. My quality of life is so much better. Fewer bums, no cramped crowded trains with strangers, no more commuting 50 minutes each way. I’m home in time for dinner with the family now, that never used to happen. Every day I thank God I don’t have to travel back into Chicago. What’s even better, is that there is one aspect to my job that used to be in-person, and I’d have to go into downtown Chicago maybe once or twice a month for meetings. But I found out today that meeting is now… Read more »