Weighing the good and bad sides of Chicago at Pacific Standard magazine.
Theme: Sabermetric demography.
Subject Article: "Now how do we keep them?"
Other Links: 1. "Will the foreclosure crisis kill Chicago?"
2. "Shrinking City Myths."
3. "Podthoughts by Colin Marshall: Curious City."
4. "'I Wanted to Be Successful, and I Could Do That in Houston.'"
Postscript: I keep coming down on the side of Chicago is dying. I remain unsure if this is the case. Among the most globalized US cities, Chicago is the most affordable. It's a redoubtable talent magnet that also refines human capital for bigger and better things elsewhere. The global city distinction will remain a huge legacy asset. It also boasts perhaps the greatest assortment of Rust Belt legacy assets (e.g. research universities) in the entire country. Yet no place better epitomizes "the gated city."
1 comment:
Chicago is schizophrenic. You are right to say Chicago is the default world city of the Midwest, and that papers over the many problems. But the problems are real. Outside of world-class Chicago, dying Chicago is every bit the same as Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Buffalo, Philly, Baltimore.
I liken Chicago to a one-armed contractor remodeling a home. He's managed to do a bang-up job in the living room but his disability keeps him from cleaning up the mess in the rest of the house.
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