Guess Which City Is Number One On This Link!

[313WX]

Except for the past half century before that?

Most major cities in the NE and Midwest experienced population decline in the mid-late 20th century. The difference is, many of these cities have found ways to stem this decline, or the decline has been relatively minor in proportion to their size, especially in the case of Chicago and Philadelphia who have more or less stabilized after only losing 25% of their peak population.

Look, I'm not saying that Chicago is in the same straits as Detroit [[pun intended), but I also don't think that Chicago should be held up as the holy grail of good urban planning. They've had their own serious issues and the only reason people aren't talking more about it is because Detroit's are worse.

Are you sure you mean urban planning, or socio-economic development? Chicago [[outside of New York and possibly San Francisco) has the best urban infrastructure in the country, and the strongest urban core outside of NYC.

I understand Chicago has its problems when it comes to the economy, corruption and racism like Detroit, but at the same time, unlike Detroit they have managed to put those things aside and still remain a successful city that many people are proud to call home, visit and be associated with.

[iheartthed]

Are you sure you mean urban planning, or socio-economic development? Chicago [[outside of New York and possibly San Francisco) has the best urban infrastructure in the country, and the strongest urban core outside of NYC.

I do not agree. Boston, Philly and Washington all have infrastructure as good as Chicago, or better.

I understand Chicago has its problems when it comes to the economy, corruption and racism like Detroit, but at the same time, unlike Detroit they have managed to put those things aside and still remain a successful city that many people are proud to call home, visit and be associated with.

I'm comparing Chicago to cities that are not Detroit. Chicago is one of the most poorly performing of the resurgent big cities in the Northeast and Midwest. I exclude Detroit from this group because it has shown no meaningful signs of resurgence, unlike New York, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia and Chicago. Of those five cities that I just named, Chicago is the only one that shrank from 2000-2010.

[Bham1982]

The difference is, many of these cities have found ways to stem this decline, or the decline has been relatively minor in proportion to their size, especially in the case of Chicago and Philadelphia who have more or less stabilized after only losing 25% of their peak population.

Again, Chicago shows no evidence of "more or less stablized". Chicago shows the second worst population loss in the U.S. in the most recent Census.

Philadelphia does appear to have stabilized, but overall, has pretty bad population losses.

Are you sure you mean urban planning, or socio-economic development? Chicago [[outside of New York and possibly San Francisco) has the best urban infrastructure in the country, and the strongest urban core outside of NYC.

I think this is highly debatable. NYC, SF, Boston, and DC all have much more expensive cores, which serves as a rough proxy for relative desirability. They also all have higher transit share, lower vacancy, and more robust construction activity, other good indicators of relative desirability.

I would argue that all these cities have equal or better urban cores than Chicago, though Chicago is relatively strong too. Philly is probably ahead of Chicago too in terms of quality of urban core, but to a lesser extent.

Chicago does have a huge core [[probably #2 in size in the U.S.), but it's nowhere near the most desirable urban living in the country. Even lesser cities like Seattle, Miami and San Diego have more expensive urban living.

[poobert]

I think this is highly debatable. NYC, SF, Boston, and DC all have much more expensive cores, which serves as a rough proxy for relative desirability. They also all have higher transit share, lower vacancy, and more robust construction activity, other good indicators of relative desirability.

OH.MY.GOD. It's highly debatable for YOU, because every time Chicago is mentioned, you pull out this same tired act. I don't even like Chicago, but it's really a bore to hear this all the time.

It's enough for me to look at middling Chicago real estate prices essentially anywhere north of the southside and see they're virtually on par with precious Birmingham. Chicago is okay, Detroit is fucked. Even its "tony" suburbs.

[Bham1982]

OH.MY.GOD. It's highly debatable for YOU, because every time Chicago is mentioned, you pull out this same tired act. I don't even like Chicago, but it's really a bore to hear this all the time.

No, actually the problem is you, because every time Chicago is mentioned, you feel the need to criticize others, even when we're just posting corrections.

If you don't like things like "facts", then fine. Feel free to ignore posts dealing in reality. Ignore the Census, and other reputable sources, and cling to whatever worldview you prefer.