Alan Ehrenhalt, in a recent issue of the New Republic, explains a fascinating change that's happening in Chicago and other cities across the nation, called demographic inversion.
In short, the affluent are filling up the middle of the city and pushing the poor out to the edges.
To read more about it, check out the story, here.
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It is not.
One is a s--t hole, the other is not.
No prizes for correct guess.
Truth be told....it doesn't matter squat what Paris says concerning Chicago. Chicago is in the US.....Paris is in France.
We learn by whats happening and there we are on
the same page.....can you imagine the Mexicans VS the French?
Who is seriously the most arrogant of the 2? Neither should carry it with pride.
I read this fascinating article top to bottom. I couldn't stop. With the price of energy and the observation that cities can be a much more efficient use of space and resources to support a human population because of economies of scale, I am thrilled to see things turning around in the USA. Maybe Chicago will never have pedestrian-only street malls like most Euro cities, but we seem to be one of the better-equipped cities to become a walking-centric city with easy mass transit from the burbs. Now if we can just convince more companies to locate offices in the loop rather than schaumbervillebrookpark, we can avoid the reverse commute and curb sprawl. If we can make it safe and get some decent schools, we can have families stay urban instead of performing the "4 1/2 yr old exodus" when they realize that their kids will have to go to school. What do we need to do? I think we are doing much of it but there is more to be done...encourage mega-business location in the city, encourage UIC/UofC/IIT/DePaul/Loyola-type strong universities with top-notch research, pursue the Olympics, fight CITY traffic congestion, invest in TRAIN transit infrastructure, encourage local small business, beef up the public schools and make private ones affordable, maintain parks and attractions and keep things tourist-friendly, keep things safe with police patrols, encourage Chicago in TV and movies, etc. Some of the European-city actions are questionable, but there is no doubt that they work as they have now been tried: security cameras, traffic-tax, high tax rates in general, smoking bans, etc. Do I feel sorry for "the poor" being pushed to the edges? Not really, because I am not sure that it is "bad" or a further burden upon those pushed. If Chicago is to stay a world-class city, living here will be expensive, but very worthwhile.
Good! I hope they enjoy being in the middle of the biggest nanny state in the nation!
Yes, the middle and upper middle class are moving to the center of the city, but they are bringing their suburban ideas with them. Our neighborhoods have been decimated by the developers. Most of the small businesses are gone and one can no longer walk to the corner store to get an item. We even have suburban type gated communities. Thank you Mayor Daley and your developer pals for ruing our city of neighborhoods.
Paris is a beautiful city, who's politicians welcomed with open arms, elements and cultures with no interest in French social values. Taxpayers payed the bills. Those elements were prone to violence and have grown into domestic terrorists that are destroying the economic and social fabric of the city and nation. Chicago is on the same path.
How is Chicago like Paris?
Daley wants to be the mayor of both.
American's think European cities are better.
Europeans think American cities are better.
Having lived in both places - I can assure you that both are excellent. It is absurd to compare apples and oranges here.
New world has it's advantages as does old world.
You can't morph an apple into an organge and should just realize that both taste amazing.
Most people fly into a big city - the cab driver takes them down the best/safest path, they eat at a world class restaurant, stay in one zone in a great hotel. If this is your comparison point - it's inaccurate.
Paris is great - but everyone I know who lives there says it's very difficult to survive there. Extremely difficult to find a close/safe place to live. Gender bias against women. Few can save a penny there. Old world means less opportunity and you're worth nothing unless you know the right people.
It's pathetic that Mayor Daley is going to Beijing - and looking at their train system and trying to copy it or something. All the masses of people left Beijing to make the air tolerable. Sounds like a great excuse for an expensive Olympic boondoggle.
Perhaps these people need to stop trying to pretend to be European Royalty - & realize their blue collar heritage of no nonsense hard work and courage is the name of the game - and get back to playing this game & fast.
the smell?
Chicago is like Paris because it is dirty and the inhabitants do not speak English very well.
I actually just returned from Paris and it is very similar to Chicago, but very different at the same time. First of all the Parisians have no GUNS, well very few guns, so while I saw two awesome fist fights, no one got killed! I'm from 114th and state where people die everyday! Paris is filthy and stinks. I think Chicago is alot cleaner where it is clean...feel me? Paris is not as segregated as Chicago. Different races live amongst each other in harmony and in Chicago this is not the case.
The "hoods" in Paris are primarily on the outskirts of the city, but pale in comparison to the warzones that many of us endure in Chicago. Please stop the violence! 1
Chicago is definitely like Paris (Hilton).
All fluff and no substance.
I've been to Paris. I love Paris.
I've been to Chicago. I love Chicago.
WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT PARIS IS NOT LIKE CHICAGO NOT AT ALL CHICAGO IS MORE DURTY AND PARIS IS MORE FOR LIKE RICH PEOPLE CHICAGO IS FOR MORE PEOPLE WITH LESE MONEY AND NOT ALL OF CHICAGO IS FIXED ALL NICE ITS MORE UGLY THEN ANY THING PARIS IS MORE NICE THEN UGLY I NOW THAT
Chicago is definitely not an ugly city.The downtown area is very clean.Yes we have problems in Chicago,but to call it ugly is really ignorant.Chicago has such beautiful architecture.Chicago does have substance and it's not all fluff.It's a great city that still has problems to sort out,but a lot of big cities have problems.It's not the first city to have problems and won't be the last.