10 Things I didn't get to say on Chicago Tonight (Reasons Chicago's NOT on a Roll) Part I

Brad Flora (Bio)

Filed under Politics/City News, Wednesday July 09, 2008

Last week , I was invited to appear as a guest panelist on WTTW's Chicago Tonight. I jumped at the opportunity. The topic?

"Is Chicago experiencing a golden age."

The concept popped up in an AP story last week and later on Chicagoist. The argument runs like this:

1. Chicago has been named a finalist for the 2016 Olympics.
2. The city's Hyde Park neighborhood is home to one Barack Obama, who just might win the presidency this fall.
3. Chicago's beloved baseball teams, the Sox and Cubs lead their respective divisions.
4. Grant Achatz, of the Lincoln Park restaurant Alinea won the national James Beard Foundation award for Outstanding Chef.
5. Steppenwolf's August: Osage County won a Pulitzer and the Tony Award for best drama this year.
6. Major films are being shot here, including both Christopher Nolan Batman flicks and Johnny Depp's "Public Enemy."

...therefore, Chicago's experiencing a golden age. Right?

Not so fast. Some of the items on this list are just plain great; others, a mixed bag. This isn't a golden age. We're just getting more national media attention. If you equate that with "good," then things are peachy here. But a city's more than the sum of its national stories.

Wanting to make this point on the air, we at The Windy Citizen compiled a list of things that aren't going so well for Chicago. However, as you might expect, there wasn't time for me to do much more than vaguely mention a few of our points during the broadcast. You can see how I did in the video below.

So we're posting them here for you to review, add to and discuss. Today you get part one. Part two runs tomorrow.

We'll be following these issues all summer with more commentary pieces like this one. Bookmark this post so you can come back and keep track of what's at stake.

The Windy Citizen's 10 Reasons why Chicago's definitely NOT on a roll:

Reason #1: Forever linked to crime-ridden hell-hole

There's been much talk about the recent spate of major films being shot in Chicago, how they're bringing in fresh money, glamour, A-list sheen etc.

The Skinny: The Batman films in particular get most of the credit. Chicago served as the stand-in for Gotham city, home of Bruce Wayne, Commissioner Gordon and friends in Batman Begins (2005) and will again snag air time when the sequel, The Dark Knight, debuts this month. The shooting schedules for these films kept the local networks and editors over at Hollywood Chicago busy tracking star sightings and we've been treated to numerous stories in the press in which cast and crew talk up Chicago (see current issue of CS, no link since they don't appear to publish in a link-able format).

Why it's no so great: Let's think about this for a second. Gotham city, as depicted in countless comics over the last 80 years, has always been portrayed as the dirtiest, most crime-ridden, terrifying city in America. When Bat-Director Christopher Nolan and his location scouts looked high and low for a place that most closely fit this vision, they picked Chicago.

And we're supposed to take this as a compliment?

Bringing A-list artisans to Chicago = great. Bringing them to Chicago because they think it looks a lot like a hell-hole = not so great.

Next time one of the Batman cast raves about the city's "old world charm," stop and think for a moment if they're not having a laugh at your expense.

And the other big production that came through? A Capone-era gangster flick....'Nuff said.

Photo by Zezmerelda

(YouTube is FULL of great on-set video from last spring's TDK shoot. The best ones: Candy Factory Blast, Semi-Flip.)

Reason #2: Highest Sales Tax of Any Major U.S. City

Beginning last Tuesday, Chicago has the highest sales tax rate (10.25 percent) of any major U.S. city. The Trib has a great breakdown of how the tax boost breaks down locally.

The Skinny: Faced with a $3 billion budget shortfall, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger called for the tax hike, which he said was aimed at the county's ailing public health-care system.

Why it's not so great: The new rate dwarfs Indiana's statewide sales tax rate of 7 percent and has Cook County residents scrambling over the state line to do their shopping. Opponents say the shortfall could have been better met by cutting his overgrown payroll. Next time you're caught off guard at the register, remember the city jobs your extra scratch is helping to keep around.

Reason #3: Higher Unemployment than New Haven, Conn.

Illinois just experienced a large jump in unemployment (from 5.3 to 6.5 percent) from April to May with numbers for the Chicagoland area tracking state figures.

The Skinny: This move followed a jump in Illinois metropolitan area unemployment from 4.7 percent in March. These figures from the Illinois Department of Employment Security tell the story locally.

Why it's not so great: We have more unemployed people in the Chicago area than we've had since Sept 2003.

To be sure, Chicago's looking better than many other metro areas, but take a peak at these unemployment figures from April. They show the city and surrounding area ( #263 - 5.3 pecent unemployment) beating out Flint, Mich. (9.3 percent) and nearby Rockford, Ill. (7.2 percent) but trailing Dallas-Ft. Worth, Tx. (3.9 percent) and even armpit-of-the-east, New Haven, Conn. (4.7 percent), C'mon. We can't get out employed by New Haven.

Reason #4: Lower Graduation Rates than Seattle, San Francisco

Chicago public schools graduation rates lag behind other major U.S. cities.

The Skinny: Chicago had only the 31st-highest graduation rate out of the 50 most-populous cities in the U.S. in 2004 with 51.5 percent completing school, according to this PDF from America's Promise Alliance (WARNING: BIG FILE)

Why it's not so great: That's nowhere near Detroit (24.9 percent!) and this time we're beating those jokers in Dallas (44.4). But San Francisco (73.1) and Seattle (67.6) are eating our lunch on this one. If we want people to mention Chicago in the same breath as them, things have to change on this front.

Bonus: Chicago also sports one of the larger "graduation gaps" the different between its suburban and urban graduation rates according to the same study.

Reason #5: CTA's less than impressive safety record

It's easy to hate on the CTA. Everyone rides it or has at some time or another. And everyone's has a bad experience eventually. Nevertheless, in case the frequent derailments haven't tipped you off, there are serious safety issues at play.

"The best that can be said about the level of safety on the Chicago Transit Authority rail system is that riders are not putting their lives in jeopardy."

That's Jon Hilkevitch's reassuring opening sentence in his write-up of a recent CTA safety review conducted by the Regional Transportation Authority.

I can't find the report itself anywhere online. The CTA Tattler didn't have it either. Anyone have the link?

The Skinny: According to Hilkevitch, the report says

• Upgrades are necessary and should not be postponed.
• Between January and August 2007, 13 train derailments and five train collisions occured in CTA railyards
• The CTA isn't conducting enough performance response drills
• Several of the same conditions that caused a major 2006 Blue Line derailment are still at issue including debris on the tracks and missing or loose rail spikes.

For their part, the CTA says it has put programs into motion to fix tracks, devise a better hazard management process, and fix emergency equipment, but without a budget boost, some of the recommendations remain out of reach (specifically, studying CTA employee fitness for duty which they say will cost $1.6 million).

Why it's not so great: Everyone rides the CTA at some point. And with skyrocketing fuel prices and the boom in green guilt, more and more residents and visitors will be hitting the trains and buses. Having a safe and stable public transit system is also a crucial need for any city hoping to host...say a major international sporting event...Plus it's just plain scary hearing about this stuff and then listening to officials quibble over who's responsible.

The CTA has its work cut out for it. But that doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye to the fact that it's not providing a level of safety that makes anyone happy.

That's it for part 1. Be sure to drop by tomorrow for part 2, in which we tackle feel-good topics like traffic congestion, the rising murder rate, environmental justice and yes, the Olympic bid.