CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[Steely Dan]

could this be the death knell for preckwinkle's campaign?

she's already massively down in the polls and now one of the most popular contenders among african american voters in the first round has formally endorsed lightfoot.

this is not the news toni wanted to wake up to this morning.

Lori Lightfoot picks up endorsement from businessman Willie Wilson in mayor's race
John ByrneContact Reporter
Chicago Tribune

Attorney Lori Lightfoot picked up a key endorsement Friday in her efforts to court Chicago’s black voters in the city’s mayoral runoff election.

Businessman Willie Wilson will be backing her campaign for mayor against Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Lightfoot announced at a morning City Club speaking engagement.

full article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...308-story.html

[the urban politician]

^ YES!

She was also endorsed by the Firefighter's union, so there pretty much goes the cop/firefighter hoods. In addition, she received about $100k from a local businessman, so there's speculation that the business community will slowly line up behind her.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

could this be the death knell for preckwinkle's campaign?

she's already massively down in the polls and now one of the most popular contenders among african american voters in the first round has formally endorsed lightfoot.

this is not the news toni wanted to wake up to this morning.



full article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...308-story.html

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ YES!

She was also endorsed by the Firefighter's union, so there pretty much goes the cop/firefighter hoods. In addition, she received about $100k from a local businessman, so there's speculation that the business community will slowly line up behind her.

Awesome! This actually makes sense as Willie Wilson is probably one of the more moderate candidates who ran. GO LIGHTFOOT!

[bnk]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

On the #4 bus I heard some seniors speaking loudly about politics. One of them was adamant about supporting whoever Willie Wilson endorses, the other was not going to vote now that Willie Wilson Was out

This is really great news

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

the issue is most people in Chicago think these things happen top down. machine politics, Rahm/Daley esque iron fist government style, mega developments, etc. The thing is thats not how perceptions of NY, Austin, or Portland changed. the notion that outsiders gravitated to austin. it happened organically. it happened because kids grew up idolizing CBGBs and gritty punk rock in gritty atmospheres. or supposed sustainable lifestyles with access to nature in the PNW. there werent big ad campaigns, consultants, and marketing agencies selling this stuff. it was a general understanding and appeal that developed over time.

Just look at the food scene over the past 5-10 years. It seems to have been both organic growth from popularity of TV chefs and Randolph Row to top-down growth from things like hosting the James Beard awards.

Austin is widely regarded as the "Live Music Capital of the World" thanks to it being their official slogan since 1991 and the marketing they've done around it. Things like the Austin Music Census are government programs which support the industry.

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

why is Nashville known as a place to see live music? why is NOLA?

Because it is all those cities have to tap as an identity and tourism draw. In Chicago, we have thriving music, theater, art, food and comedy scenes. Smaller cities don't have the same type of competition. Similar to our business climate we rely on a mix of multiple different industries, unlike San Fran (hardware, software), Houston (oil & gas) or Seattle (cloud) which have specific industries they dominate. It makes it hard to plant a tent pole, but also insulates us from market swings.

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

how many bands can the average person identify as from Chicago in 2019? im guessing precisely zero. does that mean they dont exist? of course not. but its not elevated in our cultural discourse. if you want outsiders to appreciate what it is you have, you have to appreciate it first, and frankly chicago does a horrendous job at supporting locally grown talent.

100% agree that the city should be doing more to lift up these types of artists. That said, what about hip-hop and r&b artists? Most of my friends can name plenty that are under 30 and from Chicago (Chance, Vic Mensa, Saba, No Name, Mick Jenkins, Jeremih, G Herbo, etc.). I think outsiders do appreciate that, maybe it's just not the type of music you focus on.

[the urban politician]

^ Yeah, I'm not too worried about that stuff really. I mean, it's not like Chicago really needs to be jealous of Austin and Nashville. I think we're just bored--we need a new skyscraper announcement!

And don't forget--the whole world knows where House music came from

[Via Chicago]

ill definitely concede the food scene is the one aspect that definitely has carved out a national niche for itself thanks in large part to travel channels (and instagram)

[Vlajos]

How many have actually been to Austin and Nashville? I have, and have no idea what the buzz is about. They are both completely sterile and corporate feeling. Chicago feels real.

[Baronvonellis]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

which is like 3x what it was 10 years ago, but still not bad

still funny seeing people saying "wow i can afford pilsen?" when no one wanted to touch it with a 10 foot pole not that long ago

Fair enough, Pilsen didn't become hip and cool till a could years ago. When I moved to Chicago in 06 Logan square wasn't even popular, and now it's the most popular area and red hot.

All I've ever heard the entire time from the media and locals here is how expensive Chicago is, so I guess I never really looked into buying a house that much. Also, where I live in the northside has always been super expensive near a million, so I hadn't considered other areas being not super expensive, and I didn't want to go to a high crime area.

Yea, when you compare it to California, Miami, or New York , Chicago is dirt cheap!

[LouisVanDerWright]

A few comments on the recent discussions here:

1. Chicago continually puts out revolutionary new genres of music. In fact it seems a brand new style of music comes out of Chicago every 40 years or so on average (Blues, Jazz, House, etc). We are about due for it. Even in the last 15 years or so Chicago has been the epicenter of the recent development of music festivals as the primary means of delivery of music. Starting with Lolla in the 1990's and spreading into today's smorgasbord of festivals (Pitchfork, Riotfest, North Coast, etc) Chicago basically invented the new premier way of exposing talent to fans. Same goes with other major elements of the national music infrastructure from Media (Pitchfork Mag/Website) to ticketing (TicketFly) to agency (Windish Agency).

We are not out of the game and frankly it's just a matter of time before we have another shot at the spotlight as the innovator in music culture. In fact, hip hop has soared in popularity in the last few years again as EDM has begun to enter a decline. As someone else pointed out, several of today's leading hip hop artists are here and, from my contacts in the industry, 2019 has a whole 'nother crop of Chicago based artists ready to break out.

The issue Chicago has is that our "scene" isn't well promoted, partly because of the existing negative narratives about the city, but also partly because Chicago is known for so many other things that the first thing that comes to mind when someone talks about the city isn't usually music or culture.

2. Chicago has a ton of momentum behind it right now. The changes this city has undergone even since I moved here 12 years ago are astounding even in the context of a nationwide gentrification orgy. As much as there are some legitimate issues with this explosive growth, it has also created a much bigger market for culture of all varieties in the city.

This is most apparent in the food scene which I would argue is near the top of all cities world wide. I also think a big part of what makes the food scene what it is actually is the general affordability of the city. Low rent retail spaces (or West Loop lofts) make it super easy for restaurants to get started. Low rent for residents also means the average yuppie or hipster household can afford to spend more of their income on "experiences" like fine dining. Anecdotally my wife and I spend wayyy too much money on going out, but we can afford to because A. it's not all that expensive (maybe $40-70 for both of us including drinks even at a fairly fancy joint) and B. We literally spend zero dollars on rent because we own and our tenants pay our entire mortgage. Now obviously I got kinda lucky buying when I did, but I have multiple other friends who bought much later on who are in the same boat. A buddy who works at a tech firm downtown and now makes $150k a year and owns a three flat basically has $100k/year spendin' money after taxes because, even though he paid $500k+ for his building, the tenants cover most of his payment.

Multiply that by thousands of people and suddenly you have a huge market for dining with relatively low barriers to entry. That means you get innovation and you can support many many fine dining establishments. In NYC or SF or even Denver or Austin, good luck. Your rent will probably be $2000-3000/mo for a small 2BR eliminating a good chunk of your disposable income.

3. The art scene is really exploding here. I was just at a gallery show last night for an artist that goes by the name of Shlumper who has a big studio in Little Village and is showing his work in NYC, London, Paris, Hong Kong, etc. He's working on a huge piece that is 88 8'x8' panels meant to be displayed on a monumental scale. Now how much is a space capable of allowing someone like him to produce, let alone display, something like that going to cost him in NYC or LA?

Every day I get tenants moving in from Houston or Georgia or even Hawaii. Most of my tenants who are "hipster" are not from here. The mass migration to Chicago is drawing a lot of people in who couldn't otherwise afford to pursue their interests elsewhere. The worse the true "Affordability crisis" cities get, the more we benefit, but it's going to take time for the new talent Chicago has been accumulating to become known to the general population. But it is happening and if you are tuned in the "scene" here is growing rapidly and word is spreading where it really matters: among artists and pre-gentrification types.

[the urban politician]

Anybody see that huge ‘Lori Lightfoot for Mayor’ sign driving north on the Kennedy?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Did anyone else see another poll circulating today showing Lightfoot 60 Preckwinkle 38? I saw it, but lost the link?

[emathias]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Did anyone else see another poll circulating today showing Lightfoot 60 Preckwinkle 38? I saw it, but lost the link?

You probably mean this one: 58-30, Lightfoot.

https://wgntv.com/2019/03/05/new-pol...n-mayors-race/

Re: Food scene - Chicago had a better food scene ten years ago. It's still good, and better than most other American cities, but it is in decline from where it was a decade ago.

[the urban politician]

^ Huh?

I can’t fathom that being true. We have so much stuff opening left and right and such an expansion of the food scene that what you’re saying is practically impossible

[rgolch]

I think he means the loss of some 3 stared Michelin restaurants, like Charlie Trotters and L2O. Also, a good number of high end restaurants are repurposing their spaces in less formal, more approachable restaurants. I think Sixteen at Trump has or is in the process of doing that. And if I remember correctly, that was a 2 star Michelin restaurant.

But for my purposes, I think the Chicago food scene is fantastic.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by rgolch

I think he means the loss of some 3 stared Michelin restaurants, like Charlie Trotters and L2O. Also, a good number of high end restaurants are repurposing their spaces in less formal, more approachable restaurants. I think Sixteen at Trump has or is in the process of doing that. And if I remember correctly, that was a 2 star Michelin restaurant.

But for my purposes, I think the Chicago food scene is fantastic.

This is a lot of it. Many of my favorite restaurants have closed in the past two years. Chicago isn't as good at the very top as it was. Too many places have downgraded themselves. I can only take so many hipster-cutsie "gastro-pubs." To be sure I like gastro-pubs, but I also like many, many other styles and I just feel like the variety is reducing and consolidating on a mass market version of that.

Chicago is excellent at the upper-middle level, the level most people eat at when they want a nice night out. But above that it's slipping. Chicago's top-tier used to be competitive with New York except for sheer scale. I don't think that's true anymore. I wouldn't even be shocked if, like LA, we lost our Red Michelin guide.

Also, they loss of Tony Hu has really hurt our Chinese food game.

[the urban politician]

Well, the churn is a good thing.

I think we have way more options than we did 10 years ago, even if we lost a few top notch places. And the ethnic variety is improving. To each his own, I guess...

[Vlajos]

Wow, two polls now showing Prekwinkle getting crushed. Makes this dreary day a bit brighter.

[the urban politician]

Precwkinkle’s biggest liability is that she is an absolutely horrible politician.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Well, the churn is a good thing.

I think we have way more options than we did 10 years ago, even if we lost a few top notch places. And the ethnic variety is improving. To each his own, I guess...

I think there are way more people eating out, more frequently, than ever before and our dining scene has evolved to fit this reality. There's also an expanded realization that even "lowbrow" categories like street food and comfort food can be prepared with the same kind of creativity, skill, and artistry as $100-a-plate seafood dish at an expense account restaurant. I just went out to Half Sour and had an amazing fried fish sandwich where literally every part of the sandwich was made in-house, from scratch, with plenty of loving care. That same restaurant also serves creative, unique and delicious pasta dishes for half the price of a fancy nouveau Italian joint.

Chefs just don't have as much interest in becoming "elite" chefs like Thomas Keller or Jean-Georges Vongerichten when they have plenty of freedom to experiment by opening a cheaper, more neighborhood focused place. The barriers to entry are far, far lower and you can be successful without having to lure a Wall Street (or LaSalle Street) clientele.