Sometimes you try to put a positive gloss on a situation, but the underlying concerns that cause the need for such spin come back to bite you.
Earlier this week I wrote an upbeat piece on Chicago that discussed two meaningful changes that demonstrate real growth occurring in the Windy City. I noted that last year Chicago reached its highest number of occupied dwelling units at 1.18 million, surpassing its previous high of 1.16 million in 1960. Total occupied households had fallen to 1.03 million in 1990 before steadily increasing in numbers since. Chicago has continued to lose population despite the household growth, however, due to declining household size.
I also noted that Chicago’s new residents were bringing higher incomes to the city, particularly in comparison to its suburban and exurban areas. Between 2010 and 2020 Chicago’s total household income grew by 21 percent, nearly doubling its suburban household income growth (11 percent). Exurban areas saw a huge 154 percent increase in household income, but its far smaller size (only 12 percent of the households in the metro area, compared to 32 percent and 56 percent in the city and suburbs, respectively) means it has a diluted impact.
Anyway, I said all that to make the point that Chicago is transitioning to becoming an economically stronger city, despite its population loss. To me that’s a positive that rarely gets recognized. But I failed to mention the social and political implications of this transition, and two Corner Side Yard subscribers brought this up in the comments.
Subscriber Matt (@gypsy67) noted that the “ (Chicago Mayor) Brandon (Johnson) political coalition is a rearguard movement of those who feel they are losing from these changes, working class blacks in Chicago itself.”
Chicago is losing population principally for one reason – its Black population is fleeing. Since 2000, Chicago’s lost nearly a third of its Black residents, falling from 1.05 million in 2000 to just 729,000 in 2023.
Read the rest of this piece at The Corner Side Yard.
Pete Saunders is a writer and researcher whose work focuses on urbanism and public policy. Pete has been the editor/publisher of the Corner Side Yard, an urbanist blog, since 2012. Pete is also an urban affairs contributor to Forbes Magazine's online platform. Pete's writings have been published widely in traditional and internet media outlets, including the feature article in the December 2018 issue of Planning Magazine. Pete has more than twenty years' experience in planning, economic development, and community development, with stops in the public, private and non-profit sectors. He lives in Chicago.
Photo: Ken Lund, via Flickr under CC 2.0 License
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