By Steve Rhodes
The geniuses at the Sun-Times wonder why so many folks have left Chicago over the last decade – you know, given our beach volleyball and great theater.
Well, let’s turn to the Chicago Reporter’s Megan Cottrell for some help:
“Okay, so we’re not the Big Apple, and we don’t have the sun-tanned allure of L.A., but Chicago’s pretty great, right? Most of us, whether we were born here or have made it our home, would agree.
“How justified is our city pride? Beyond the skyscrapers and sparkling store windows of Michigan Avenue, Chicago has a pretty seedy underbelly. We may not like to admit it. Heck, we may not even know. But when we look at the Second City in comparison to its rivals – the top 10 largest cities around the U.S. – we might be a little astounded.”
Cottrell’s findings:
* “In Chicago, the unemployment rate for African Americans is almost three times higher than it is for whites. The city’s 21.4 percent black unemployment rate is the highest rate of any race or ethnic group examined for the nation’s 10 largest cities.”
* “Black people living in Chicago make 45 cents for every dollar that a white Chicagoan makes.”
* “In Chicago, nearly one third of African Americans live in poverty – more than three times the rate for white Chicagoans. Only Latinos in Philadelphia and Phoenix are experiencing poverty at higher rates than black Chicagoans among any race or ethnic group examined among the nation’s 10 largest cities.”
* “Chicago is the only city among the nation’s 10 largest cities where a higher percentage of white residents have a graduate degree or higher than the percentage of black residents with a college degree of any kind. Also in Chicago, the percentage of Latinos with at least a high school diploma is about the same as the percentage of whites with at least a bachelor’s degree.”
* “In Chicago, nearly 56 percent of African Americans at least 16 years old are without a job (either unemployed or not in the labor force) – the highest percentage of any race or ethnic group examined among the nation’s 10 largest cities.”
Of course, folks working for a newspaper couldn’t be expected to know all of this. They’re too busy selling a book about Daley’s legacy. (link unavailable)
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“Chicago’s central core grew increasingly vibrant during the past decade, as young professionals filled new condominiums in the Loop and surrounding neighborhoods, taking advantage of trendy restaurants and nightspots,” the Tribune reported last month.
“But vast swaths of the city didn’t fare as well. Fifty-seven of Chicago’s 77 community areas lost population during the decade, according to 2010 U.S. census data released last week.
“Hardest hit were the South and West sides, where thousands of African-Americans abandoned neighborhoods beset by crime, foreclosures, bad schools and economic squalor.”
I guess the lure of great theater wasn’t enough for those folks.
But He Wants One Of His Own
Tapes Show Ex-Gov. George Ryan ‘Didn’t Understand’ Pardon.
Industry Captive
Prudential Building HQ for Obama 2012.
What, JP Morgan Chase HQ wasn’t available?
Programming Note
Man Arrested In Connection With Grant Park Attack.
In real life or the one on The Chicago Code?
You can learn all about the Code version tonight because I think Fox is re-airing the pilot. So maybe we’ll watch it at the Beachwood tonight or maybe not – customers’ choice.
Either way, I’m on duty behind the bar from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Cooked Goose
“Beer company Goose Island said Monday that it had agreed to be acquired by industry giant Anheuser Busch, the Chicago brewer’s current distributor,” Crain’s reports.
*
Meanwhile:
“Coors Light is close to dethroning Budweiser as the nation’s best-selling brew behind Bud Light,” Ad Age reports.
Snail Mail
Letter from Chicagoan arrives 66 years late.
Remembering When Obama Called Ferraro A Racist
Then appointed her our ambassador to the United Nation’s Human Rights Commission.
Even The Losers
One team wins; the rest go home in ruins.
Chicago Dog Fighting
How a Humboldt Park native got to know the dog game.
The Chicago Wolves’ Baby Derby
Five infants competed.
AT&T Is Back For More
And Obama’s FCC is likely to give it to them.
The Weekend in Rock
You shoulda been there.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Demographic.
Posted on March 28, 2011