Posted on 03/25/2016 12:38:05 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
When "polar vortex," "below zero" and "rapid weather change" have become integrated into the vocabulary of every Chicagoan, it's snow wonder why:
In 2015, the Chicago region saw its first population decline in more than two decades, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday. The Windy City's drop-off also was higher than any metropolitan area in the U.S.
People are giving Chicago and Illinois the cold shoulder and migrating to states such as Florida, Arizona and Nevada, where they can enjoy warmer and much less moody climates. Can you blame them?
Imagine lying poolside in the sunshine and not feeling a need to pack an umbrella, snow boots and tank top every time you leave the house. *Sigh* Although we should consider ourselves lucky this year—Mother Nature didn’t carry out her typical winter vendetta.
Despite this winter’s warmer-than-usual weather, the Chicago region lost an estimated 6,263 residents in 2015, according to census data.
And new residents and births couldn’t offset the number of residents who have left the Chicago area since 2010—about 80,000 in all. Clearly, not enough people are gettin' it on, amiright? And Cook County’s population dropped 2.4 percent from 2014, leaving the county with a population of about 5.2 million.
Two other contributing factors in Chicago’s population dip are a diminished Mexican immigrant population and a "dramatic decline" in the city’s African-American population, according to data gathered by Rob Paral and Associates, a firm owned by Chicago-based demographer Rob Paral.
Fortunately, young, college-educated people (who don't know any better when it comes to the city's weather) are flocking to Chicago. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near the number of people leaving the state.
For more information, check out the Tribune’s report.
Death by taxes.
I hear Des Moines is growing, though.
It’s snowing bullets!
But they are taking the “Chicago Way” with them.
Wherever they land, shades of Crook county will follow.
Couldn’t have anything to do with thousands of people being shot each year and a dysfunctional city government?
Hell, just throw some paint on it and give it a new name. How about New Detroit?
As I understand it, BUSINESSES are looking to avoid the uncertainty and costs that come with harsh winters. Without them, it is difficult to attract people.
Here in NJ there are sometimes news stories describing how towns use their whole snow removal budget in one bad storm...
I spent my first year in the Navy at Naval Training Center Great Lakes, IL, 40 miles north of Chicago. The joke was that there are two seasons in Chicago - Winter and the Fourth of July, and I was home on leave for the 4th.
Tried to go swimming in the lake in August. Took three days for my -er- private parts to reappear.
Spent the other 19 years in Norfolk, or on ships homeported there.
It’s the weather. Something beyond Mayor Rahm Emmanuel’s control.
It’s not skyrocketing unemployment...
It’s not out-of-control crime...
It’s not all of the murders...
It’s not the high taxes...
It’s not the crumbling infrastructure...
It’s not the looming fiscal and pension crisis...
It is not any of these things. It’s the weather. Even though it has been unusually warm, it still the weather. Maybe people are leaving because it’s too warm!
That’s it... Blame Global Warming... It’s all George W. Bush’s fault...
Boy, no kidding. People have lived in Chicago over a long period of time, braving the weather, and touting the city as the best place to be.
If they are leaving, it is (as you said) because of crime, race, and liberal policies running it into the ground.
Not the weather. What a stupid, stupid, article.
hahaha...Great Lakes!
And Norfolk...no dogs or sailors on the grass!
Rumor has it that some even get to leave while they are still alive.
Just look at Washington, DC.
Isn't denial amazing? Folks would move just about anywhere they felt safe from out-of-control (and often enabled) violence. As far as weather? Most folks adapt quite well to the occasional blizzard. But most sane folks have no intention to adapt to Black Lives Matter and random out of control violence in their streets.
“But they are taking the “Chicago Way” with them. Wherever they land, shades of Crook county will follow.”
The Crime and Murder spike in Indianapolis is being blamed on an influx of “people” moving from Chicago for “Better opportunities”.
In the 1960’s, about a quarter of the city was unlivable - a significant stretch of the South Side, and much of the West Side.
Today, about three-quarters of the city is unlivable - almost all of the South Side, except for a few pockets here and there; almost all of the West Side; and now parts of the North Side.
But Rahm’s spending money on bike paths - that’ll do the trick!
Crime hole.
I was on a train that crossed thru the south side of Chicago...the area looked like Dresden after the allied bombing, and that was in the mid-80’s.
Snow is white and white is racist!
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