Posted on 05/09/2022 9:23:15 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Last October, Boeing’s headquarters in Chicago was described as looking like a ghost town, with few people showing up to work at the company’s corporate offices. And that was largely after the city began reopening following the pandemic lockdowns. Many employees may still have been working from home out of caution over COVID, but others simply didn’t want to brave the streets of the Windy City for fear of being carjacked or otherwise harmed by the criminals who seemed to be running the streets. Now the “ghost town” reputation is apparently going to be amplified because the company announced that it will be escaping Chicago and establishing its HQ in Virginia. And could any sane person really blame them? (National Review)
Boeing, the world’s third-largest defense contractor and a famous maker of passenger jets, is moving its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Va.
The move comes as Chicago is increasingly ravaged by crime and random drive-by shootings in the middle of downtown. In recent weeks, the theater district in downtown Chicago has had to shut down plays because the area has become so unsafe at night.
Crime in Chicago is up 35 percent this year compared with the same period in 2021. Theft is up by 67 percent.
To be clear, Boeing isn’t pulling out lock, stock and barrel. They have promised to leave roughly 500 workers in the area. But Boeing employs literally thousands of people in Chicago, so that represents a major loss of jobs. And almost all of the corporate brass will be departing. As noted in the excerpt above, nearly all categories of crime are up significantly again this year, despite Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s continued efforts to deny this reality during press conferences. They had to shut down the theater district because it was unsafe for patrons or theater workers to be on the streets after dark.
So the decision to leave Chicago probably wasn’t a difficult one for Boeing and it’s likely been in the works for a while. But why Virginia? Why not Texas or Florida or one of the other red states that have been courting businesses away from increasingly violent cities? As pointed out in the National Review article, Virginia is in the process of reducing taxes and decreasing regulations. They are also beefing up law enforcement.
It also didn’t hurt to have Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin working behind the scenes trying to tempt Boeing to move to his state. It turns out that Youngkin opened up private negotiations with Boeing on the day he was inaugurated. Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun even made a point of thanking Youngkin for his leadership in this effort when he announced the move.
The municipal government of Chicago needs to wake up and smell the coffee burning on the stove because Boeing isn’t the only major outfit that’s pulling up stakes and fleeing. The Citadel hedge fund is in the process of planning a move to Florida. The Chicago Bears franchise is forming plans to move out of the city and into the suburbs. In December, United Airlines moved 1,300 employees out of downtown Chicago. Others are either planning or have announced similar moves.
Without some serious and immediate changes, Chicago could realistically be at risk of becoming the new Camden, New Jersey. For more than a century, Camden was a center of industry and wealth, boasting one of the larger and more successful shipyards on the east coast. Then in the 60s and 70s criminal gangs began to take over the streets and the decline of the city was both rapid and dramatic. By the mid-eighties, the town had been virtually overrun. Most businesses were gone and the crime rates were among the highest in the nation. Camden turned into hell on earth and it didn’t take long at all. If you don’t think the same thing could happen to Chicago, you haven’t been paying attention to your history lessons.
More concentration of power in DC.
Certainly.
They know ChiRac is dying and Virginia is where the war monger politicians make the deals.
From one crime ridden area, to America’s number one crime ridden area.
I’d say “go back to Seattle”, but that’s no improvement over Chiraq.
When do city leaders realize that what they are doing is not working?
When do voters realize that what city leaders are doing is not working?
While major corporations step over each other hurrying to flee Chicago, Groot has a brilliant plan to revitalize the city by having the city pay for free abortions for out-of-state women.
Got to shorten air gaps.
They were really stupid to move there in the first place. VA won’t be much better, Why don’t they use their heads and move to Texas?
“Groot has a brilliant plan “
That’s kind of unfair. Groot was loyal, goodhearted, and even a bit funny at times. You owe Groot an apology.
Lol @ abandoning crime ridden Chicago. Boeing, i.e. the elite leadership bands, live secure and safe in lap of fabulous luxury and privilege Chicago. When they are in Chicago, that is. They live everywhere.
Mobil HQ used to be in Fairfax, VA. They left about 10 years ago.
The Pentagon is located in Arlington VA. Do you have any idea how many billions of dollars Boeing gets in DoD contacts each year? Not just equipment...billions in services contacts alone.
Further to the point, Lockheed’s headquarters is in Bethesda MD and Northrup’s HQ is in Falls Church.
Maybe they just want to get away from that hideous mayor. She is a walking, talking birth control advertisement. 👎🤮
RE: Boeing, i.e. the elite leadership bands, live secure and safe in lap of fabulous luxury and privilege Chicago.
Their HQ used to be in Seattle as I recall ( when Seattle was still a fabulous, relatively safe city ). Why did they move to Chicago in the first place?
Whee!
RE: They were really stupid to move there in the first place. VA won’t be much better
Their HQ used to be in Seattle as I recall ( when Seattle was still a fabulous, relatively safe city ). Why did they move to Chicago in the first place?
Better late than never.
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