Millionaires Are Fleeing Chicago In Record Numbers
Recently, we’ve shown where wealthy people reside within the US , and where they’re fleeing from ( here , and here ). We now present to you the US city that is winning the race to drive out their wealthiest taxpayers.
As the Chicago Tribune reports , that city is none other than Chicago, Illinois.
Millionaires are leaving Chicago more than any other city in the United States on a net basis, according to a report by New World Wealth.
About 3,000 individuals with net assets of $1 million or more (not including their primary residence) moved from the city last year, representing about 2% of the city's high net worth individuals. It is unclear where they went: cities in the United States that saw a net inflow of millionaires included Seattle and San Francisco. One thing is certain: they couldn't wait to get out.
Among the reasons cited for leaving their former home town, many said rising racial tensions and worries about crime as factors in the decision.
The gun violence part we get. Over the weekend, when we penned that " Chicago Disintegrates - Gun Shootings Soar An Unprecedented 89%: "It's The Struggling Economy " we broke out the stunning statistics within America's very own warzone:
"Gun violence in the windy city is on track to post its worst year in the 21st century, the result of an unprecedented surge in gun deaths in the first three months of the year. By March 31, 141 people had been killed, according to the Chicago Police Department.
The 141 deaths in the first three months of the year mark a 71.9% jump from the same period in 2015, when 82 people were killed. It's the worst start to a year since 1999, when 136 people died in the first three months the year, according to the Chicago Tribune.
At that pace - an average of three killings every two days - Chicago would have 564 homicides by the end of the year. That would eclipse the 468 killings recorded in 2015 and 416 in 2014. "
Still, at least for the time being, these mass shooting sprees are largely isolated to poor neighborhoods of the windy city. As such, it is difficult to see millionaires be directly impacted by what happens in inner city ghettos.
Which probably explains why while the article touches on crime and racial tensions as reasons people are leaving, there is also another little, or rather big, matter that is driving the people away: taxes.
According to the Tribune , Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger recently had this to say about the mounting unpaid bills and budget concerns that the state continues to face.
"We can't go bankrupt and we can't print money. Taxpayers are going to have to pay this bill."
Actually it can go bankrupt.
Recall that just two weeks ago we reported that the " Countdown To Insolvency Begins For Chicago Pensions As State Supreme Court Rejects Reform Bid ", in which we wrote that following a controversial Supreme Court decision, "there will be no legislating away pension benefits - even if doing so is the only realistic way for officials to ensure that state and local governments can continue to pay out any benefits at all going forward. That is, even if long-run insolvency is certain, benefits will be paid out in full up to and until the day of reckoning finally comes and it will be up to lawmakers to figure out how to rescue the system in the meantime. If that means raising taxes and/or going into further debt, then that's what it means."
And although they may not be able to print money, we can’t help but wonder if the organization that can, will begin to take on the state insolvency issue in the future to prevent that from happening. After all, the bailout tour must continue to roll on.
For now however, Chicago's future is bleak, and when the hammer finally does hit, it will do so without Chicago's wealthiest present.
Finally, it may not come as a surprise that of all cities around the globe, Chicago was only third in millionaire exodus rankings.
Which was first? Paris, France.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-06/millionaires-are-fleeing-chicago-record-numbers
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Violence and taxes are up and services are down. The same exact thing happened to Detroit after several decades of liberal rule and constantly raising taxes while providing less in return. In Detroit they blamed it on "white flight" but in reality ALL those who could afford to leave did, then there were less taxes to collect. That didn't stop those in power from raising them even higher and driving more out. Chicago is the same mess ruled by the same ideology.
I don't blame them. I'd leave too if I were them and I could. I drove past the place a month ago and it took an hour to go about 1.5 miles. I don't know why anyone would want to live there.
Why so negative?
Let's look at the bright side. Living in Chicago, your risk of being murdered is less than if you lived in say, Seoul South Korea-- or even in Iraq or Syria.
Whoa-- wait a minute...maybe its actually not!
I was downtown today. People all over the streets, tourists all over the streets. Chicago is a great place in the summertime.
NPR just did a good story on all the killings today on all things considered. They too were talking about the bodies in the streets.
4 US cities made the list of top 50 cities in the world with highest murder rates in 2016. Chicago was not one of them.
According to the story , 3000 millionaires moved out of the city last year, living a mere 147,000 millionaires calling Chicago home. Woe is them. lol.
Is this a fucking joke?
Who cares how many millionaires live where anyway?
This seeded article is almost a year and a half old. LOL.
I think that I'll post something about the Worlds Fair held in Chicago in 1893...That's pretty current.
I think that I'll post something about the Worlds Fair held in Chicago in 1893...That's pretty current.
Whoops-- I didn't check the date when I made my comments-- thanks for your comment!
May 21, 2016
We're rich! Illinois has more millionaires than ever
Last year, the number of millionaire households in Illinois reached 280,265, up 5.2 percent from 2014. That's one out of every 18 households.
The number of millionaires had probably been rising for a while and then plateaued off. In any case, who cares?
Is this a fucking joke?
Nope. No joke. In fact it isn't very funny at all, LOL.
Who cares how many millionaires live where anyway?
I have no idea. But if I had to guess as to who actually cares, I'd probably say:
1. The millionaires themselves
2. Chicago taxpayers
2. Mayors, other elected officials, ordinary people, and businesses in the places the millionaires move to.
2. The person who seeded the article, natch!
3. People here who are commenting on the article obviously care (otherwise they spend their time elsewhere on NT..).
4. Business owners in Chicago who will loss a lot of money as a result
5. The employees of those companies losing money, who may get pay cuts , or even lose their jobs
6. People who have IRA's owning stocks in those companies.
7. Companies in Chicago who do not sell to millionaires, but who will lose business anyway
8. Me
And that's just for starters!
Chicago metro is one of the largest in the country. It is in no danger of disappearing in your lifetime, I guarantee you.
4. Business owners in Chicago who will loss a lot of money as a result
Yes, they may lose 2 percent of their business, assuming the millionaires that left bought from them and were not replaced by other customers.
Well, if one could see Chicago as I saw it.....was a dream. Lakeshore Drive, shopping, Shubert Theatre and take a drive to Lake Forest and stay at the Deer Path Inn. Many wonderful visits.
downtown chicago is a far cry from the outer areas--go 2 miles south or west and you are in an area you definitely do not want to be.
it is shame as i think downtown chicago is very beautiful and exciting area. same thing with detroit--take a pic of downtown and one of the areas a few blocks away and you are looking at 2 different cities.
the high taxes will not only affect the residents but tourists as well when hotel rooms, infrastructure and the price of goods rise beyond what they could get elsewhere..we live relatively close to chicago and all summer people would talk about taking a weekend trip there--not so much nowdays..people are going elsewhere even now.
Chicago is a very large city with some bad areas. To say if you go "two miles'' here or there and you will be in a bad way really depends. Three miles south of downtown is the Bridgeport neighborhood which is being gentrified with million dollar condos.
I live on the south side of Chicago in a very low crime neighborhood.
The city is too big to generalize about.
City says tourism in 2016 hit record: 54.1 million visitors
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Chicago tourism hit a record in 2016, despite a drop-off in visitors from Europe and other international locales.
New figures being released today by the city and Choose Chicago, the city's promotion agency, indicate that an estimated 54.1 million out-of-towners visited Chicago last year. That's a bump of 1.5 million people, or 2.9 percent, over the prior year and moves the city close to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's goal: 55 million visitors.
In a statement, Emanuel and Choose Chicago CEO David Whitaker said they're thrilled with the numbers, which have brought both an increase in tourism-related jobs (up 3.3 percent, to a total of 145,137) and direct spending (up 2.6 percent, to $15 billion) in 2016.
But the numbers were not as good in the lucrative international tourism category, in which each visitor tends to stay longer and spend more than U.S. tourists.
Though the number of visitors from Asian markets, including China, India and South Korea, was up a solid 22.7 percent, 7.1 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively, tourism dropped from bigger European markets including the United Kingdom, down 18.3 percent; Germany, down 6.1 percent; and Spain, down 14.5 percent. Officials blamed "economic uncertainty and unfavorable exchange rates," with international tourism down an estimated 3.7 percent, to 1.56 million.
Of total visitors, roughly four in five were here for pleasure, as tourists. The remainder were traveling on business, the city said.
Officials are hoping to get another pop this year: While 2016 was a cyclical down year for Chicago conventions, 2017 has more bookings. And while 31 major meetings and conventions were held here last year, 35 are planned in 2017.
That's especially important to the hotel business. While overall visitation to the city was up 2.9 percent last year, the total number of daily rooms available rose even more, up 4.2 percent, to an average of 40,947. An additional 14 hotels are scheduled to open over the next two years, and either more visitors will take those rooms or occupancy rates will drop.
The city says tourism generated $911 million in tax revenue last year, up 2.2 percent.
The kid on NPR today said he lives in Englewood and is afraid to walk from his house to his car. He says he's scared to take the trash out at night because he's seen dead bodies in the alley where the trash can is.
In the Garden District of New Orleans same thing applies. You can be murdered if you take your trash cans out at the wrong time.