Middle-income areas, pictured above in light yellow, made up half the city in 1970. Today, Chicago neighborhoods tend to be, on average, either low income (orange) or high income (blue).
It will only get more polarized.
Meaningless article. Chicago population has been decreasing since 1970 by 700k. Suburban population is more than triple the city population. It’s simpy a ghetto-fication of the city and a decade long boom of suburban.
“Population estimates in 2008 put the number of people in the city proper at 2,853,114, while suburban populations continue to grow, with estimates at 9,785,747 for the combined city and suburbs.”
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Stupid journalists even want more affordable housing in Chicago when the majority of the residents are low income. Middle class left Chicago due to crime, not due to housing cost. Most of the city is dirt cheap and population is 25% less than 1970.
Too many stupid people, or not stupid but with an agenda.
Ignore this article. Stupid media
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Ain’t classes defined by percentile?
Top 10 % = High class
Bottom 10% = Low class
Bottom 10% < middle class < top 10%
Right?
So how can middle class disappear?
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Middle class can indeed disappear depending on the income distribution curve. If people are either extremely wealthy or extremely poor the middle can be very small.
Someone should do a study on San Francisco. I think the same is true here as well.
Since it is about people, should be population distribution not income distribution. Income distribution is so arbitrary because almost every American is upper class based on income distribution of the world. Btw, why is normal distribution is the right distribution for income curve? Social stability?
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Meaningless to study one city. Needs to study the national, state and metro level data.
Is the middle class reduction the hallmark of blue cities? How is the red city doing?
Is democratic supermajority correlated with small middle class population?
A lot of the middle class have become rich or upper middle class. The so-called poor have a safety net and would be considered rich in the Third world.
These facts are denied by the progressives because it does not fit their class warfare narrative.
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The purpose of this junk article is to provide subsidized housing to middle class, their goal is to make middle class become dependent on welfare. Is the author or the people pushing for this piece part of Democratic Socialists of America?
The left created the housing shortage. Over regulation has made building construction costs too expensive to be affordable for the middle class
Democrats have run Chicago since the 60’s. This is their plan for America. A few rich to pay for everything and everyone else is poor and dependent in the government. Of course, they’ll select who the rich are.
It’s amazing how the democrats have put together their coalition of voters by creating a common enemy of rich and corporations. They’ve found enough people that want to be victims instead of taking responsibility for their lives.
It is the mantra from the sixties. Blame everything on the man.
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In 1979, inequality is in red states. Today, inequality is in blue states. New York and Connecticut are the worst
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Inequality is worse in some coastal states because that’s where a college kid with 2 years of experience can make 300K.
People with the right skill see their income rise many folds in the blue states. People who don’t have the right skills still see their income rise, but to a much lesser extent. But the rich pushed up housing costs so much that the middle class is squeezed out.
It’s a problem because it violates people’s sense of fairness. Telling them they are better off than 200 years ago won’t cut it. We are already seeing pushback as the new generations are leaning left. Whether the solutions they are proposing are right or not we can debate. But you can’t deny inequality is a problem, for the simple reason that most people think it’s a problem. In a democracy, that means it’s a problem.
Majority of Chicago residents are low income and many under poverty line. Are you saying that these low income people pushed up housing cost and middle class were pushed out?
Middle class was pushed out decades ago, long before the tech boom. Middle class was pushed out by crime, but by rising housing price.
There is too much misinformation and even smart people like @manch was brainwashed. Population movement happened over 50 years, but media tries to deceive people and tries to attribute a 50 year demographic change to the recent economic data. This is purposeful dismisinformation, it is beyond stupidity.
This is why people are tired of elites. They are very intelligent but most of the people are not as intelligent. They come up with numerous deceivingly compelling arguments and make the people do bad things willingly.
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Inequality is a good thing not a bad thing. When things are equal, that means everyone is equally poor.
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Emotionally charged word. Difference not inequality.
Is a problem because people are told long ago that whatever jobs they do, they get “middle class” pay. Don’t quote democracy, in Singapore is not an issue. Singaporeans accept that skills that many people can do command lesser pay, period!
Common sense is more dependable than elitism. Elites are overly clever and they can convince us to hurt ourselves happily. Very dangerous!
Elites are very intelligent and they can use a 20 step logic to convince us. They can implant a minor logic fallacy or use psychological vulnerabilities to make the people to hurt themselves voluntarily and passionately.
@manch is very smart. If his intelligence level is top 10%, that means that 90% of the population can be easily manipulated to produce a riot.
Carl Marx has successfully caused many revolutions and many millions of people lost their life to Marx
Not Marx’s fault. People used his ideology as a tool for savagery.
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