/biz/ - Business & Finance

Here's an interesting take. A city with:

>cheap talent (relative to the coasts)
>dense, walkable neighborhoods (the ones hipsters love to gentrify)
>ample fresh water - this will be important soon
>will actually BENEFIT from climate change
>has the most diversified economy of any major city, so not susceptible to bubbles (re: san francisco)
>6 multibillion-dollar developments currently in progress
>literally hundreds of ACRES of urban land ready to be redeveloped (still years out, but possible)

I'll tell you, and you're not going to like the answer. It's Chicago.

This is where it gets interesting though:
>south and west sides (where all of the crime is) are losing population very quickly, literally emptying out
>white + young professional population is EXPLODING (highest increase in 100k+ renting households in the entire country) in the last 10 years
>avg income across the city is increasing rapidly
>those high-income renters are going to need homes in the coming years

The development will come. I may be early on this pick here, but I am absolutely not wrong. America's shift, especially among young people, toward a denser urban environment as their preferred way of living bodes exceptionally well for long-mocked Chicago.

Watch sentiment on the city over the next 10 years. Crime will subside as population shifts and the next mayor beefs up the police force.