Most politically aware Americans of a certain age remember the disaster and violence that took place at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, but few remember Bill Clinton coming to the city for his reelection convention in 1996. That event may have become a forgotten Chicago convention, but comparing the state of the Windy City in the Clinton era to today shows how much progressive policies have diminished the city since the last convention.
Breitbart’s Joel Pollack noted Friday that Chicago was doing well in 1996 when Clinton began his second term.
“Crime was down, the economy was booming, and the notorious slums were being cleared out and replaced with mixed-income developments,” Pollack noted.
But even as the Democratic National Convention returns to the lakeside city, things aren’t as bright as they once were.
There’s no doubt that crime and taxes have skyrocketed in Chicago, but it’s not enough to simply state the obvious: a look at some numbers reveals just how badly the city has fallen apart since the Clintons arrived.
Let’s start with the city’s population. In the 1990s, Chicago was a vibrant city, full of busy, earning, successful people. But since the 1990s, the city’s population has plummeted. And if there’s any indication of how bad the situation is, it’s that the city’s residents don’t have enough faith in Chicago to tolerate it.
For example, in Chicago in 1990 population 2,783,660, but by 2023, this had fallen to 2,664,452.
That may not seem so bad, but the decline was especially hard on Chicago’s black population. In 1990, Chicago Black residents: 1,187,905By 2023, that number will be 784,078.
Between 2017 and 2023, the black population will 3% decreaseAccording to the Chicago Urban League.
Ironically, some say one of the reasons Chicago has a much smaller black population is because thousands of black people are murdered there every year. Center Square recently Reported By 2023, black Chicagoans will account for 77 percent of all homicide victims.
Video: “Dude, this is crazy!” Uber driver totally fed up with Chicago crime after car is shot at
John Williams (via Storyful)
But there are plenty of other reasons why Chicago’s African-Americans are fleeing the city, with the economy topping the list. Chicago’s black population suffers from a very high unemployment rate, much higher than the national average. unemployment Illinois’ overall unemployment rate is abysmal at 10.9%, more than double the 4.7% rate for whites. CranesBut in Chicago, the situation is far worse. The Post noted that the unemployment rate for black men in Chicago in 2021 was a dismal 57.4%. For black women, it was even worse, at 60%. And for black teenagers, terrible 87 percent.
So there seems to be a lot of gang violence against black Americans in Chicago, but apparently not much else.
Unemployment isn’t just a minority problem: Chicago has the worst unemployment rate in the nation for all workers, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.
What’s new: The Chicago metropolitan area’s unemployment rate, at 6.2%, is the highest in the country, and Chicagoans have fewer jobs than when Brandon Johnson took office. Bryce Hill translation: Ahead of the DNC. pic.twitter.com/uUx4o4Ow8Q
— Austin Berg (@Austin__Berg) August 15, 2024
Speaking of jobs, Chicago also leads the way in another questionable metric: business closures. Recently released data from WirePoints shows Chicago is at the top of the list of jobs in 2021. Third highest loss Of domestic companies.
Unfortunately for those who are still working, Chicago is suffering from some of the worst inflation in the country. Financial services company WalletHub recently reported: Placed Chicago has one of the worst inflation rates in the nation, ranking fourth worst in the Consumer Price Index.
On top of that, the real estate crisis threatens to prevent new businesses from even setting up shop in Chicago.
The city’s real estate industry Suffered “We’ve seen a sustained decline in demand for office space.” To make matters worse, since the end of the pandemic, the Chicago market has The slowest in the country Rebound.
All these terrible indicators coincide with nearly 100 years of Democratic rule; the last Republican to sit at the top of City Hall left office 93 years ago, in 1931. But since progressives began to take control of the city in the 1980s, things have only gotten worse. By the end of the Clinton administration, the takeover was complete and the heyday of the “working city” was officially over.
The Clinton era was Chicago’s heyday, and there was nothing short of celebration when the city hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1996. But 28 years later, that boom seems a distant memory, and the 2024 Democratic National Convention may seem more like a funeral for Chicago.
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