Discussion about this post

User's avatar
James Cappleman's avatar

Thanks for the very insightful article. I was the alderman for the 46th Ward when the proposal on Weiss Hospital's asphalt parking lot at 4600 N. Clarendon was going through the Zoning Committee. CTU was adamantly opposed to it. I also recall a professor from UIC submitting a research paper that she claimed proved that more market-rate housing in Uptown would drive people with lower incomes out of the neighborhood.

In the research article that the professor submitted as proof, it discussed six different studies highlighting the impact of building more market-rate housing. Five of the six studies highlighted in the report stated that rents dropped as a result of new market-rate developments, while one was inconclusive. Her opinion wouldn't budge when I pointed this out to her. I was confused that a professor couldn't be swayed by research that she submitted to sway me.

I now see polarization as the major culprit, with one side focused on defeating the other. That renders them unable to view anything that even slightly goes against their narrative. Anyone who views the world as a place where one must engage in a battle to defeat their defined enemy is not going to respond to a reasoned debate. The problem is that the best solutions often emerge when people with different viewpoints come together to collaborate. Still, the narrative that calls for defeating one's enemy prevents those reasonable solutions from surfacing.

Expand full comment
Joshua Woods's avatar

Great article, per usual. I have a few other theories for why unions don't back growth policies, both of which are underpinned by the fact that union members are just normal citizens subject to the same logical fallacies as the population generally.

1) I think there's a widely held belief amongst Chicagoans (and left leaning Americans generally) that most of our financial woes can be solved by new or increased taxes, and any suggestion to the contrary is heretical and in defense of corporations over everyday citizens, which doesn't make for good union optics.

2) I think that NIMBY-ism is the natural place for people to land if you believe that people are intrinsically self-interested (which I do), so advocating for growth is advocating against people in defense of landlords and developers, which also does not make for good union optics.

Both of these rationales are a) politically powerful and b) destructive. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you disagree though!

Expand full comment
12 more comments...

No posts