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  #141  
Old Posted May 4, 2015, 9:59 PM
Via Chicago Via Chicago is offline
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Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright View Post
No, it's not a matter of accurately knowing what life is like elsewhere, it's about the manner in which their expectations tend to be inaccurate. Certain places tend to be over-exaggerated and certain places tend to be under-exaggerated. You always hear the tales of immigrants from Europe expecting the streets to be paved with gold in NYC. People tend to underestimate Chicago in many ways while also overestimating some of our negatives like crime.
Well, we can argue about crime, and while I think some people's perceptions of day-to-day life may be inaccurate (or borderline paranoid), its still a massive problem that will hold this city back until it can figure out a way to address it.

Its simply not normal in other civilized countries to see headlines like this every single Monday morning in the summer
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/28...o-gun-violence

and they will continue to be the headlines that the national media runs with, that the rest of the world will read and form their opinions on
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...ings/70787110/
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...ead-22-injured

ironically, the Guardian wasnt too fond of the draft either
Quote:
Again, this is purely speculative as Chicago gets its first crack this week since 1964. But the signs are not pointing in Chicago’s favor. The flash is lacking, particularly when it comes to the star-studded draft events that had become so commonplace in New York. Some traditional draft parties have gone on hiatus this year. EA Sports won’t be announcing its Madden cover athlete in Chicago. The biggest zinger will be a green room devoid of the draft’s probable first two picks, quarterbacks Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, and probable first round wide receiver Amari Cooper. All declined the NFL’s almost never previously declined invitation to take the Auditorium Theatre stage and hug Roger Goodell. Those optics are embarrassing.

From a fan perspective, the buzz in Chicago is bigger by default because it has to be. The draft in New York was of monumental importance to some token Jets fans and others in attendance, but ultimately it was like every event in New York: one of a million simultaneous entertainment options happening at any given time. Nothing is ever that big of a deal in New York because there’s always another hot restaurant, hot comedy show, or hot sporting event to glom onto.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/201...ork-measure-up

but again, the constant need for external validation has never really been something i care about. i know the cities beauties, and i know its faults, because ive dedicated 30 years of my life here and im interested in fixing things at the ground level. the last thing i care stay up at night thinking about is how a fly by night jetsetter perceives us.

Last edited by Via Chicago; May 4, 2015 at 10:33 PM.
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  #142  
Old Posted May 4, 2015, 10:37 PM
marothisu marothisu is offline
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Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright View Post
No, it's not a matter of accurately knowing what life is like elsewhere, it's about the manner in which their expectations tend to be inaccurate. Certain places tend to be over-exaggerated and certain places tend to be under-exaggerated. You always hear the tales of immigrants from Europe expecting the streets to be paved with gold in NYC. People tend to underestimate Chicago in many ways while also overestimating some of our negatives like crime. And, Chicago, still being a relatively young city, perpetually feels like it has something to prove when it comes to the other great cities of the world. So we take it personal when people underestimate us and we collectively seem to feel the need to correct that. That's why we're the windy city, it really hasn't changed much at all from the days of the Tribinue and other paper chiefs on the next train to NYC the day after the fire. Always boasting, but usually backed up with the facts. Always the city on the make, trying to prove itself.
This is what I was getting at really. People know about the city, at least in the US, but their perceptions are at least 2 decades behind. There are many people who expect the entire city to be something like Wrigleyville with a bunch of uneducated people walking around. The city has come a long way since 20+ years ago in both of these regards.
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  #143  
Old Posted May 4, 2015, 11:40 PM
the urban politician the urban politician is online now
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Originally Posted by Via Chicago View Post
ironically, the Guardian wasnt too fond of the draft either

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/201...ork-measure-up
^ Yeah, but does this surprise you?

Chicago can't do anything in a positive light without, by some media outlet or journalist somewhere, being compared negatively to New York. It's Chicago's fate to be compared to New York....for basically eternity.

It's definitely something that used to bug me but now I shrug it off.
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  #144  
Old Posted May 5, 2015, 12:53 AM
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That Chicago vs New York article in the Guardian was written before the event even took place. It's a fluff piece that goes on comparing the pizza, sports fan celebrities, Sinatra albums, and taxi drivers of the two cities? Based on those mostly irrelevant topics the writer was predicting that it will be here one year and move on. Let's wait and see what the people that actually attended it and the people that run the thing have to say, not some shitty article based on pointless stereotypes.
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  #145  
Old Posted May 6, 2015, 12:33 AM
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Isn't this an event the NFL wants to take on the road, though? They want another Super Bowl like event to promote the NFL brand, and they want cities to fall all over themselves competing to hand the NFL money. A strong showing of 200,000 fans in Chicago is a huge thing the NFL can tempt Indy or Tampa with. Even moreso the cold weather cities like Denver, Buffalo, and Boston that don't have domes and therefore can't host the Super Bowl.

New York was convenient because NFL headquarters are there, so they held the draft there every year for decades. Chicago has no special significance to the NFL, except as one more city that
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  #146  
Old Posted May 6, 2015, 2:44 PM
marothisu marothisu is offline
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Originally Posted by ardecila View Post
Isn't this an event the NFL wants to take on the road, though? They want another Super Bowl like event to promote the NFL brand, and they want cities to fall all over themselves competing to hand the NFL money. A strong showing of 200,000 fans in Chicago is a huge thing the NFL can tempt Indy or Tampa with. Even moreso the cold weather cities like Denver, Buffalo, and Boston that don't have domes and therefore can't host the Super Bowl.

New York was convenient because NFL headquarters are there, so they held the draft there every year for decades. Chicago has no special significance to the NFL, except as one more city that
One of the only reasons why they didn't do it in NYC was because Radio City Music Hall had a scheduling conflict for some reason. Chicago came in and lured it away from them. I don't think anybody from the NFL ever said, officially, they want to take this on the road or that was their plan from the beginning. Anybody who thinks this isn't really familiar with why it was not in NYC this year in the first place. If it wasn't for that scheduling conflict, they would have never even thought about doing this and it would have been in NYC. It has opened some doors for the NFL though because of it. IMO there's only a few parts of the country where I think the draft could have a response like it did last weekend. I could be wrong, but I don't see it going to LA and it having quite the same response.
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  #147  
Old Posted May 6, 2015, 8:30 PM
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NYC sour grapes on the James Beard Awards’. But I admit Chicago hotels can really gouge when that are at full capacity. So much I went to Sundera spa in the Dells because it was 3 times as inexpensive as a Chicago hotel on a busy convention in town that week. Im talking about no hotel rooms at all at most hotels at least anything under $500. Even out at O'hare they were charging $400-500 a room at low end places. I hope these new hotels coming on line will prevent this type of gouging or if not gouging give us more hotel rooms so if one wanted one he could get one.






http://www.thebraiser.com/everything...ve-to-chicago/

Everything Wrong with the James Beard Awards’ and Their Move to Chicago Awards

by Adam Robb 11:44 am, May 6th


As we fly home to New York this afternoon, we reflect on the shortcomings of this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards, and what it needs to set right before it (potentially) returns to New York in 2018.
It’s was Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel‘s courtship of the JBFA that brought the awards to Chicago not just in 2015 but through 2017, and it’s clear the city didn’t really need the business. Taking place in the same stretch as the NFL Draft and Microsoft Ignite, the city lacked the means, and hotel capacity, to accommodate those who made the trip

...

Rather than Chicago’s tourism board making outreach, guests faced another kind of midwestern hospitality — hotel rates 500% higher than their New York counterparts. Finally dining editors from across the country discovered what their political counterparts already know: Emanuel’s ambitions outpace his capabilities.
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  #148  
Old Posted May 6, 2015, 10:17 PM
LouisVanDerWright LouisVanDerWright is offline
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^^^ Lol, what a whiny little bitch. The room rates were out of control for the past week, what a problem to have! That's why we have thousands of new hotel rooms under construction and even more in the pipeline. What doesn't make sense about hosting the Beard Awards back to back with the National Restaurant Association conference? What they lost paying for pricey rooms they saved in airfare.

People like this in NYC (and elsewhere) better get used to travelling to Chicago because I have a feeling that we are going to poach a whole lot more events given the spectacle put on over the past week. The Draft coverage was like 50% football related images and 50% breathtaking skyline shots of Chicago with a massive party going on in front of it...
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  #149  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 4:02 AM
marothisu marothisu is offline
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Originally Posted by bnk View Post
NYC sour grapes on the James Beard Awards’. But I admit Chicago hotels can really gouge when that are at full capacity. So much I went to Sundera spa in the Dells because it was 3 times as inexpensive as a Chicago hotel on a busy convention in town that week. Im talking about no hotel rooms at all at most hotels at least anything under $500. Even out at O'hare they were charging $400-500 a room at low end places. I hope these new hotels coming on line will prevent this type of gouging or if not gouging give us more hotel rooms so if one wanted one he could get one.






http://www.thebraiser.com/everything...ve-to-chicago/

Everything Wrong with the James Beard Awards’ and Their Move to Chicago Awards

by Adam Robb 11:44 am, May 6th


As we fly home to New York this afternoon, we reflect on the shortcomings of this year’s James Beard Foundation Awards, and what it needs to set right before it (potentially) returns to New York in 2018.
It’s was Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel‘s courtship of the JBFA that brought the awards to Chicago not just in 2015 but through 2017, and it’s clear the city didn’t really need the business. Taking place in the same stretch as the NFL Draft and Microsoft Ignite, the city lacked the means, and hotel capacity, to accommodate those who made the trip

...

Rather than Chicago’s tourism board making outreach, guests faced another kind of midwestern hospitality — hotel rates 500% higher than their New York counterparts. Finally dining editors from across the country discovered what their political counterparts already know: Emanuel’s ambitions outpace his capabilities.

That guy is a fucking idiot. They aren't 500% higher than NYC. I've been staying at hotels every week in Manhattan since last July. Most of the time, my hotels are over $300/night for a standard hotel like Hilton Midtown, Hilton Fashion District, Hilton Times Square or closer to $400/night for stuff like the W Times Square or W Union Square. Even if $500-$600/night were average for Chicago, which it's not, it's not even close to 500% higher. Anybody who knows anything about hotels knows that NYC hotels are more expensive than Chicago ones.

This week my hotel is $430/night before tax when I've gotten it for $290/night before. Next week even the fucking Hilton Garden Inn, not even a great hotel, on 35th costs $450/night. Two of the W's that I've stayed at (Times Square and Union Square) were listed at over $650/night minimum. The St. Regis is over $1000/night when it's usually around $550.

Not to mention that he's using his sample size of just a few days for Chicago. I could easily do that for NYC and claim that everything is out of control because even a shitty HGI is over $430/night but the fact of the matter is that the prices are jacked up for the next few weeks, just like what happened in Chicago. It's not the norm.

This guy basically hasn't a fucking clue of what he's talking about. Most people are clueless about the average hotel prices in their own cities and how there are a few weeks every year where the prices go way up. The pure fact that this guy thinks this is 500% higher than anything in Manhattan makes me believe he either probably has a mental disorder or he failed out of 2nd grade math.
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Last edited by marothisu; May 7, 2015 at 4:13 AM.
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  #150  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 5:13 PM
Vlajos Vlajos is offline
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Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
That guy is a fucking idiot. They aren't 500% higher than NYC. I've been staying at hotels every week in Manhattan since last July. Most of the time, my hotels are over $300/night for a standard hotel like Hilton Midtown, Hilton Fashion District, Hilton Times Square or closer to $400/night for stuff like the W Times Square or W Union Square. Even if $500-$600/night were average for Chicago, which it's not, it's not even close to 500% higher. Anybody who knows anything about hotels knows that NYC hotels are more expensive than Chicago ones.

This week my hotel is $430/night before tax when I've gotten it for $290/night before. Next week even the fucking Hilton Garden Inn, not even a great hotel, on 35th costs $450/night. Two of the W's that I've stayed at (Times Square and Union Square) were listed at over $650/night minimum. The St. Regis is over $1000/night when it's usually around $550.

Not to mention that he's using his sample size of just a few days for Chicago. I could easily do that for NYC and claim that everything is out of control because even a shitty HGI is over $430/night but the fact of the matter is that the prices are jacked up for the next few weeks, just like what happened in Chicago. It's not the norm.

This guy basically hasn't a fucking clue of what he's talking about. Most people are clueless about the average hotel prices in their own cities and how there are a few weeks every year where the prices go way up. The pure fact that this guy thinks this is 500% higher than anything in Manhattan makes me believe he either probably has a mental disorder or he failed out of 2nd grade math.
Lol, so true. The guy sounds like a moron.
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  #151  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 6:19 PM
bnk bnk is offline
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There are already no hotels avalible in the City and O'hare for the week around the 4th of July.

Any new hotels opening before than?







http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...s-wallets-hard

May 07, 2015

The Deadhead premium is hitting fans' wallets hard

(Bloomberg) — Stephen Prime paid a steep price for the hour it took to win his wife's approval to go to Chicago for three Grateful Dead shows billed as the band's final concerts.

By the time the Pasadena, California, television-show editor got back to his computer, the cost for his four-night hotel stay -- $1,200 before spousal negotiations began -- had gone up by about $240, and all rooms that allowed him to use his customer-loyalty points had been booked.

“This kind of demand just felt unreal,” said Prime, 53, who's worked on “Friends” and “Mike & Molly” and has been to more than 200 Dead shows since his first, in 1980.

Related:

• The audience isn't the only thing that'll be high when the Dead come to townE
• Deadheads will deliver an economic buzz for the Windy CityE

Tickets sold out quickly for the three “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead” shows at Chicago's Soldier Field, on July 3, 4 and 5. A similar frenzy is under way at hotels in the third-biggest U.S. city, with concertgoers paying a premium as rooms fill up.

Chicago hotels had a record 11-fold increase in reservations the day the shows were announced, according to Orbitz Worldwide Inc. The surge in demand -- the capacity at Soldier Field is 71,000 for the concerts -- boosted the average room rate to $282 as of this week, up 86 percent from a year earlier, according to the online travel company. That's the biggest increase on record for a July 4 weekend.

Premiums at some hotels are even steeper. A room at the downtown Holiday Inn Express is selling for $509 a night, up from $128 last year, according to Orbitz.

At the Warwick Allerton Hotel Chicago on Michigan Avenue, room rates more than tripled to $484 a night.

RECORD REVENUE

“It's hands down the biggest spikes I've ever seen,” said Reid Webster, regional sales director at Chicago-based Orbitz. “At this point, we anticipate a record in revenue and occupancy for the city.”


...

Demand isn't restricted to hotel companies. For Airbnb Inc., the San Francisco-based site for people to list accommodations, Chicago bookings for the July 4 weekend are up 95 percent from a year earlier as of this week, said Cristina Calzadilla, a company spokeswoman.

“This concert is going down as one of the top three demand drivers at Airbnb,” said Andrea La Mesa, Airbnb's regional director for North America. South by Southwest, the annual film and music festival, and the Super Bowl have been the company's other two top events, he said.

FASTEST BOOKING

Holly Gitlin, 41, and her partner started using Airbnb in 2012 to rent out a room in their Chicago apartment. After buying another unit in the building in 2013, the couple have also been offering that apartment to travelers. Both were spoken for faster than ever.

“We've never been booked this quickly,
” said Gitlin, an operations manager at a human-resources firm. “This year, our rooms for the 4th of July weekend were taken by January.”
..



Prime, the television editor, struck out when he tried to buy tickets for the Chicago shows when they first went on sale. In desperation, he jumped on a $5,000 package from an EBay seller that includes three hotel nights and VIP concert tickets.

...

Last edited by bnk; May 8, 2015 at 2:56 AM.
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  #152  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 6:34 PM
the urban politician the urban politician is online now
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^ Wow, I'm working 4th of July weekend. What a bummer....

A part of me wants to avoid the city just because of all of the congestion anyhow, but another part of me finds it fascinating.
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  #153  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 6:41 PM
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When this kind of thing happens in NYC due to large events it's "the greatest city in the world". When it happens in Chicago it's "Emanuel’s ambitions outpace his capabilities".
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  #154  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 7:14 PM
LouisVanDerWright LouisVanDerWright is offline
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The difference being that this seems to be becoming chronic in Chicago right now. I have a feeling these kinds of prices won't abate for at least a few years when all these hotels start coming online.
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  #155  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 8:50 PM
the urban politician the urban politician is online now
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^ I don't know, I get kind of a perverted joy out of high hotel prices. I like rents to be high, hotel rates to be high, everything should be high. High prices spur more construction, and more construction is cool.

If Rahm can keep raising tourism traffic to Chicago, it's possible that hotel occupancy rates will stay steady even with the new hotels coming online. The only thing that will likely put a damper on that is recent declines in convention attendance.

I would really like to see Chicago's hotel occupancies become more decoupled from its convention business.
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  #156  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 9:04 PM
Baronvonellis Baronvonellis is offline
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Anything that makes New Yorkers uncomfortable about Chicago is a good thing. Of course, this is great news for the city. High rates will spur more construction which will create more jobs, more tax revenue, more improvements to downtown, (like phase 2 of the riverwalk), thereby bringing in more tourists, which will create more demand in a virtuous cycle.
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  #157  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 9:40 PM
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^no kidding. They jam it to us to charge for whatever. If you can't take it don't dish it
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  #158  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 9:56 PM
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  #159  
Old Posted May 7, 2015, 11:47 PM
LouisVanDerWright LouisVanDerWright is offline
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Originally Posted by the urban politician View Post
^ I don't know, I get kind of a perverted joy out of high hotel prices. I like rents to be high, hotel rates to be high, everything should be high. High prices spur more construction, and more construction is cool.

If Rahm can keep raising tourism traffic to Chicago, it's possible that hotel occupancy rates will stay steady even with the new hotels coming online. The only thing that will likely put a damper on that is recent declines in convention attendance.

I would really like to see Chicago's hotel occupancies become more decoupled from its convention business.
Trust me, I'm by no means complaining. I think having chronic supply shortages is a good thing. It means massive growth. Again, let's keep in mind this is happening in a city with nowhere near a shortage of available development sites. Just imagine the market forces that will be at work when the vacant lots really start to dry up. It's an exponential curve, the less available sites, the more tempting the remaining ones are. The more tempting, the higher the price. The higher the price, the more intense the development. Before you know it you have an outright development goldrush.

I was just talking the other day with a development partner of mine who decamped from LA to work on projects here. He grew up here in the 1960's and left for LA when he was out of school. He said "I have a feeling that in 15 to 20 years none of us are going to regret having lived in this city at this time."

Honestly there is a feeling of something special starting to develop here. The same feeling that was beginning in the last boom. With all these civic improvement projects, billion dollar museums being thrown at us, and finally some momentum on the visibility and tourism front, there are a lot of people out there who feel this city is on the cusp.
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  #160  
Old Posted May 8, 2015, 1:59 AM
the urban politician the urban politician is online now
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^ Oh we're on the cusp alright....of bankruptcy.

Of course I say that sharing your optimism, albeit cautiously. If we can get past this pension hellhole and credit near-junk status while still keeping our high quality amenities, truly great things could be in the city's future.
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