Everyday Freethought

I am always looking at articles that I come across about different cities in the USA to help me decide if I should stay in Chicago or leave for some other city.

Main Street came up with a list of 10 cities that they think will do well in 2012. For the most part I can agree with some of their findings. Some of the cities on the list are Chicago, Austin and Houston. So it is pretty interesting.

The positives for Austin are the usual: the University of Texas, state government, and increasing employment in the private sector. The positives for Houston are the energy sector and a more stable housing market.

The reason that Chicago will do well in 2012 is because the next G8 meeting will be here. So there will be a lot of spending on security and because of all of the people coming in for the meeting. So while that means Chicago will see an uptick in 2012, there is no long-term trend as we see for Austin and Houston.

Many of the other cities are also on the list because they are the sites of one-time events: the Super Bowl (Indianapolis), the Democratic nominating convention (Charlotte) and the Rescumlican convention (Tampa). So what happens to all these cities in 2013? Will they rise or decline? If I leave Chicago, it will not be a short-term change.

 In the past I  have thought about going to North Dakota for a job. I have no idea if there is a need for software developers in North Dakota, or if my options would be oil rigs or nothing.

I saw an interesting article on Business Insider (the original article is here) about some of the things North Dakota has done over the past decade to improve their economy and stop the brain drain. It’s more than just oil.

One interesting tidbit was that people are moving there from many states, and some people are moving there from Texas. So it looks like my Plan B is someone else’s unsuccessful Plan A.

Image from Wikimedia

I am back in Chicago. As James Altucher said, things don’t always work out.

On my way home from work I got stuck at an intersection for about 10 minutes because there was some sort of “bike parade”. There were hundreds of people on bikes going down the street. They passed by the Belmont el station right when I got off. They turned left onto Clark, so I was kind of stuck. For about 10 minutes. As were the cars. As were all the other pedestrians.

I am really getting tired of this sort of thing. When I got back from Texas a couple of weeks ago, the traffic in my neighborhood was even worse because there was some neighborhood street fair. I do not think that I should have to change my routine for any fest or parade or art fair or any of that junk.

All people did during this fest was get drunk and make a lot of noise. Which is usually what they do in that part of the neighborhood when there is no fest.

If our new mayor wants to make Chicago a better city and if he wants to make it more business-friendly, here is my suggestion: end all of these fairs, fests, parades, etc. I want to live someplace where I can just go from Point A to Point B without anything unexpected getting in my way. I leave. Then I arrive. That is it. I honestly would not recommend that anyone move to Chicago. I really do not care about taxes. I just want to go about my business.

Going back to the bike parade: I am pretty sure that it had some sort of city sanction or permit. There were quite a few police officers in the parade. I am not sure what the point of it was. Was it to encourage people giving up their cars and bike more? If so, I guarantee it was a failure. It made bad traffic even worse. If you are the reason someone is spending even more time in traffic, they will not listen to what you have to say on transportation.

Image from Wikipedia

Originally posted 2011-05-30 20:35:04

I had planned on posting at least once a week. But last week I was not in a good mood at all.

I went to see a few friends in Oak Park, and I had another event planned in the city. So I had to drive back in. But traffic ground to a halt on Lake Shore Drive. So I got off, and wound up taking a detour. Some of the detour was on streets that were unfamiliar, so I spent some time going in the opposite direction that I wanted to go in.

Other streets were crowded and slow, and others were under construction. We have had construction all over the city for as long as I can remember. Why can’t anyone in this city build a road?

I went down to Texas last year, and from what I remember the roads seemed better. They do love their cars in Texas.

Another thing that happened is that I was talking to someone who had interviewed with a job in Denver, and I am now thinking about going to Denver. But I am still leaning towards Texas.

Image from Wikipedia

Originally posted 2011-05-17 07:26:54

Yesterday Rahm Emmanuel was inaugurated as mayor. A lot of people think that having a new mayor will revitalize our city. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. I hope things get better around here, but I don’t know if it will be enough to get me to stay.

At the hour of the inauguration, I was on the CTA. There was a delay due to some signal problems. So I was on the CTA for an additional 30 minutes. I think it was pretty ironic. The start of a new era and I was motionless.

Image from City of Chicago website

Originally posted on 2011-05-15 14:32:18

It has been cold and dreary in Chicago for the past few weeks. It was sunny for a few days last week, but now it is cold and dreary again. Right now it is about 45 degrees in Chicago.

The weather in Texas, on the other hand, might be too hot. Right now it is in the 60s. But it is also very dry. There have been fires in west Texas. And according to the US Drought Monitor Texas is really dry. Texas and New Mexico are the only two states with 100% drought conditions. I can tolerate cold better than I can tolerate heat.

Image from US Drought Monitor website

Originally posted 2011-05-05 01:58:33

I have not posted anything in about a week.

The weather for the past week has not been too good in Chicago. It has been kind of cold, but that does not bother me. It has been cloudy and dreary, and that does bother me. It has made me lethargic and depressed.

I will make another post listing some of the links and sites about Texas that I have found over the past week.

Originally posted on 2011-04-20 03:30:05.

One of the reasons I have stayed in Chicago is that I have been able to get around via mass transit. I have a car, but I like the fact that I do not have to use it.

For a while I was working in Hyde Park, and going to school out in the suburbs. So three times a week, I would have to go up through the Loop and out to the suburbs to get to class. It was a real drag. Then I graduated and got a job in the Loop, and I was able to get to and from work on the CTA.

But sometimes the CTA gets on my nerves. Today the Brown Line derailed near Belmont, so I had to get on the bus. A very slow, very crowded bus. The CTA just seems to be getting more unreliable.

Granted, it is difficult, if not impossible, to get around in most of Texas without a car. But if  one of my main reasons for staying is not working as well as it used to, then it is time to start thinking seriously about leaving.