If he ever gets tired of the entertainment business, Chance the Rapper should consider a career as a fortune teller.
At the moment, it looks like Emanuel’s planning to stick one in the industrial area on both sides of the Chicago River near North Avenue—one of the fastest-growing corners in town. It’s called the Cortland/Chicago River TIF District, and it would be located in the area between Webster on the north, North Avenue on the south, Clybourn on the east, and Elston Avenue on the west. The mayor’s already moved a fleet facility out of there to Englewood to prepare it for upscale development. The TIF would abet the process.
In this regard creating another TIF district when the schools are strapped is like the Republicans giving a tax break to the wealthy while threatening to cut food stamps. It’s trickle-down economics: give the rich an ocean and hope a drop or two falls to everyone else. I understand why hard-hearted Republicans endorse such greed. But I can’t fathom why we should put up with it in Chicago. v
