1. Overview presented by:
Julie Rada
June 28, 2010
PUB650PR

2.  1975 – New York City in the midst of a major
financial crisis
 The nation looked to Chicago
 Remained stable while urban conditions were
deteriorating elsewhere
 No municipal labor strife
 No budget deficits
 No lack of public/private leadership
 The envy of other major large cities

3.  1980’s – Chicago’s partnership model had
fallen into disrepute
 Local press – the “Vietnamization of Chicago”
 National media - “Beirut on the Lake”
 What happened?
 What is happening?

4.  1920s: Exemplar of nineteenth-century city
 Completely transitioned from agricultural to
manufacturing basis of wealth
 Productive power
 Massed population
 Industrial technology

5.  1950s – 1970s: Decomposition of industrial
base
 1957 – private sector jobs peaked at 1.4 million
 ±120,000 jobs lost during 1979-83 economic
downturn
 1983 – 1.1 million jobs
 Stockyards & appliance manufacturing
disappeared
 Steel & fabricated metals dropped
 Machine dye, tools, and food processing declined

6.  1950s – 1970s: Decomposition of industrial
base (continued)
 Service sector increased
 Industrial firms declined by 30%
 Manufacturing employment fell more than 40%
 1977 – 1983 change in property tax base:
 26% decline in industrial property assessment
 50% increase in commercial component

7.  1973-76 recession – Midwest had lowest
unemployment rates through 1978
 1980-83 recession – Chicago was the most
severely affected area
 Employment rate dropped from 60% in the
1960s to 45% in 1983

8.  Impact to Chicago business community
 Collapse of International Harvester, the Continental
Illinois Bank, First Federal Savings, as well as several
steel firms
 Losses to merger/acquisitions, ownership changes or
corporate relocation: Marshall Field, Montgomery
Ward, Sunbeam, Chemetron, Fansteel, Transunion, an
d Northwest Industries
 Old families, wealth, and corporate traditions faded
 Major industrialists, retailers, and packers departed
 New wealth and power derived from real estate
interests and financial exchanges

9.  1950: Population peaked at 3.6 million
 1950s -2%
 1960s -5%
 1970s -10%
 1982: Population fell below 3 million
 lowest in 60 years
 Los Angeles replaced Chicago as second largest
city in the nation

10.  1923: Polish, Irish, German, Scandinavian, and
Eastern European
 1950 – 1970: Population remained stable in
size, but underwent change in dynamics
 Out-migration of predominantly white, middle-
class
 Immigration from the South, Puerto Rico, Mexico
and Asia

11.  1970s: population became smaller, more
black, and more poor
 White population dropped by 600,000 (a
reduction from the 700,000 out-migration during
1960s)
 Black population increased from 33% to 40%
 Hispanic composition rose to 14%
 Number of residents living below the poverty line
grew by nearly 40%

12.  2006-2008 American Community Survey
 Non-Hispanic Whites 31.5%
 Black/African American 34.6%
 Hispanic/Latino 27.8%
 2000 Census
 19.6% of the population lived below the poverty
line

13.  The ward system
 Council composed of aldermen
▪ One from each of 50 wards
▪ Elected on nonpartisan basis

14.  The machine
 Irish Catholic dominance 1933 – 1979 (46 years)
 The Daley era – 1955 – 1976 (21 years)
▪ Public-private partnerships
▪ Strengthened mayor’s role in city government
▪ Upgraded municipal services
▪ Mutual self-interest with business and labor elites
▪ Patronage benefitted ward committeemen
▪ Effective political-government-private sector interest group
system
▪ Highly personal system dependent upon interpersonal skills as
well as formal powers of public office

15.  Shift in socioeconomic influences
 1950s & 1960s: Political divisions ran along party
lines and socioeconomic differences
▪ Lower classes in inner-city wards supported the machine
▪ Outlying middle-class supported Republicans and
independent challenges
 Late 1960s into 1970s: Race began to replace class
and party as basic political divisions
▪ The most racially threatened White wards backed the
organization against Black disaffection with the party
▪ Partisan labels became increasingly meaningless

16.  Shift in socioeconomic influences (continued)
 Signs of change
▪ 1965-66: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s open-housing marches
▪ 1968: West Side riots
▪ Anti-Vietnam demonstrations during 1968 Democratic Party
Convention
▪ Restlessness of Young Turks within Democratic Party
▪ Defection of Daley’s newspaper support
▪ Neighborhood discontent over downtown focus of City Hall
▪ The negative impact to areas of the city as a result of a
changing urban economy

17.  Shift in socioeconomic influences (continued)
 1979: Administration paralyzed by worst
snowstorm in city history
▪ Coalition of angry Blacks, lakefront liberals, and
dissident white ethnic groups united against City Hall
▪ Elected Jane Byrne mayor, ending the Machine’s
domination
▪ Byrne remained aligned with segments of the
old machine

18.  Shift in socioeconomic influences (continued)
 1983: Harold Washington elected as first Black
mayor
▪ Washington declared the machine “to be dead”
▪ White politicians seized control of the City
Council, resulting in “Council Wars”
▪ Served until his death in 1987

19.  1989 – present: Mayor Richard M. Daley

20.  Historical
 Rebuilt city after the 1871 Chicago fire
 Reversed the flow of the Chicago River
 World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893
 1909 Burnham plan sponsored by Commercial
Club of Chicago – economic and physical
development
 1933-34 Century of Progress

21.  Machine Era
 Chicago 21 / Dearborn Park Project helped preserve
the Loop (Chicago’s central business district)
 Possessed basic ingredients for successful public-
private partnerships:
▪ Participatory civic culture
▪ Community vision
▪ Effective civic organizations
▪ Key group network
▪ Civic entrepreneurs
▪ Policy continuity

22.  Machine Era (continued)
 Grass-roots reaction against “downtown
attention”
 Growing demand for partnerships that address
neighborhood development, community
services, housing and jobs

23.  Machine Era (continued)
 1992 World’s Fair
▪ Gained momentum under Mayor Jane Byrne in 1980
▪ Enlisted support from Chicago’s top chief executives and
officials of major newspapers, labor unions, financial
institutions, and city, state, and Federal governments
▪ Tens of millions of dollars expended for architectural
renderings, intergovernmental accords, planning and
feasibility studies, affirmative-action
agreements, marketing and numerous public hearings

24.  Machine Era (continued)
 1992 World’s Fair (continued)
▪ Perceived as an answer to infrastructure and
unemployment problems
▪ Would be the culmination of the city’s transformation
from a predominantly industrial economy to an
international service center
▪ Failed due to lack of leadership, shared vision, and trust

25.  Post Machine
 Commercial Club of Chicago
▪ Business-led task forces to capitalize on economic
growth opportunities
▪ Chicagoland Enterprise Center
▪ Enhance small business access to managerial and financial
resources
▪ Financial Planning Committee
▪ Develop a strategic plan for Chicago’s fiscal stability
▪ Information Industry Council
▪ Promote the area’s information-telecommunications position

26.  Post Machine (continued)
 Chicago United
▪ Coalition of black, white, and Hispanic business leaders
formed in the 1960s in response to urban upheavals
▪ School stabilization, minority purchasing, summer youth
employment, and overall urban economic development
 Chicago Central Area Committee
▪ Since 1950s had focused on the well-being of the central
business district
▪ Redefined its master plan to include adjacent neighborhood
development

27.  Post Machine (continued)
 Chicago Energy Savers Fund
▪ Utilities response to more deregulated environment
▪ Promotes housing preservation and energy conservation
 Community Equity Corporation
▪ Illinois Bell in partnership with local foundations
▪ Provides equity for small businesses in Chicago’s
neighborhoods
 Chicago Association of Neighborhood Development
Organizations (CANDO)
▪ Key linkage in business-community partnerships

28.  Post Machine (continued)
 Additional issue specific partnerships:
▪ Rehabilitation lending (housing)
▪ Public schools and human resource development
▪ Rebirth of civic groups having narrow focus and limited
in effectiveness

29.  “Chicago is a study of contrasts – ethnic
diversity and racial tensions, parochialism
and internationalism, individualism and bold
collective actions, old and new politics. Its
transition has been noisier, livelier, and
tougher than the transitions in other cities.
Opportunities have been missed in
Chicago, but more promising and perhaps
durable foundations are emerging.”
(Haider, p.12)