Rapid growth in recent years and the estimated addition of 40,000 to 50,000 residents to downtown during the next decade is causing some growing pains. Commercial development usually lags behind residential development, and the city has started a Get in the Loop campaign to bridge the gap between demand and services downtown as quickly as possible. By 2010, downtown Chicago will be larger than Illinois second largest city, Rockford, so the mayor is being proactive on trying to get the businesses downtown to support this neighborhood, says Beckie Carrol, a spokesperson for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development. The mayor s vision is to create a vibrant 24-hour district where people work and live and play. Tax increment financing, another favorite tool of the mayor s, and other financial incentives are cited as ways to lure businesses, but the campaign seems a little vague in its goals and means.
Businesses choose locations based on things like rent, density and traffic.
Nudging by the mayor only goes so far. Plenty of businesses already have determined certain parts of downtown to be ideal locations. The restaurants that line Randolph Street in the West Loop and numerous blocks in River North are notable examples. But the Loop proper is still short on after-hours activity. Some question the city s estimates of continued population growth and wonder how deep the current boom really is.