69 Comments - Ron - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:09 pm: Yeah, nothing need to change. Everything is just swell here. - Ron - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:09 pm: Another 35% income tax increase should help. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:12 pm: That’s going to be one big honking GOP seat in south/southeast Illinois. - Ducky LaMoore - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:15 pm: ===Yeah, nothing need to change. Everything is just swell here.=== Gee, I wonder if decimating higher education is causing some problems? You are right, Ron. We need a governor who isn’t going to actively drive people out of the state. - Concerned Dem - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:16 pm: While the State’s rapid downward spiral under Rauner is a big factor in that downstate number don’t underestimate the effects of decades of stagnate GOP leadership in a number of those counties and cities throughout the region. Reliance on the status quo and a pining for the good old days leaves you in the dust. - Mission Accomplished - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:18 pm: Time for Shimkus to reintroduce his retirement pledge. - and honor it this time. - DuPage Bard - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:22 pm: So Chicago increased in population while everywhere else decreased? Plus Chicago had a net decrease in school enrollments? So who’s moving there and where are they moving from? Where is the decrease really occurring? Suburbs, downstate, Mississippi valley, Northwest? To find out what and where the problem really is they need to figure out exactly where it’s happening. It’s easy to say “all over Illinois” folks are fleeing but to solve the issue you need data. - Epic - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:24 pm: Don’t worry Ron, things will change for the better once we get rid of Rauner. If you noticed the graph, most of the population losses was under him. It’s amazing how people will stay once the State starts paying businesses, education, infrastructure and social services regularly. - Kay-Ro - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:25 pm: Of course downstate is driving the population loss. Downstate cities are shrinking. The biggest employers in Springfield are government: 41%, healthcare: 18%, and education: 8%. Even with the large State footprint, the Springfield commercial real estate market is rapidly losing value. On South Grand there are 13 vacant commercial properties for sale in a 20% vacancy. Cities without the state employee footprint are faring much worse. It only takes a small percentage of population loss to exacerbate financial issues on a local level. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:32 pm: Prior to Rauner’s hostage-taking, Downstate areas with public universities were exhibiting population growth. That same dynamic is true throughout rural America. Higher education institutions leverage private capital. Duh. - SmartiePants - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:34 pm: Can’t believe Rauner started this in 2013 before he was even elected. Unbelievable how much he and Diana hate Illinois that they would sabotage the state one year in advance. Crazy. - Ron - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:35 pm: “Gee, I wonder if decimating higher education is causing some problems?” Chicago is now the highest educated city of the top 7 largest in the US. - Ron - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:37 pm: The numerical growth is astonishing. Highly educated, high earning people are flocking to Chicago. Higher Educated they are. - Ron - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:40 pm: Where will the higher education money come from? We don’t have a balanced budget now, and the pensions are sucking the coffers dry. - illini - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:42 pm: @wordslinger - you are absolutely correct if the incumbents ( Shimkus, Bost and Davis ) should happen to prevail and there is some doubt about at least two of them. Unfortunately I do not see my Congressman Shimkus at being in any serious peril at this time. The other two could very well be in play. But the bottom line is that Southern Illinois will certainly lose one seat ( and likely at least one incumbent ) as the lines are redrawn. - CDs are great - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:42 pm: The drawing out of Abe’s hat has nothing to do with the Congressional map. - Fayette County - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:44 pm: Mission Accomplished- I agree with you 100%. - Shemp - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:50 pm: I know a lot of you like to dog the neighbors, but when the other neighbors don’t have Chicago, they actually pay attention to the more rural areas of their states be it in economic development, or just plain policy development. Said it here at least a dozen times, but since DCCA became DCEO, the rest of the State has been more forgotten than ever. Aside from a few cherry picked success stories, the overall feel is so much different when you look at mid-sized cities here vs elsewhere. Look at Davenport/Bettendorf vs Moline/Rock Island separated only by a river. Do we have a Grand Rapids type of rebirth story? A Fox Valley growth story (Appleton to OshKosh). Where is our Rochester? Our reborn Duluth? Our Cedar Rapids-Iowa City growth corridor? Has anyone seen the positive change in Dubuque in the last 20 years? I have driven from Metropolis to South Beloit and from Rock Island to Danville and outside of the Chicago metro, I just don’t see it like I do in some of our neighbors. I just don’t see how the same “system” with a higher income tax to pay the backlog of bills is going to change it for the better. - Just Me - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:53 pm: Another reminder that our redistricting system is totally and blatantly corrupt. - Yup - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:53 pm: Technically if we did loose 2 spots I’m sure il.politics would find a way to keep em in office look at the rock island county board we voted 2 years ago to downsize it but it never happened we have more board members than Chicago - hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 2:53 pm: It’s not just public sector job loss and college enrollment driving population decline downstate. CAT and ADM shifting offices to Chicago and State Farm relocating folks to Atlanta, Phoenix, and Dallas doesn’t help. Then there are the manufacturing job losses here and there. We need a governor and General Assembly that cares about Downstate economic development and has a plan for it. Whoever is in charge doesn’t. Another under the radar possible shoe to drop in the Downstate economy is the Metro East legal market where recent Supreme Court rulings on jurisdiction may eventually shut most out-of-state plaintiffs from Madison and St. Clair Counties. We need to figure out what the future of Downstate Illinois is. And fast. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:03 pm: Goodbye Shimkus and Bost - Blue dog dem - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:03 pm: Let me remind everyone. Again. siuc has been in a death spiral for decades. Has Rauner helped? Sure. But he is hardly to blame for a poorly run university. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:05 pm: –Let me remind everyone. Again.– You might want to consider that everyone heard you the other many times and already gave it all the weight that it deserved. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:08 pm: ===Sure. But === Once you say “sure,” the “but” doesn’t matter. Next! - Blue dog dem - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:10 pm: Maybe we should look at lil ‘ol Monroe County and get some ideas on how to run things. Wealth,safety,low unemployment, 98% high school seniors to college. Population growth. An amazing story in this state. An regrettably, Dems cant even find a single candidate to run in 2018. Must be all hayseeds down there. - Last Bull Moose - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:12 pm: I have read that the big change has been the drop in undocumented immigrants (sorry, can’t remember source.) The outmigration of American citizens was masked by that inflow. The rationale for rural living is going away. Very hard to get good paying jobs, particularly for an educated couple where both want careers not just jobs. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:20 pm: –Maybe we should look at lil ‘ol Monroe County and get some ideas on how to run things.– Blue Dog, what are you suggesting? That county government drives wealth creation? It’s a 99% white, 33,000 pop., rich suburban bedroom community suburb of St. Louis. So what? By your logic, should we all learn a lesson from Winnetka on “how to run things?” - illini - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:24 pm: @BlueDog - “98% high school seniors to college”? Doubtful, but cite your source. Thanks. - Blue dog dem - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:27 pm: Word. I had no idea anout its racial makeup. I have never believed govt solves many problems, but rather if Winnetka and/or monroe county are glowing examples of good things, by all means, let’s take a good hard look at those sucesses. Would you rather use our states govt as a role model over the 20 or so years? I am for new ideas,.not rehashed failed programs. - Kay-Ro - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:29 pm: Here is a blueprint to revitalize central Illinois: - shift tax revenue away from public safety and into public education. - shift all public employees into 401k plans. - analyze the use of all roads. Close infrequently used roads and alleys and return the land to adjacent private landowners. - create strict zoning requirmernts for commercial real estate, favoring locally owned business and taxing franchises and out of state businesses. Zoning laws should also provide incentives to rehabilitating existing buildings and tax new construction. - create incentives for solar and wind power (local power generation) - increase property taxes on farmland, and decrease tax burden for residential land owners. Use some tax revenues to incentivize business relocation. - shrink, consolidate, eliminate unnecessary governmental bodies, including townships, school districts, park districts and utility districts. - create volunteer firefighter, EMT, and 911 organizations. - Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:35 pm: Thanks Mike Madigan - Demoralized - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:38 pm: ==Maybe we should look at lil ‘ol Monroe County and get some ideas on how to run things. == Yeah, put a St. Louis next to everyone else. St. Louis is driving a lot of the expansion in the metro east. - Ducky LaMoore - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:48 pm: ===Chicago is now the highest educated city of the top 7 largest in the US.=== Yep. And now those people seeking education aren’t going to IL State, Western, Eastern, Southern. And where did the money come from before??? Any guesses? The same place they always come from. Higher education money actually has a trickle down effect. More students staying in Illinois means more money staying in the state creating jobs. You forever preach about how democrats only want to raise taxes, yet support the causation that makes higher taxes necessary. - ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:53 pm: ===State Farm relocating folks to Atlanta, Phoenix, and Dallas doesn’t help. The problem is hiring people outside of large metro areas. It’s getting harder and harder to ask two income families to move to smaller markets where the spouse may have a hard time finding a job they like. The place I work for had to start hiring in Minneapolis because they couldn’t hire where they are based. Rural areas and smaller cities everywhere are hurting–it’s not just Illinois. - Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 4:03 pm: Many Downstate (between 40 and 50) counties have been losing population since the post WW2 era. The counties that grew were places with universities, prisons, have or are near larger cities. Jim Nowlan will tell you that Stark county has lost population every census since 1880. On a side note, the City of Dubuque has cleaned up nicely, but is still smaller than it was in 1970. - Shemp - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 4:05 pm: - Kay-Ro - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 3:29 pm: Here is a blueprint to revitalize central Illinois: - shift tax revenue away from public safety and into public education. >>>>> 1)Good luck on changing the Illinois collective bargaining laws. 2) In some cases, it’s already hard enough to retain police downstate at current salaries. - shift all public employees into 401k plans. >>>>Good luck again changing that State law - analyze the use of all roads. Close infrequently used roads and alleys and return the land to adjacent private landowners. >>>>Alleys are cheaper to maintain, so keeping them for trash truck etc is good. Not sure how many lane miles you’re really going to reduce. You’d get a better bang for your roadway tax dollar without the inflated costs from the inflated prevailing wage figures. - create strict zoning requirmernts for commercial real estate, favoring locally owned business and taxing franchises and out of state businesses. >>>>Sounds like a recipe for driving people to go shopping outside of the community. People want their WalMarts and Starbucks even though they say they want their small businesses Zoning laws should also provide incentives to rehabilitating existing buildings and tax new construction. >>>>>zoning laws don’t address incentives. Regardless, incentives require tax dollars - create incentives for solar and wind power (local power generation) - increase property taxes on farmland, and decrease tax burden for residential land owners. >>>>That’ll happen Use some tax revenues to incentivize business relocation. - shrink, consolidate, eliminate unnecessary governmental bodies, including townships, school districts, park districts and utility districts. >>>>Ok, but many are a result of tax caps and finding ways to pay for the “cost of doing business” in Illinois - create volunteer firefighter, EMT, and 911 organizations. >>>> Laughable. Rural areas can’t find enough paramedics as it is. Paid 911 operators have high enough turnover. - Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 4:06 pm: This state will continue to decline. We are no where near improving our financials. And Rauner absolutely failed. JB is light on talking about reform. Business as usual. I despise our State Government. If I was younger and not rooted, I would leave. - Blue dog dem - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 4:54 pm: JB is touting greater spending on social services, higher ed, and K-12. I like this new approach. Good to try something different. Hopefully MJM lets him. - muon - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 5:07 pm: One thing to note is how much these estimates are revised each year. The decrease from 2016 to 2017 reported yesterday is largely due to the 2016 estimate revised upwards. In 2016 the Census Bureau reported Illinois with a population of 12,801,539. Yesterday they reported Illinois with a 2016 population of 12,835,726. That’s an upwards adjustment of over 34 thousand, more than the loss now attributed for last year. Another way to say it is that if this year’s estimate (12,802,023) is compared to last year’s estimate released last year (12,801,539), Illinois actually gained a small amount of population (484). The drop in population over the decade reported yesterday is less than the drop over the decade the Census Bureau reported last year. What this means for congressional seats depends on how the estimates are used. If the estimate data is considered from 2010 to present, then Illinois is less likely to lose two seats than it was last year. If the estimate data is based on a projection from just the last two or three years it can look worse. By raising the estimates for prior years the trend down becomes steeper today. That leads to an increased likelihood of a loss of a second seat. - Ron - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 5:42 pm: muon, only the decennial census matters for apportionment. The estimates are likely more accurate than the actual census unfortunately. - Lynn S. - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 6:07 pm: @DuPage Bard 2:22 My son went to a private college in Wisconsin. He met his girlfriend there, and he and she got their first jobs in Wisconsin. In September, he and she moved to Chicago. She’s working on a master’s degree, he’s working at a tech startup. So this is just one story, but that’s one person who has left Downstate, and two people who moved to Chicago. And they have no kids, so no new students for CPS from this household. - oneholeoff - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 6:12 pm: Dear Santa: Please let Rodney Davis get short changed. #IL13 - Lynn S. - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 6:12 pm: @VanillaMan 3:03 No, let’s dump Shimkus and “Where’s Rodney?” Davis. Lots of folks gearing up to make Davis’district a D. - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 6:26 pm: –Word. I had no idea anout its racial makeup. I have never believed govt solves many problems, but rather if Winnetka and/or monroe county are glowing examples of good things, by all means, let’s take a good hard look at those sucesses.– You’re such a phony. You brought it up, but know you claim don’t anything about it. Yes, in your world, I’m sure it would be swell if the whole state was 99%, white and rich, living in low density suburban bedroom communities. That would solve all the problems. Give it the ol’ thoughts and prayers. - muon - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 6:42 pm: Ron - my point is that the 2016 estimates have moved by over 30 K in one year. That has a big effect on the projection to 2020 and the expected number of Congressional seats. Just by changing which Census Bureau estimate one uses, one can shift from 17 to 16 seats. - JackD - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 7:11 pm: The Chicago area growth figures are interesting in light of what has been reported as African American emigration resulting in under populated schools, etc. So the north side and the near suburbs are growing and the south and west sides are emptying out? - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 7:18 pm: –So the north side and the near suburbs are growing and the south and west sides are emptying out?– Your eyes aint lying. You might have noticed the disappearance of all those CHA towers you used to see on the Ike, Dan Ryan, Blue Line and Red Line. You think all those units were replaced? That wasn’t an accident, by the way. - JackD - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 7:26 pm: I don’t think it’s entirely racial although that is certainly involved. It seems to be a similar dynamic to that downstate with no decent employment opportunities for those who are leaving. - striketoo - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 7:42 pm: Legalize recreational marijuana. In addition to the half a billion tax revenue, tourists would flow into downstate towns from adjoining states. - Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 7:47 pm: Let’s look at our group of commenters here. Many of us are parents, quite a few with grown and/or college-age kiddos. How many are sticking around in Illinois? Of my four, one is long-gone, ain’t comin’ back and one is here for good. The younger two will probably also split their choices. Others? - wordslinger - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 7:54 pm: AA, my oldest guy (24) came back from MI and got a starter churn-and-burn job the month after graduation in 1/16. He’s been at a very good second job since July. My second boy graduated last week and started interviews in Chicago and the burbs yesterday. My daughter is a freshman at DePaul (surprise choice, and a kick to daddy’s swimsuit area, as Iowa and Michigan State were practically free rides). - ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 8:01 pm: It’s the Chicago Metro area that is growing–Chicago itself is pretty much the same having gained about 10,000 people. So when people are talking about CPS attendance, CPS attendance is only in the City of Chicago so it can fall while the population in the metro increases. - ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 8:07 pm: ===That same dynamic is true throughout rural America. Higher education institutions leverage private capital. It’s more than that. While many older rural folks will talk about quality of life, most people who go to post secondary education vote with their feet and like having the options in a metro area. There are more jobs, better schools, more recreation. Rural communities are seeing significant population losses, but it’s not just across the board. It’s especially acute with skilled and educated workers so who is left behind aren’t the folks to build a growing economy on–the less educated and then the older. It’s a real problem that needs to be addressed and I don’t have great answers given where I am is fighting the immigrants who are keeping their communities alive. I’m moving to Saint Paul in the next few months, but watching them destroy the primary source of labor for their communities going forward is hard to watch. There are policy and redevelopment issues we need to address, but the rural communities need to come to grips with what is happening to their communities and learn to accept change or it will only get worse. - ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 8:09 pm: ====Yes, in your world, I’m sure it would be swell if the whole state was 99%, white and rich, living in low density suburban bedroom communities. No, it’s worse than that. Those rural communities he is always touting are falling apart with high rates of drug addiction, poor education, and a lack of opportunity. But black people and Latinos…. - Lynn S. - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 8:26 pm: @ArchPundit, not only are those immigrants a labor source, they’re paying taxes to prop up various parts of government. They’re spending $$$ in local businesses, and probably starting a few small businesses. If it weren’t for their children, the local school district would be getting less state aid. But hey, “those furriners are destroying our beautiful little town.” And the biggest irony of all of this? I’m willing to bet that 99.95% of the people in your town are descended from folks who got off a boat from Europe at some point since 1565 ( when the Spanish founded Florida). I personally am descended from a woman who lived within 20 miles of Effingham her whole life (1870s -1950s) and spoke German as her primary language. But, ya know…”those foreigners need to learn English and how to be an American! “ - DuPage - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 8:35 pm: @- ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 8:09 pm: ===No, it’s worse than that. Those rural communities he is always touting are falling apart with high rates of drug addiction, poor education, and a lack of opportunity. But black people and Latinos….=== Speaking of Latinos, many of them are making sure they are NOT counted for fear of being deported. This could account for at least some of the population decline. They are actually living and working here, they are just not counted. - Lynn S. - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 8:35 pm: @Arthur Anderson: I am one of 9 children, from a rural Southern Illinois County that has been losing population since the 1900 census. The #2 child and the last 3 children stayed within a 30 mile radius of the family farm. The other 5: I’m in a city of 100,000 plus, 2 are in the Chicago suburbs, one in Georgia and one in Texas. When I go home and drive around. I look at the new houses and think of the small families inside. I look at the older houses and think of how many of them had families of 6+ living in them before the 1990s, and those same hoses often have 4 or fewer inhabitants now. - City Zen - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 10:00 pm: ==Yes, in your world, I’m sure it would be swell if the whole state was 99%, white and rich, living in low density suburban bedroom communities.== So when the numerous people here bring up Minnesota, aren’t they implying the same thing? As a percentage of population, Minnesota is closer to Monroe County in “whiteness” than it is to Illinois. Doesn’t stop folks from saying we should be more like Minnesota. - ArchPundit - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 10:35 pm: ===So when the numerous people here bring up Minnesota, aren’t they implying the same thing? As a percentage of population, Minnesota is closer to Monroe County in “whiteness” than it is to Illinois. Doesn’t stop folks from saying we should be more like Minnesota. Minnesota can do better, but there is a significant difference between 79% white and 98% white. Also: “All race groups have grown recently in MN, but between 2010 and 2015, the state has added four times as many people of Color as non-Hispanic White residents. Populations of Color are distributed unevenly across the state, and are more likely to live in metro areas than rural areas.” Minnesota is growing through immigration. There are areas where there are serious problems with the white population accepting integration–look up City Pages recent coverage of Willmar, Minnesota. Illinois is 71.5% White American (63.7% non-Hispanic white, 7.8% White Hispanic) Meaning, no, Minnesota is actually closer to Illinois by just a bit as a whole and Minnesota is seeing far more growth in populations that are not white and there is a huge difference between 79 and 98. - City Zen - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 11:09 pm: ==Minnesota can do better, but there is a significant difference between 79% white and 98% white.== Just as there is a significant difference between 61% white and 80% white. And a quarter of Minnesota’s non-white population is Asian. I don’t disagree with you in general, but the OP was “Maybe we should look at lil ‘ol Monroe County and get some ideas on how to run things.” That was immediate jumped on as how white it was. No one here seems to have that problem when bringing up Minnesota. - Nailrod - Thursday, Dec 21, 17 @ 11:17 pm: The only population increase Illinois has seen in the last 35 years is from immigration and much of that is from illegal immigration and their descendants. 1980 11,426,518 White 8.911 million Hispanic .635 Black 1.66 Asian .159 2015 12,830,632 White 7.15 million Hispanic 2.02 Black 1.866 Asian .861 Population Increase 1.4 million White population decrease (1.76 million) Hispanic population increase 1.39 million Black increase 200,000 Asian 694,000 - Lynn S. - Friday, Dec 22, 17 @ 1:39 am: Hey Nailrod: I’ve had Latinx cousins since the 1950s. Take your racist rhetoric and bug off. - Ron - Friday, Dec 22, 17 @ 7:13 am: Honestly, most immigrants are better people than many native born Americans. I would live to kick all the mouth breathing nativists and take in some fine Poles, Nigerians, Mexicans, Vietnamese, etc. - Anonymous - Friday, Dec 22, 17 @ 8:16 am: With Minnesota’s heritage of good government, high quality public services, and general lack of convicted public officials, I do wish Illinois could be more like Minnesota. - Ron - Friday, Dec 22, 17 @ 8:31 am: Me too Anonymous. We get very little for our high taxes. Minnesota is a well run state. They have good Democrats, not swindlers. - Sands - Friday, Dec 22, 17 @ 8:36 am: Speaking to the comments about higher education. My senior has a 32 ACT, 3.65 GPA (had severe mono one fresh yr and sports related concussion soph year; trashed his GPA), lots of honors/AP from one of the top suburban high schools in the nation and Illinois. Oh, and outstanding EC’s. Even started a charity. Got into several of the top business colleges in other states but didn’t get into Illinois direct admit (just found out on Dec 14). My husband was furious. My son was glad because he thinks Illinois looks like a prison camp. He didn’t apply to Northwestern or UofC because he probably wounldn’t get in and if he did, it would have been too expensive for us. My point is, he should have been a direct admit to Illinois business. His application should have been given preference above Chinese paying sticker. Just my opinion about where and why some of these kids are leaving Illinois. - Lynn S. - Friday, Dec 22, 17 @ 9:43 am: Sands, the Chinese pay almost $50,000 a year to go to UIUC, and the U of needs their money. If you could find a way to match that, your son’s application may well be reconsidered. Besides, the Chinese have really caused an interesting bubble in certain parts of the Champaign-Urbana economy, and when China builds enough universities that their students don’t need to go abroad, their are some highly-leveraged developers down here who will be going bankrupt. Save the $$ you don’t have to pay the U of I and wait for the day when some apartment towers are selling for 30-50 cents on the dollar. - ArchPundit - Friday, Dec 22, 17 @ 1:08 pm: ===Just as there is a significant difference between 61% white and 80% white. And a quarter of Minnesota’s non-white population is Asian. So Asians are equivalent to whites. Got it. Do you people ever listen to yourselves? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.