23 Comments - TJ - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 12:15 pm: How long before the ILGOP starts crediting Trump for reversing the alleged Illinois exodus? - Demoralized - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 12:18 pm: Republicans are openly hostile to the LGBTQ community. I don’t blame them for wanting to leave a state governed by people like that. I’m glad that people view Illinois as a safe and welcoming place. - Bob - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 12:24 pm: 160 years after the man’s death, we’re still the Land of Lincoln. - Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 12:55 pm: I’ve lived in rural Illinois, Chicago, and the suburbs and have no intention of leaving. It’s a great state to make a living and raise a family. - Nitemayor - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 12:55 pm: I have a good friend who is an alderman in downstate Alton (Madison County/Greater St. Louis) who told me he personally has met some 20 people who bought houses in Alton from New York, Florida, San Diego, Seattle, Texas, and a couple who bought a house sight unseen from Australia! Not one complained about the property taxes but loved the proximity to the Mississippi River,downtown St.Louis and Lambert Airport. - Levois - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:17 pm: Why is Illinois bashing in thing? How does bashing improve the state? There are things wrong with this state for sure. Why not ensure this state is welcoming to those people you want to move here. - Wilson - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:18 pm: Bots doing market research on Reddit - Dance Band on the Titanic - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:23 pm: I’ve been saying that Illinois will see a significant net population gain in the 2030 Census. - Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:24 pm: I post on that reddit thread and others associated with Illinois. I’m always glad to offer perspective on the town I live in now the others that I have called home. Hopefully one or two of those folks actually makes the jump and moves to our fair state. - PP - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:26 pm: Illinois is the best state ! Best location and climate and civic rights. The pensions and BJ need to be fixed but otherwise its not too shabby - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:26 pm: ===net population gain=== I wouldn’t bet any crypto on that. Most people leave or arrive for jobs, schooling, family, etc. - Hot Taeks - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:33 pm: Popular theory is that the Great Lakes will be the place to be as climate change keeps getting worse. Another thing to keep in mind: High growth states like Texas and Florida won’t be able to sustain those rates for so long as cost of living increases. Economically, I think Texas is fine in long run. Florida on the other hand is not. Home insurance costs take out any advantage of not having state income tax in the state. - Amalia - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:39 pm: lots of water, best pizza (no, NYC,not you, that is cardboard), great sports (yes even with the losing), a vibrant cultural scene, beautiful landscape (gets ignored lots), an airport that can get you anywhere, highways that are fairly fast (yes despite the Kennedy), a mass transit system that gets you around the city and burbs (yes even as it needs a revamp), and pumpkins, lots and lots of pumpkins. if we shut our borders the pumpkin cravings of the US would not be satisfied. Illinois is great. - Alton Sinkhole - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:50 pm: I’m very proud to call this place home. Moved here at 18 and never looked back. I love the city, I love downstate, I love the stuff in between. We’ve got a good thing going here. Perfect? No. But show me the state that is. And the state is only going to be better once we get rid of our dreadfully boring state flag - Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 1:59 pm: NYT took a look at increasing property tax rates across the county. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/realestate/property-taxes-rising-states.html Indianapolis was tops, homeowners saw a 67% increase since 2019. No cities in Illinois are in the top 15 for largest increases. However 10 of the 15 are in either Florida or Texas. - Chicagonk - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 2:02 pm: Illinois would benefit from some political balance. The state is definitely solidly blue, but 40% of the population is Republican. Even if politically Democrats benefit from right-leaning people leaving the state, states need to grow populations in order to keep funding up for progressive priorities. - Pundent - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 2:31 pm: =Illinois would benefit from some political balance.= The GOP would benefit from some electable candidates. It wasn’t that long ago that we had a Republican senator, governor, treasurer, comptroller, and suburban state and federal officials. The people didn’t change the party did. With regards to state bashing, I think you’d find that it’s not a phenomenon unique to Illinois. I’ve traveled and lived in different places around the country and have seen the same behavior in other locales. - Thad - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 2:39 pm: I can’t wait to move back to my home state — in large part because I feel safe there in this era of MAGA. I’ve lived in nearly all parts of the state, including Chicago, and would return in a heart beat were it not for my partner’s job. But MAGA no doubt will be coming for her type of job soon enough. - TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 2:46 pm: “have seen the same behavior in other locales.” Because in many cases it’s coordinated. While there have always been small rumblings scattered across states and time periods, the past 15 years or so has seen a large concentration of them. Oregon and Washington have an east/west split. California has a north/central/south split. Arizona has a north/south split. Colorado has a north/south split. Florida has a north/south split. Georgia has a north/south split. Idaho has a ‘lets just take part of that other state’ split. There are far more, but I’ll leave out the specifics. Anyone who wants to know more can easily look it up. Long story short, many of these proposals started picking up again with the rise of the Tea Party in the late ’00s/early ’10s. It’s almost like there has been a coordinated and well-funded attempt to create division in the US. The ’split IL’ folks are just one of the facets of what exists in many parts of the country. - TJ - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 2:50 pm: == Illinois would benefit from some political balance. == The state GOP nominated a blatantly weak and unelectable candidate for governor two years ago because a plurality of GOP primary voters were swayed by an attack ad highlighting how awful and out of touch he was. I agree, political balance is needed. But when one party has taken a few dozen steps to the far right over the past fifteen years, giving that radical outlook equal footing isn’t remotely what I’d call balance. - Jibba - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 2:57 pm: I’ve defended Illinois on reddit and other news web sites a number of times. Some are open to the message of personal rights and good climate/water, but others counter with gun rights and corruption. Each to his own, but the pull will only get stronger as the insurance market exits Florida and similar climate consequences happen. While the movement will likely accelerate, I suspect real movement will start in 20+ years. - thechampaignlife - Tuesday, Nov 19, 24 @ 3:57 pm: While it is great to have them join us in Illinois and I get why it is the best choice for them personally, it sure would be nice for the rest of us if they were moving to swing states where they could tip the balance back to blue. - anon2 - Wednesday, Nov 20, 24 @ 7:35 pm: For retirees, Illinois is attractive because there is no income tax on pensions and Social Security. TrackBack URI Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.