* CNBC…
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says that for every 100 job openings, only 92 workers are available to fill them. That means the nation is short about 1 million workers. To try and meet the demand, companies are seeking locations that are attractive to prospective employees. That makes quality of life a business imperative.
Your thoughts on ways to improve Illinois’ quality of life?
- don the legend - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 1:23 pm:
We should let the red counties secede to Missouri, Kentucky or Indiana. /s
- Who else - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 1:27 pm:
Good public schools you know won’t shut down for teacher strikes on a regular basis, affordable child care and manageable property taxes are the things I hear most people talk about when they are deciding whether/where to relocate.
- Sean Noble - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 1:40 pm:
Here’s a suggestion from Illinois employers, themselves. In a recent statewide survey of 400 business execs, nearly 90% said high-quality child care and early education are important for two priorities they care about in particular: making local communities “desirable for businesses,” and laying “an early skills foundation for young children’s success” — both in school and then in careers. Investing further in affordable, quality early childhood services is necessary to stabilize the current workforce as well as build for the future.
https://zogbyanalytics.com/images/IL%20BDM%202025/RN-IL%20POLL%20OVERVIEW%20022025.pdf
- Benjamin - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 1:49 pm:
Housing affordability is a big one, but not the only issue–if affordability was the only criterion, lots of little downstate towns would be booming.
There’s not much that can be done about Illinois’ cold winters and hot summers, or its boring geography. At least the state parks are free.
Having a good university system is important for families with college-bound kids. That extends beyond the flagship institutions, too. Instead of having five or six underenrolled general-purpose universities, it might be better to aim each one at a different focus area–one on engineering, on one biology and agriculture, etc.–while still offering some of the more popular other degrees (business, education, etc.).
Better transportation would go a long way, too. There’s no shortage of transit proposals in Chicagoland, but finding some way to move truck traffic to rails or even barges would cut the hassle of driving statewide.
- CA-HOON - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 1:53 pm:
Early childhood education and kids’ healthcare is one of the biggest reasons I came back to IL after my first kid was born, HEAD START and All-Kids have made a real tangible difference in my kids’ lives that I wouldn’t have been able to provide them were I still living in North Carolina.
That said, childcare is IMMENSELY expensive. I lost my good-paying job in 2010 due to the fallout from the financial crisis and the best I could for work in Jackson county only paid enough to pay for my kids’ daycare. So I was essentially working to pay someone else to raise my kids. My spouse still had a good job with insurance (thank providence) so I was able to quit and be a full-time parent for a few years (other households are not so lucky, I know). But even being available to my kids full-time I still would have been lost without the education and healthcare they get just from living in this state.
If we can tackle the daycare issue and the property-tax mess I think that would go a loooooong way to improving QoL in this wonderful Land of Lincoln.
- Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 1:56 pm:
Statewide public pre-school would be huge. Get rid of TIF and lower property taxes across the board.
Also, let grocery store employees under 21 scan my beer, they can check my ID as well as an older employee. /s
Unfortunately I’m sure the chamber is thinking more along the lines of a ping pong table in the break room.
- Quizzical - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 1:56 pm:
Towns have to stop sprawling. If people want to live in subdivisions among mini malls and big box stores, Illinois can’t compete with most of the country. If they want to live in towns with history and modest central business districts, Illinois has something to offer.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 2:08 pm:
Public transit. Wherever you live, being able to take 15 minutes to read on a bus or train before and after work is an underrated pleasure.
- Give Us Barabbas - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 2:08 pm:
Things that make me feel like I want to live in a place:
Aesthetically pleasing: well-kept streets, lots of trees, a mix of new buildings and repurposed old ones, a sense of pride about town history combined with modernity. Civic institutions well kept and attended, a thriving library, theatre, museum, public performance spaces, with events and festivals and farmers markets and block parties. A choice of places to eat, drink, buy groceries. Local transportation infrastructure that’s reliable and neighborhoods that are walkable. Parks of various sizes, locations , and purposes. A public pool or beach. Interesting terrain: a river or lake. Utilities that are well maintained and managed: power, water, sewage, garbage… municipal fiber broadband internet. Good schools and a community college or university campus. Affordable childcare and child enrichment facilities, so parents can work. Medical clinics and hospitals in reach. Properly-staffed and equipped fire stations. Police that don’t dress like they are deployed to Mogadishu and NPO’s who walk a beat or drive a fixed patrol area and get to know the residents. Social safety nets: homeless shelters, free clinics, rehabilitation facilities, food pantries and co-ops. Outreach centers. Affordable housing for low income and medium income people. Quality nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Decent pizza, tacos, and barbecue. There are many places that offer a majority of these things but fewer that can boast all of them. But it’s something to aspire to.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 2:17 pm:
===That makes quality of life a business imperative.===
Universal healthcare, free post secondary education, affordable housing, free or next to free childcare.
Also — maybe stop telling us we’ll all be replaced by AI and then be surprised when we don’t want to work for a subpar wage for your company.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 2:22 pm:
Anything that can reduce commute times is a boost to quality of life. Why spend an extra 10 hours commuting per week, especially by driving. It’s mad to think we’re so used to all that unpaid deadtime each and every week. It’s like working a six day week but only being paid for five.
- Incandenza - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 2:23 pm:
Quality of life means a good job, quality schools for kids, enough work-life balance, low cost of living and plenty of time to enjoy life.
There’s lots of policies to get at any of these.
One overall policy direction I would recommend for cost of living (cost in real dollars and in time) is moving away from building our society so car-dependent that parents spend most of their time in their car, and kids can’t explore their world, and there’s no alternative.
The future is multi-modal transportation, walkable neighborhoods, kids walking and biking to school and sports. Remove the restrictive zoning and other transport requirements that force everyone, including poor families, to own and maintain a fleet of expensive vehicles just to get groceries or get their kids to school.
- Blake - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 2:34 pm:
Removing restrictive zoning is the clearest thing. Expensive places are places people are trying to live but the local governments are denying people the freedom to build & to reside in the housing people would choose in greater numbers if legal to do so.
- hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 2:37 pm:
Build more housing. More apartment buildings and townhomes, and not just single family dwellings. More housing helps not just the first-time homebuyer or the first-time renter getting out of a parent’s house. More houses means real estate value doesn’t surge as fast so that property taxes don’t soar as fast for existing homeowners.
- Don't Bloc Me In - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 2:37 pm:
It will take years, but Illinois should increase the amount of public land. Amon states we rank very low (bottom 10, I think) in the amount of public land per capita. Studies show the positive effects of time outside in nature on our mental and physical health. Perhaps it’s because of where I live, but it seems there is a lack of appreciation for public lands among our Illinois residents.
Additional lands should focus on hiking, biking, and other forms of quiet recreation. The IDNR really needs to put more effort into education and improved facilities at all sites. It’s as if our state parks are an afterthought.
And,yes,this will require a big investment in IDNR, instead of what has happened over the decades.
- Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 3:24 pm:
- Removing restrictive zoning is the clearest thing. -
This “abundance” nonsense has gotten tiring very quickly. The idea that zoning laws are the biggest barrier to progress in this country is a lie made up by people who don’t want to talk about class inequality and wealth concentration.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 3:40 pm:
===class inequality and wealth concentration===
So, you think zoning laws have not reinforced either of those things? That’s kind of odd.
- Retired School Board Member - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 3:46 pm:
Find a way to reduce the stranglehold that corporate landlords have on the starter home inventory. It is a real problem that is pricing families out of the market and at the same time, lowering the aesthetics of neighborhoods as homes are not being maintained and invested in.
- Excitable Boy - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 4:20 pm:
- So, you think zoning laws have not reinforced either of those things? -
No, and I’m for zoning reform, I just don’t think it’s the silver bullet some are treating it as.
- StarLineChicago - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 4:20 pm:
== The idea that zoning laws are the biggest barrier to progress in this country is a lie made up by people who don’t want to talk about class inequality and wealth concentration. ==
Whether or not they are “the biggest” barrier, it’s a notable barrier nonetheless. Illinois will be lucky if we *only* lose two seats after the next round of redistricting in 2030, so if someone wants to invest in our state and create more places for more people to live — especially if they’re willing to do so without gobbling up more farmland on the fringes of our cities — seems like we should let them.
- Incandenza - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 4:23 pm:
== about class inequality and wealth concentration. ==
Look at San Francisco - in 2024 it built a total of 1,200 new housing units, a dismally low rate of new units compared to any other city in the US. Yet the cost of housing there is mind-bogglingly high: the median house is over $1 million. That means there’s demand to live there, but not enough housing, which means working class folks need to live hours away, and have to commute hours and hours to get to their jobs in the city. This is because not enough housing is built in the city. Why don’t they build more housing to meet demand? Because rich people in the city block new housing using zoning laws to “preserve the character of their neighborhood”. If you cared at all about inequality, restrictive zoning on housing would be one of your number one issues.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 4:49 pm:
1) Every neighborhood deserves world class schools. School quality is the #1 thing people consider when buying a home.
2) Double the state budget for parks and green space. Open space is the #2 thing people consider when relocating, and it drives consumer spending.
3) Reduce beer taxes and legalize growing your own cannabis. Illinois used to be a lot more fun. We are forgetting how to celebrate living. Honestly, I think most of the inflammation around teen gatherings is we are just upset to see kids having fun.
- Bogey Golfer - Tuesday, Jul 15, 25 @ 5:01 pm:
When I see these posts that restrictive zoning being a critical issue, I can easily see years from now that the extensive ADU construction has paved over backyards and causing additional flooding problems in urban areas.