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Today’s number: 2

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Illinois

* I dunno if this really means anything, but I’ll take it. From U-Haul…

There is nothing wrong with being runner-up in this countdown when you’ve jumped two spots and resurfaced as the Midwest magnet for do-it-yourself movers.

Chicago comes in at No. 2 on the U-Haul Top 10 U.S. Destination Cities for 2014. These rankings reflect the top destinations of one-way U-Haul truck rentals for the past calendar year.

The Windy City moved up from its No. 4 ranking a year ago and has climbed five sports since dipping to No. 7 back in 2008. Chicago was last as high as No. 2 in 2007.

While migration trends don’t correlate directly to a city’s population or economic growth, they are a strong gauge as to how well cities are attracting new residents. […]

“One of the fastest growing neighborhoods is the Wicker Park/Bucktown area, at least on the north side. A lot of people are still downsizing and it’s such a hugely dense area, so storage is in high demand. The job and housing markets have improved. A few years ago, people were trying to leave because it was too costly to live here. Now they’re coming back. Unemployment has dropped and Chicago seems to be more of a destination. There is still rebuilding. The city is knocking down buildings and creating huge skyscrapers for condos. There is definitely opportunity for people to move here.”

More here.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 11:52 am

Comments

My guess is recent college grads make up a big junk of Chicago’s numbers. U-Haul is cheap, and who wants to live in Ann Arbor after graduation when you can rent a cheap place in Lakeview and put your English degree to use by tending bar.

Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 11:56 am
Sadly the trend I have noticed is “doubling up”. Moving back in with parents or with grandparents. Uhaul is a blessing.

Comment by Honeybear Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 12:10 pm
Oh boy… tough crowd. It’s good news for a change, people, let’s enjoy it.

Comment by chi Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 12:23 pm
I’d live in Wicker/Bucktown in a heartbeat. If I had no wife, kids, parents, siblings, and if I had a whole lot of money. Yeah - I’d be a freak.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 12:30 pm
Love this, but it goes against the “everyone is leaving Illinois” narrative. Maybe they should adjust their chant to ” everyone is leaving central/southern Illinois”. Oh, and I notice that neither Indiana nor Wisconsin have made the list so far, and I doubt they’ll be represented by #1.

Comment by Namaste Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 12:33 pm
Thanks for posting some good news finally. Chicago is doing much better than the rest of the state. 47th ward is the place to be, good schools, family orientated community that is close enough to the action but still quiet. Keep an eye out for Alderman Amaya Pawar, he is terrific.

Comment by Lucky Pierre Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 12:38 pm
I didn’t find in there what the parameters were. Was it simply city-to-city, or did it include intracity moving? A lot of people move within the city, picking up at one U-Haul and dropping off at another.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 12:38 pm
If you haven’t been in Old Town on a weekend I would recommend it. It is BUSY. There are tons of young professionals living in the city. More are moving in for tech. Condos are selling like hotcakes in the 60610 zip (listings for one bedrooms sell within 30 days and sometimes shorter). All of this is supplemented by downsizers who are selling their larger homes and buying places in the City. So the U Haul data backs up the anecdotal evidence that people are moving to Chicago to work and play.

Comment by Marcus Agrippa Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 12:42 pm
Sure would be nice if Mayflower had similar stats!

Comment by A guy Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 12:59 pm
On the meme about the mass exodus from IL, pushed by Rauner et al, especially the chicken-little folks at Illinois Policy (see article below)

I’m no economist, but if that were occurring I’d expect

1) a FLOOD of inventory in the “for sale” condo, townhouse and single family home markets
2) prices ▼ sharply

THAT IS NOT HAPPENING http://www.zillow.com/il/home-values/

I guess we can chalk this fake meme up to the chicken-little folks doing the chicken-little thing.
___________
Are People Really Leaving Illinois In Droves?
By BILL WHEELHOUSE • JUN 1, 2015
http://wuis.org/post/are-people-really-leaving-illinois-droves-0
___________

Comment by zonz Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 1:01 pm
Favorite right-wing thing to say in Wisconsin: “We don’t want to be like Illinois.” I guess that means they don’t want to have a world class city and a higher percentage of college educated people. Or maybe they just mean they don’t want to have bad football teams, lol.

Comment by James Knell Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 1:13 pm
On the other hand, here is a story about Chicago population growth “Chicago’s Population Grew Last Year—By 82″ Chicagoist 5/21/15. Yes I guess it is positive because it showed an increase . Maybe all 82 rented U_hauls.

Also see: “Immigrants bypassing Chicago area” Crain’s 5/21/15 It shows we are lagging behind ther metropolitan areas .

Both articles cite the Cenus Bureau which may be a bit more reliable than U-Haul

Comment by ejhickey Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 1:25 pm
It’s U-Haul. Which means it’s folks whose moving expenses likely aren’t being covered by new employers–either they’re moving to Chicago without new jobs or the jobs they’re moving for aren’t paying much. Now, if this was Atlas Van Lines it might be worth celebrating. But U-Haul is a meh.

Comment by The Underlying Truth Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 1:50 pm
===moving expenses likely aren’t being covered by new employers===

Or they’re pocketing the difference. My parents did that several times.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 1:51 pm
@47th
=when you can rent a cheap place in Lakeview=

My daughter just moved there (sighhhhh). It ain’t that cheap.

Comment by Arizona Bob Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 1:58 pm
I never got a chance to pocket the difference. Every time someone paid my moving expenses, the bill either went straight to my new employer or I had to produce an invoice. Never got paid a flat amount, but that would have been nice.

Comment by The Underlying Truth Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 3:47 pm
The 23 year olds are moving there, the multi-millionaires are moving to the burbs or out of state. And the old people are hiring a moving company!!

Comment by anon Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 3:59 pm
My wife and I moved to Bucktown 2+ years ago to be within walking distance of our grandsons. Sometimes I feel like a fish out of water being over 65 with all the hipsters, young professionals, etc. Bucktown is arguably the hottest real estate market in Chicago now. I love the easy access to the loop and I seldom use my car, relying on the El and bus. I look forward to the 606 park opening this weekend. And I can’t believe all the young famalies with kids in the neighborhood. But the real estate prices are going up. I am glad I bought when I did.

Comment by Yossarian Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 4:50 pm
Chicago and its suburbs are the bellwether of everything economic in this state. And Chicago is the #4 tourist destination in the US. There are good trends happening in certain neighborhoods in Chicago, but unless the city can catch that vibrance in several more areas, the 3 million mark (which the regional planners are banking on the city to far surpass by 2040 for all their plans to work out) will still be a distant goal. The U Haul story is a bit of good news, taken with the right perspective.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Wednesday, Jun 3, 15 @ 5:15 pm