If you’re a resident of Chicago or have visited the city several times you should be able to relate to some of the things within the city that theaveragechicagoan.com crew wishes were gone from our great town. These are the annoyances that piss you off, drive you crazy, make you reconsider residing here, and make you want to threaten our mayor. If you have an opinion, an annoyance that should have been added to our list, or a personal ranking; please leave a comment below. In no particular order, here they are:
TAXES
The taxes here are getting higher and higher for things. From cigarettes costing the price of a CD, to a bottled water tax for people who like the confidence that their water doesn’t contain contaminants. Of all the things Chicago is known for, having the highest total sales taxes of any major U.S. city is probably not one of them. Chicago (Cook County) has the sales tax of 10.25% which is highest among major cities in the United States. The tax consists of 6.25% state, 1.25% city, 1.75% county and 1% regional transportation authority. Chicago also has the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority tax on food and beverage of 1%, which means eating out is taxed at 11.25%. Even the rates in cities like New York and Los Angeles are below 8.5%. The next highest rate in the country is in Memphis, Tennessee, at 9.25%. {cited Forbes & Wikipedia}
PARKING METER FIASCOES
Chicago’s 36,000 parking meters were leased to a private parking contractor last year for $1.15 billion, in a 75-year deal designed to help increase the city’s revenue. And since the transition, nothing but problems have occurred. The transition to the private company got bogged down by broken pay-and-display boxes and overstuffed and improperly calibrated meters that overcharged. An internal audit concluded that the city could have gotten nearly $1 billion more if it had held on to the meters and just raised the rates itself. Downtown motorists who use to pay $3 an hour have to cough up $3.50, pay a whopping $6.50 an hour by 2013 and feed the meters 24/7, including holidays. Neighborhood parking rates that used to range from 25 to 75 cents an hour rose to $1 and will rise steadily to $2 by 2013. After 2013, the City Council is obliged to increase meter revenues by the rate of inflation, either by raising rates, adding meters or increasing operating hours. {cited Chicago Sun-Times}
CORRUPT ILLINOIS POLITICANS
Chicago, as well as the entire state of Illinois, is known for it’s corruption in government. No details are really necessary. Former governors, George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich, pretty much explain this state’s political history. As for Mayor Richard M. Daley, well you can Wikipedia all about him.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
The CTA’s buses & trains are too slow. They have rude employees. Not enough service. Too expensive! Unsafe. Unkempt. Dirty. Smelly. Overcrowded. Underfunded. The list goes on and on about the city’s public transportation problems. It would be extremely difficult to solve this laundry list of problems all at once, but fixing a couple of them at a time isn’t too much to ask, right?
THE BITTER COLD
Yeah I know, “If you don’t like it, move away cause the weather ain’t changing, no way.” It would be nice if summer temperatures lasted a little longer in the city or the cold didn’t last as long. Anyhow, the cold and snow sucks a lot of the time living here.
CRIME
The South and West sides of the city can be dangerous depending on the neighborhood, race, and wealth. On the North, worry about getting robbed and sexually-related crimes. Either way large cities have crime problems and we are no different.
COPS
Except for the few good, helpful, law-abiding officers, most of the city’s cops are either corrupt or just douchebags who like to flaunt their authority over people by messing with innocent bystanders. They mess with you and sometimes take it too far when met with non-violent opposition. Read a news paper you’ll find a story of a cop under lawsuit or suspension for taking it “too far” when dealing with public disturbances.
COMCAST
Comcast has, for a while, been a monopoly in Chicago. But with AT&T and RCN finally stepping up against our city and nation’s largest cable operator, things might change a bit. The company still is the only option for most neighborhood residents where competing providers have not developed their presence. American Customer Satisfaction Index survey found that Comcast had the worst customer satisfaction rating of any company or government agency in the country, including the Internal Revenue Service. Comcast’s Customer Service Rating by the ACSI surveys indicate that the company’s customer service has not improved since the surveys began in 2001. “Comcast is one of the lowest scoring companies in ACSI. As its customer satisfaction eroded by 7% over the past year, revenue increased by 12%.” The ACSI analysis also addresses this contradiction, stating that “Such pricing power usually comes with some level of monopoly protection and most cable companies have little competition at the local level. This also means that a cable company can do well financially even though its customers are not particularly satisfied. {cited Wikipedia}
TODD STROGER
I’m pretty sure 4 out of 5 people dislike this Cook County board president.
POTHOLES
Definitely a regular on city roads that all motorists wish wasn’t.
Honorable Mention: R.Kelly, Kanye West, the “billygoat curse”, and Mayor Daley’s Olympic bid obsession.
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