RockRaines

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 5, 2017 -> 02:21 PM) The Big Brother subreddit is a goldmine. link? Did I miss it?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 5, 2017 -> 01:54 PM) So 100 people shot over the long 4th of July weekend in Chicago; 15 are dead. Rather than go on a rant about this (I think you all know I am capable of such a rant right now with five or more paragraphs freaking out about this), I would like to ask YOUR reaction. I am sad, first of all, and appalled, second of all and will spare you my angry rant. But cmon. This is ridiculous stuff. Cops say much of it was gang related. I don't like it; the country and world, really, think of Chicago as a horrible warzone. If you want my rant I'll come up with one, but please, what can be done about this??? Is Chicago truly done as a great city because of this bulls***? Are the gangs escalating to the point they will be running all parts of the city before long? Prayers for the deceased and their families. Shaking my head at the horror of 4th of July weekend in the great city of Chicago. Nope. Are you as worried about the 15 other major cities that are more violent or nah>?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 5, 2017 -> 10:11 AM) Ramble all you want, but people are voting with their feet right now and leaving the state. Politicians should refuse to acknowledge why at their own risk. People overall are moving south and west. Not sure that has anything to do with the illinois politics.

We had work monday technically but nobody worked.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 5, 2017 -> 08:15 AM) House will be picking it up as early as today. If the veto override passes the House, then it's done. I don't know if there are specific implementation dates within the bill for when tax increases go into effect etc., but it'll be the law and we won't be running on court-ordered spending anymore. It seems like in order to really fix Illinois' structural problems, a constitutional convention needs to be called so that the state's constitution can be rewritten. It's not really possible to fix the broken funding/taxation system or really address the existing pension issues without one. eta: this guy seems like a pretty good source of what's happening in the capitol https://capitolfax.com/ There needs to be pretty large reform, but Madigan wont allow it. Because he's awful.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 5, 2017 -> 08:12 AM) So, Rauner vetoed the budget bill, and senate overrides his veto which means now it goes to the House for a vote. How many more power checks can occur before this bill is actually put into motion? If House approves the bill, can Rauner do anything else? What a mess Its a joke.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 2, 2017 -> 11:23 PM) Wow, Fenwick is over $15k. I remember when I went there it was something like $5,500-6k...so it has basically tripled in 20 years. f***, I can't believe how old I am... Yuup. And its probably going up since demand is pretty high.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 07:02 PM) I thought Brother Rice was hurting for students and well short of capacity. All girls suburban Catholic schools have been hurting and closing, but usually if a boys school is they go co-ed. I havent heard that about Rice.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 07:08 PM) 33 was the max (officially) for KC Public Schools. Although I recall having 37-38 once for Econ. Some K and Pre-K classes have over 50 kids. The CPS system is a mess

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 03:47 PM) Re: Denver, I can attest to this. Fortunately, we bought before things got really crazy out here. The Denver market is interesting though - it's Chicago real estate prices, but without the Chicago salaries. The burbs are quite nice there. Downtown has exploded. I go there almost every month and there is always someting new

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 03:22 PM) One of the biggest problems in the CPS right now is schools which are filled to a fraction of capacity, and that is directly because of people leaving the CPS. Yet some are completely overcrowded with some class sizes approaching 50 kids....

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 01:47 PM) Chicago the city lost less than 9k people last year. Its been on a downward trend for a bit. Its not the "loss" its the fact that its not increasing as rapidly as other areas. It will be interesting to see what happens because while Chicago is losing people on the lower end of the income spectrum, it is gaining people on the higher end. https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170525/so...pulation-census Office rents in Chicago rose almost 20% last year, 2nd highest in the world. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/col...317-column.html Residential is up 2.5% http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2017/03/01/...ge-satisfaction The thing killing Chicago education is that its such a large area and its hard for the wealthier areas to subsidize the poorer. Not to mention its hard to compare River North to the South Side etc. Spot on. But also the total mismanagement of budget, the teachers union and years and years of robbing peter to pay paul.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 01:21 PM) The biggest thing killing education in Chicago is all of the people leaving. Not really. Public education is being killed by lack of funds, but thats not due to less people. There are more than enough students to attend, just not enough money being funneled in. Thats due to a ton of factors. This is a big reason why families leave the city to the immediate suburbs. Private schools in chicago are populated with both city and suburban kids. There are wait lists for those.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 11:27 AM) All I can think about Cody is, the Trump era has infected Big Brother. Honestly I think he's just shell shocked from war.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 11:22 AM) haha we're all old now No s***.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 11:16 AM) That's true. I love the west, would love to experience living there. Perhaps I could find ways to have month or 2 month stays. But I don't feel regret about staying. I live blocks from family, and raising a family in that situation is too good to be true. My parents family was all east when we grew up. Among other things, every vacation is just visiting family. At the very least we get to visit the world on our vacation time. Samesies. Two sets of grandparents within minutes. Cant beat that s***.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 11:15 AM) that cost of living tho Chicago's not cheap but prices anywhere on the west coast are just insane I need to be near an urban area, thats my shortcoming. I cant move far from a large city.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 11:03 AM) Indiana has a voucher system where you can get a voucher to participating privates. That doesn't exist in Illinois. How many kids can attend a place like Culver on a voucher? It says on their site only 1/4 of new students qualify for need based financial aid. I am really enjoying their website, I've never heard of this place.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 11:00 AM) Good info, thanks. I know that, in general, taxes at the state level are regressive across the country. Is Illinois pension model really that much more generous than other deep blue states like Cali or Mass? Illinois could dig themselves out of a huge hole if they legalized recreational marijuana....

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 10:57 AM) Plenty of people I worked with in Chicago made the same commute I did. Those are the ones I will never understand. They pay a multiple of what people pay out here for a fraction of the return. I get all of the things you mentioned, as well as being 5 minutes from the beach. My annual tax payment is less than most people's monthly tax bill. I agree with that. If I lived 45-an hour out of the city I would gladly look at other areas. s*** my place in Benton Harbor area is about 1.5 hours from downtown (though our taxes arent all that low). But I get anyone living from Aurora on in.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 10:50 AM) Past that there are a few amazing private school opportunities at the absolute top end of things. LaLumiere and Culver Military Academy are known nationwide for their academic programs. A Catholic School like Andrean which is really close to the state line attracts people from all over the place, including Illinois because of its programing. Marquette in Michigan City is A rated, and has a 100% college acceptance rate. Bishop Noll in Hammond is another one that comes to mind. Do Indiana taxes pay for tuition into those private schools? Just checked Culver. No, and its 50k/year to send a kid there. Probably cheaper to pay property taxes.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 10:45 AM) There are plenty of great schools here in communities that are a fraction of the price of the Illinois burbs. Munster, Crown Point, Chesterton, Valparaiso, etc. are all A rated school districts in upper class towns in The Region. I'm sure there are. And if you want to drive an hour from chicago directly west you could find some more affordable tax rates and housing as well. My point is people will gladly pay higher taxes to be close to chicago if there are excellent schools, clean and safe towns and robust village and commercial services. I can make it to chicago in around 10 min, 20 if I walk to the train. I gladly pay what I pay for that.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 10:41 AM) You are looking at gross rates. Property taxes on primary residences are capped at 1% of Net Assessed Value. http://www.in.gov/dlgf/8527.htm Ah so we were speaking two different languages, got it. That makes more sense.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 10:38 AM) My kids are going to graduate high school with something like a year to a year and a half of college credits. That doesnt answer the question. It's easy to look up the rating and see immediately why people move to communities outside of chicago even though the taxes are high. People arent scrambling to move close to 4's and 5's, they want 9's and 10's.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 30, 2017 -> 10:29 AM) Meanwhile a 45 minute drive from downtown, mine are Cool. How are the public schools? Also, how did you get a lower rate than everyone else around you? I need that tax lawyer http://www.stats.indiana.edu/dms4/propertytaxes.asp