Chicago region can take important lessons from Boeing win

Understanding the how's and why's Boeing Co.'s choice of Chicago headquarters is as important to the region's future as the jobs and prestige of landing the world's largest exporter.

"This shows there's almost nothing we cannot accomplish when we unite as a city, a region and a state to achieve a common goal," said MarySue Barrett, president of the Metropolitan Planning Council.

"Think what could be achieved," Barrett said, "if we brought this same intensity and spirit of cooperation to the other challenges we face as a metropolitan area. Imagine our governor and mayor, our business and community leaders all pulling together on a single strategy for airports, or for more sensible ways of growing the region such as locating more housing choices closer to where our new jobs are being created."

Boeing's apparent choice of the office tower at 100 N. Riverside, Barrett said, reaffirms market acceptance of another favorite MPC planning theme: transit-oriented development. The 36-story tower is a block away from the Metra's Ogilvie commuter station, three blocks from Union Station and a stone's throw from the CTA's Green Line (Lake Street) elevated tracks.

"From that location you can commute to just about anywhere in the region in less than an hour," Barrett said. "And a West Loop heliport, if properly planned, would put Boeing's corporate jet fleet at Midway just minutes away."

Judging from public statements made by Boeing officials and consultants, several other regional assets weighed heavily in Boeing's choice of Chicagoland — including some that too often are taken for granted, Barrett said, or even neglected:

Boeing executives were explicit that the availability of quality education for the children of their headquarters staff was a big factor. MPC's Barrett warned that state legislators need to pay heed ... and do something about the unevenness of school quality throughout the state due to over-reliance on local property taxes. Illinois ranks near the bottom for state support of primary public education and, ironically, legislative efforts to increase the state-guaranteed per-pupil "foundation level" are being scaled back this week by the state Senate.

Last month's VIP reception for Boeing execs at the Art Institute made headlines, but far more crucial was the state, county and municipal incentive package quickly and effectively pieced together by the economic development offices of those three governments. MPC has not yet evaluated the size and duration of the incentives, Barrett said, but their appeal to Boeing ought to underscore the importance of local taxation on all businesses, not just those changing locations. MPC, for instance, supports Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan's effort to lower assessment levels on all industrial properties so as to make Cook more competitive with the region's collar counties.

News accounts report that "cultural diversity" was high on Boeing's list of criteria. It may surprise some folks that buttoned-down corporations care about tolerance issues, but think about it. Boeing will be bringing to Chicago a vertiable rainbow of clients, partners and employees from all over the world. They require a color-blind, culture-blind atmosphere of acceptance and respect. "A global future will require global, not parochial, attitudes," Barrett said. "Every community in the region needs to take stock. Does my town, or my neighborhood, have a variety of choices for a variety of people? Diversity and opportunity for all need to be seen not just as a moral matter, but for the economic asset such attitudes are fast becoming."