By Jackie LaVia –
It’s human nature to be more inclined to complain and give a bad review than it is to speak up and give a good review. I think YELP, an internet-based service review website, proves that. One-hundred individuals will have a good meal, and only one will write about it. But if 10 persons have a bad experiences, five will write about it. It seems Illinois is a victim of that mentality. So, I thought we all should look at some amazing things about Illinois.
• Tourism: In 2017 there was a record 114 Million visitors and Chicago accounted for a record 55.2 Million. Would you have guessed Chicago beat Disney/Orlando by eight Million visitors? And, although our success ranks us 18th overall in tourism and eighth for foreign visitors, if you compare us on a per-capita or per-square mile basis to top states such as California or New York, we are easily in the top 10!
• Economy: Illinois has the fifth largest state gross domestic product (GDP) at $820 Billion of Commerce. Again, however, if you compare us on a per-capita basis, we are No. 3 with $64,000 after No. 1 New York with $77,700 and No. 2 California at $69,500. Another way to think of Illinois is our economy would be the 30th largest nation in the world out of the 195 countries on the planet.
• Income: Illinois has a median household income of about $60,000. The 50 states range from a low of $40,000, Mississippi, to a high of $75,000, Maryland. Our ranking has fluctuated, as our middle class jobs related to roads/highways saw incomes decrease significantly and only just recently rebound to levels where they were about 12 years ago. Those in the upper one percent of income saw a steady rise every year! So, it’s basic economics that the more money a household earns, the higher is the per capita tax rate that we hear talked about so much.
• Roads: Illinois has the third most mileage of total roads, after Texas and California. Roads have allowed our economy to grow to the fifth largest in the Nation. It’s why Amazon and other large firms have chosen to create tens of thousands of new jobs in Illinois. So it’s ironic when I hear some folks complain about the cost of repairing roads using quality trades labor, when they are too myopic to realize their wealth is a direct function of this infrastructure, and if we don’t invest in it, we’ll see our GDP drop.
Illinois is a vibrant, complex state, with thousands of different industries represented by just about every religion, race, and most countries. So, of course we have blemishes. We are a much more difficult state to run, then say, the states that have fewer than a million inhabitants and only dozens of key industries, with very few minorities and few religions. It’s like comparing apples & monkey wrenches. Consider our friends who moved to Alabama for lower property taxes, but they didn’t know Alabama has an eight-times higher crime rate and murder rate and the 47th lowest household income. They are moving back to Illinois after three years of mostly misery where only the upper 10% have any money to buy the expensive items they sell, and 25% of the population is on welfare!
So, let’s try something new. Let’s stop bashing Illinois. Let’s toot our own horn for the wonderful things here. And let’s, instead, work together on healing the blemishes that are a result of our complex success.
Jackie LaVia is a 2018 graduate of East Aurora High School.
