• kozy138@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Deteriorating public transit system. Endless road construction. Skyrocketing taxes. Growing homeless population. Increasing opioid deaths.

    Illinois is doing quite meh…

    • Nougat@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Deteriorating public transit system.

      I’m assuming you’re talking about Chicago, since pretty much nowhere else even has a proper public transit system - which is something any non-urban area in the country suffers from. Between CTA trains and CTA buses, you can get pretty much anywhere in Chicago pretty much any time of the day or night. Metra regional rail is not bad for being able to get in and out of the city from all the collar counties, and some beyond.

      Endless road construction.

      Yeah, that’s a thing that happens in a place that has hot summers and cold winters. Roadways don’t last forever. Would you prefer they be left unrepaired?

      Skyrocketing taxes.

      Source? Everything I see shows that tax rates in Illinois, while they have risen over the years (decades), there’s no way they could be described as “skyrocketing.” Besides that, only state income tax and state sales tax are at the state level. Other sales taxes are done by municipalites, property tax assessments are done by the county, and a good portion of property taxes pay for your local school district. Can’t really blame the state for those.

      Growing homeless population.

      There are about 14,000 homeless people in Illinois. That’s 0.11% of the population of the state.

      Increasing opioid deaths.

      That one is actually true! Opioid deaths in Illinois have increased 2,736% since 2013. However, “Illinois ranked 24th in the country for overall drug overdose fatality rate in 2019.” So right in the middle. Opioids specifically, and drug overdose generally, is a national problem, not one that is somehow specific to Illinois.

    • DrPop@lemmy.one
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      1 year ago

      Cost of living in Illinois is relatively low though. If you’re outside the cities even within 30 minutes to am hope from the city is not terrible. I don’t have an opinion on living in Chicago since I’m not there but things are getting better. Also road construction is a good thing, it means they aren’t just letting it deteriorate. Per CDC data opioid death rates in Illinois are consistent with the rest of the United States.