Businesses in Chicago are leaving the city despite being the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois which was once a bastion of wealth and culture in the windswept.
According to the reports, increasing homicide rates and other violence-related crimes particularly in Chiraq which is widely known for being bloody and crime-ridden, as a place where corrupt cops who either can’t or won’t keep the peace, have prompted the businesses to leave.
Just recently, the McDonald’s CEO warned the city about businesses planning to pull up their stakes and leave the city rather than dealing with rampant criminality.
In a statement released by CEO, Chris Kempczinski in a meeting of the Economic Club of Chicago, he claimed, “the truth is, it’s more difficult today for me to convince a promising McDonald’s executive to relocate to Chicago from one of our other offices than it was just a few years ago. It’s more difficult for me to recruit a new employee to McDonald’s, to join us in Chicago, than it was in the past.”
“Everywhere I go, I’m confronted by the same question. ‘What’s going on in Chicago?’ There is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis,” the CEO added and ended his speech pledging to remain committed to the city and state and said, “While others are leaving Chicago and Illinois, McDonald’s is doubling down. I can tell you, we’re going to be here. ”
In a data released by ZeroHedge, it was revealed that “the Illinois city has seen over 494 homicides so far in 2022, which is at least 100 more deaths that it saw in the first 8 months of 2019. Burglary is up at least 36% and theft overall is up 70% from a year ago.”
The increasing crime rates in the city has reportedly prompted three large companies to leave the Chicago metropolitan area this year.
According to Ken Griffin-led hedge fund Citadel, it would relocate to Miami and that they had to leave due to the rising crime in Chicago.
In addition, the aerospace firm Boeing also announced in May that it would move to Arlington, Virginia while the Manufacturing giant Caterpillar announced it would leave Chicago for Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
