Building the City of Spectacle: Mayor Richard M. Daley and the Remaking of Chicago

by Costas Spirou, Dennis R. Judd

By the time he left office on May 16, 2011, Mayor Richard M. Daley had served six terms and more than twenty-two years at the helm of Chicago’s City Hall, making him the longest serving mayor in the city’s history. Richard M. Daley was the son of the legendary machine boss, Mayor Richard J. Daley, who had presided over the city during the post–World War II urban crisis. Richard M. Daley led a period of economic restructuring after that difficult era by building a vibrant tourist economy. Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd focus on Richard M. Daley’s role in transforming Chicago’s economy and urban culture. The construction of the "city of spectacle" required that Daley deploy leadership and vision to remake Chicago’s image and physical infrastructure. He gained the resources and political power necessary for supporting an aggressive program of construction that focused on signature projects along the city’s lakefront, including especially Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Museum Campus, Northerly Island, Soldier Field, and two major expansions of McCormick Place, the city’s convention center. During this period Daley also presided over major residential construction in the Loop and in the surrounding neighborhoods, devoted millions of dollars to beautification efforts across the city, and increased the number of summer festivals and events across Grant Park. As a result of all these initiatives, the number of tourists visiting Chicago skyrocketed during the Daley years. Daley has been harshly criticized in some quarters for building a tourist-oriented economy and infrastructure at the expense of other priorities. Daley left his successor, Rahm Emanuel, with serious issues involving a long-standing pattern of police malfeasance, underfunded and uneven schools, inadequate housing opportunities, and intractable budgetary crises. Nevertheless, Spirou and Judd conclude, because Daley helped transform Chicago into a leading global city with an exceptional urban culture, he also left a positive imprint on the city that will endure for decades to come.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2016

Reviews

[Harrison · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you build it (Millennium Park), they (the authors) will cum

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a decent overview of Daley's tenure as mayor of Chicago. The organization could be better as it repeats itself sometimes and at times awkwardly bounces from modern Chicago to the era of Daniel Burnham. It's a bit short (barely over 200 pages of text), but still has maybe too much background info in it.

OK, so it's not a perfect book, but it's still a good overview. It argues that Daley's successes and failures as mayor stemmed from his vision of Chicago. He knew it the one mighty industrial metropolis needed to be invented for a post-industrial age, and Daley seized at making the city attractive for tourism, culture, and leisure. In doing so, he mirrored patterns going on in other cities in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Much of what he wanted got done, and Daley received high marks for most of his reign, but later on critics became more numerous. They criticized Daley's process at getting what he wanted (the Miegs Field airport fandango served as a turning point for many due to his high handed ways there) and the cost over runs and corruption involved in many of his projects. They criticized the results, as the city's finances got worse and worse and Daley resorted to selling off public assets to makeup for budget shortfalls. By the end, people were even criticizing Daley's overall strategy, saying that the focus on the lakefront and entertainment was just "Bread and Circus" for the city. Sure, Chicago was prettier, but it was also poorer. Some benefited from the changed, but an awful lot did not.

Daley liked to portray himself and his policies as the heirs to Daniel Bunrham's Chicago Plan. Both focused heavily on the Lakefront. The Office of Special Events went from a budget of $330,000 in 1981 to $25,000,000 in 2005. Daley revitalized Navy Pier and it was an instant success. McCormick Place was renovated and enlarged. Twice. Northerly Island was built up (and why Miegs was killed off). Millennium Park had cost overruns (original budget: $150 million. Reality: $500 million), but was also a huge success. Chicago's Shakespeare Theater went up on the Pier, as did a Ferris Wheel, indoor botanical garden, and IMAX, among other things. The Arie Crown Theater was renovated. The Museum Campus was opened in 1998. Plans to expand O'Hare were killed by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Soldier Field was renovated and its location kept to fit into the overall lakefront/downtown scheme. Daley had to work with private donors for much of this, but he was happy to do so for the most part. There was an anti-gentrification backlash by Millennium Park.

To do all this, Daley needed a broad coalition. He quickly earned a reputation as an effective manager and someone willing to engage in reform. He won over the business community, who liked him (including guys like Bruce Rauner). He appointed Hispanics and blacks to offices, and won a key ally in Rep. Luis Guiterrez at the outset of his tenure. He became the first mayor to lead a Gay Pride Parade in 1989. He had critics, especially from the black community, but was also known for frequenting minority areas. The gentrified areas were also on board with him.

There were scandals: hiring scandals, bribes to trucking companies, and people didn't like the behind-the-taxpayers'-backs method of getting Soldier Field renovated. Daley was increasingly impatient with critics the longer he was mayor. (The book doesn't mention his odd comments when Oprah announced the end of her show). The critics got louder later on, after the $1.83 billion Skyway deal in 2005 and especially after the $1.16 billion deal for 75 years of downtown parking in 2008 - a deal whose money was used up almost all right away. He failed at getting the Olympics. His approval rating by 2009 was just 35%. He decided to leave. The city's economy was fragile and the murder rate rising (more murders in a year than NYC a little after he left office).

Early on, he actually lessened the influence of clout (well, that's what the book says) and increasing qualifications for city payroll hiring. He privitized city service, against union oppoisition. He had a reputation for professionalism and efficiency, though that fell later on. 12 aldermen were convicted during his tenure, with a 13th dying before his trial. The hired truck scandal broke in 2004 (described on page 154 here) and that led to questions of how city hall operated. One estimate had it that corruption cost the city a half-billion dollars a year. In a desposition over concerns about the Millennium Park outdoor grill deal, Daley said he "didn't recall" 139 times. There was a police brutality scandal dealing with Police Commander John Burges that could cost the city $120 million in lawsuits by the time it's all done. The police basically blow off brutality complaints. In 1999, just 4.8% of all public brutality complaints resulted in action against the officer. By 2002, it was 2.3%, and down to 0.5% in 2004. Filing complaints against the police seems to be just PR, nothing meaningful. This is a city that led to the Laquan McDonald murder in 2014.

Daley fought to tear down the big public housing areas. Everyone agreed those buildings were disasters, but some wondered what would come next for those disposed. Daley took power over the schools, and reformed them, though the results of school reform are questionable. Business supported his education proposals, as they could profit from them. But a 2011 study showed no significant improvement in the Renaissance 2010 schools (that fit with the No Child Left Behind model). Daley claimed that his housing and education reforms brought back the middle class to Chicago. And here's a question for you: how do you handle big cities now? Yes, gentrification can lead to greater class division, but it surely beats out-and-out city disinventment (see Detroit or Gary) which ultimately sucks for everyone. But Daley's educational reforms were still tilted to the high achievers and middle class.

Is it all just bread and circus? Life in the 21st century shows you really can't trust business leaders to look after a local community's civic/political interests. They assume you must compete internationally on this entertainment/tourism model and thug become cavalier with taxpayer money as they do it. All that money on sports stadiums (or convention centers) and ultimately it's implausible that they're all good ideas. If everyone is taking the same approach, there is a law of diminishing returns. We may now be entering a new era with more emphasis on social justice. The post-Ferguson era marked by people like DeBlasio in NYC (and, oddly, the book draws similarities to Rahm Emmanuel and DeBlasio. Really, book?)

Random note: the book never mentions Trump Tower. Probably should've.

[Alex MacMillan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book on a CTA ride to Millennium Park, where I enjoyed the Grant Park Orchestra's free performance of a Chopin concerto at the Pritzker Pavilion. Mayor Daley made my experience that night possible, and this book was a fitting match for the occasion. I've recently moved to Chicago and took this off the shelf of a local library to familiarize myself with Daley's transformation of the lakefront and its amenities, which I intend to take full advantage of while I live here. The book does a respectable job of providing an evenhanded condensation of the political history of the city that I would have obtained if I had been a loyal Chicago Tribune subscriber during Daley's tenure.

[Kevin McAvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable account of the 2nd Daley's 20 plus years as Mayor of Chicago. I do believe he turned his back on the poor and homeless and focused on pleasing the middle and upper classes of citizen. So much affordable housing was destroyed and what took it's place? Convention centres and a giant shiny bean. Yes a stunning disney-like lakefront but 2 blocks over the real Chicago is dying. This book covers these important topics.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read, interesting info, but it became repetitive and kind of slowly ran out of gas. Recommend for Chicago lovers.