WI: Chicago becomes global city on par with NYC/London

mlp

With a POD in 1900, make Second City's economic/financial power grow even further than its OTL heights and make them a true global city. Screwing NYC or London is not accepted.
Possible ideas:
  • High-speed railway becomes developed over highways in the US, leading to Chicago's railway infrastructure being put to good use
  • Natural gas and shale becomes predominant energy source in the US, with deposits in the Michigan basin processed/used in Chicago
  • Major North American airlines use Chicago as the airline hub, along with airplane production becoming done mainly in Chicago
 

TRH

Chicago is an airline hub already, complete with a perennial contender for busiest airport in the world, so that's clearly not enough.

Now, Chicago was actually the fifth biggest city in the world in 1900, so there was a period when this arguably was the case. As for what would be needed to keep it at those heights...well, I think it really needs a better climate or to be closer to the coasts, which just isn't possible.
 

BlondieBC

Banned
I think you need it to be the USA capitol, so this is quite hard this late. So the USA and UK get into a war before WW1. UK burns Washington yet again. USA conquers Canada. The interim USA capitol of Chicago is made the replacement capitol. USA maybe burns Toronto to the ground in retaliation, and if fit of anger, bans rebuilding Toronto.
 

Don Draper

BlondieBC said:
I think you need it to be the USA capitol, so this is quite hard this late. So the USA and UK get into a war before WW1. UK burns Washington yet again. USA conquers Canada. The interim USA capitol of Chicago is made the replacement capitol. USA maybe burns Toronto to the ground in retaliation, and if fit of anger, bans rebuilding Toronto.
Click to expand...

The best way to go about making Chicago the capital of the US is to have a Reds! type socialist/communist revolution in the early 20th century.
 

Dunning Kruger

zeppelinair said:
With a POD in 1900, make Second City's economic/financial power grow even further than its OTL heights and make them a true global city. Screwing NYC or London is not accepted.
Possible ideas:
  • High-speed railway becomes developed over highways in the US, leading to Chicago's railway infrastructure being put to good use
  • Natural gas and shale becomes predominant energy source in the US, with deposits in the Michigan basin processed/used in Chicago
  • Major North American airlines use Chicago as the airline hub, along with airplane production becoming done mainly in Chicago
Click to expand...

Chicago is a major rail hub for not just coal and other goods but also gas and shale. It's also a major center for refineries - see Gary, Indiana.
 

Dunning Kruger

Your best bet is to have either the auto industry (screwing detroit) or tech industry (U of Chicago and Northwestern over Stanford and Berkeley). Otherwise, Chicago fits the bill of a global city - it just isnt...
 

Dunning Kruger

Funny joke I saw - I think it was on deadspin and called why your city sucks. For Chicago, it said you think your a global city but then you go around comparing yourself to Milwaukee, St. Louis, and De Moines...
 
Owltiger

Owltiger

Ok, here are some thoughts off the top of my head.

1893, Chicago hosts the World's Columbia Exposition. Since this is a great boon to science (Westinghouse demonstrates the marvels of electricity). Chicago becomes the Menlo Park of the world. The University's begin to unite creating one of the largest technical centers of the world....Have to think about this a bit.
 
Simon

Simon

Dunning Kruger said:
Your best bet is to have either the auto industry (screwing Detroit)...
Click to expand...
Could potentially do more harm than good, just look at Detroit. In the past I have considered having a fourth automobile company, an American Motors that does better than our timeline, be based in Chicago on the theory that it would provide a boost yet not so distort the local economy as to effectively turn it into a monotown.


... or tech industry (University of Chicago and Northwestern over Stanford and Berkeley). Otherwise, Chicago fits the bill of a global city - it just isn't...
Click to expand...
You might be better off looking at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. They rank highly in computer sciences both for undergraduates and graduate students, they've done a lot of interesting research over their years, plus their list of alumni - those who graduated as well as didn't - is pretty decent.
 

Dunning Kruger

Simon said:
You might be better off looking at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. They rank highly in computer sciences both for undergraduates and graduate students, they've done a lot of interesting research over their years, plus their list of alumni - those who graduated as well as didn't - is pretty decent.
Click to expand...

Too far away. Boston, SF, Austin, LA, and Seattle (the major tech hubs) all benefit from having a major university right there. Having U of I helps for recruiting but there's not cross pollination when you are that far away. No, U of Chicago and Northwestern are the bets.
 

Obergruppenführer Smith

Banned
Frankly, you have to screw Wall Street for this. Chicago has CBOT and the Merc, but it was NYSE that truly cemented New York's dominance in the financial world. Perhaps the Chicago gang makes their own national securities exchange while NYSE is denied such registration during the Great Depression, thus forcing a move from Wall Street to the Loop.
 

GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
Obergruppenführer Smith said:
. . . Chicago has CBOT and the Merc, . . .
Click to expand...
Play off the Chicago Board of Trade [commodity market]. For example, maybe early in the 1900s Chicago develops a "small cap" market. These days, small cap means the company is capitalized at between $300 million and $2 billion. Holy Cow! But that's the current definition. Of course, in the 1910s or so, that would be a lot less.

And give Chicago one other thing, maybe a higher trajectory AMC. (and Mitt's dad can still be the company's CEO!)
 
Last edited:

GeographyDude

Gone Fishin'
Simon said:
. . . having a fourth automobile company, an American Motors that does better than our timeline, be based in Chicago on the theory that it would provide a boost yet not so distort the local economy as to effectively turn it into a monotown. . .
Click to expand...
Definitely thinks this has some real possibility. :)

And then, as you suggest, maybe Chicago zigs when it's time to zig and starts getting into computers early to mid '70s and really ramps up in the early '80s.
 

Butchpfd

UK decides to work with the U.S. and build the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1900, and to compliment that The Corp s of Engineers, builds the locks on the Illinois River and Mississippi river larget and the channels deeper. Also no post WW I prohibition.
 
SealTheRealDeal

SealTheRealDeal

zeppelinair said:
With a POD in 1900, make Second City's economic/financial power grow even further than its OTL heights and make them a true global city. Screwing NYC or London is not accepted.
Possible ideas:
  • High-speed railway becomes developed over highways in the US, leading to Chicago's railway infrastructure being put to good use
  • Natural gas and shale becomes predominant energy source in the US, with deposits in the Michigan basin processed/used in Chicago
  • Major North American airlines use Chicago as the airline hub, along with airplane production becoming done mainly in Chicago
Click to expand...
Something like the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement emerges much sooner than OTL and the Illinois and Michigan Canal becomes a bustling trade route as Canadian resources make their way down to the gulf in river barges.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top