The Tribune, along with the entire Chicago business community, should be lamenting, not celebrating Sears` move to the suburbs. First, Sears shuttered its sprawling warehouse on the West Side, leaving an already struggling community poorer and jobless. Next, they abandoned their State Street store. Now, in one, final, crushing blow they prepare to leave the world`s tallest building. To add insult to injury, the citizens and taxpayers of Illinois have financed this extravagant move. It remains to be seen if the state will ever see a return on its investment.
How many workers can afford to move? Who is going to pay the price for all the people who will have to go on unemployment and welfare due to their inability to commute to the boonies for their jobs?
Sears and other companies that make up corporate America have left our cities holding the bag. They have turned their backs on the people who have provided them with years of dedicated service. In essence, they continue to chip away at the American Dream.
What companies fail to realize is that their flight from cities will only help to worsen urban problems. Sears has left behind a giant, hulking, ugly monolith of a building. The suburbs prosper while the city continues to die a slow, agonizing death.
