As the Convention Nears, Chicagoans Wonder: Will It Be a Nuisance or a Party?

CHICAGO — Workers rushed around in the shadow of the hulking United Center on Chicago’s Near West Side this week, planting flowers, spreading mulch, erecting tents and hoisting metal barricades.

Mattie Teague was watching it all with a frown from across the street. Standing in the hydrangea-lined courtyard of the halfway house where she works as a case manager, she said that a leaflet left at the facility had just delivered news: The block where she leaves her car would soon be cordoned off for security.

“It’s good that they brought the convention to Chicago,” she said. “But they could have done a little better with our parking.”

The Democratic National Convention will soon descend on Chicago, ready to meet the gripes, excitement and reservations of locals. No city has hosted more national political conventions, and Chicago is used to putting on giant events like the Lollapalooza music festival, a NASCAR race and St. Patrick’s Day parades. But the city is bracing for an influx of some 50,000 visitors — and worldwide media scrutiny — when the four-day convention begins Monday.

Chicagoans have many questions.

Could traffic go from bad to worse? Might the city’s famed but inconsistent L trains actually start running on time? Will downtown be a tangle of angry protests?

Will the convention be a nuisance, or a party?

“I’m so excited because I think the city’s prepared,” said Timmy Knudsen, a City Council member who represents a lakefront ward on the North Side, pointing out that safety planning from city officials and law enforcement has been underway for more than a year.

Something else has changed in recent days, he said.

While many residents of this Democratic-dominated city were loudly grumbling about the convention when President Joe Biden was still in the race, some of them say the mood has changed since Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee.

“The story has shifted from, ‘Can Chicago handle this?’ to ‘This is Kamala Harris’ convention,’” Knudsen said.

Last-minute preparations for the convention are visible downtown, in the West Loop and the Near West Side, where the evening speeches will be held.

In the Loop, pillars on the platform at an L stop on Lake Street were freshly painted white last week. Cracked sidewalks downtown have been patched. Lampposts on State Street have been festooned with vertical banners cheerily welcoming visitors to the convention.

John Roberson, the city’s chief operating officer, said that the Blue Line L station at Chicago O’Hare International Airport — an entry point for visitors — has been spruced up, including a fresh coat of paint.

“It even smells great now,” he said.

On the Near West Side, where thousands will journey each evening for convention speeches at the United Center, the neighborhood is busy making final touches.

Just days ago, a new L stop opened on the Green Line, a modern, soaring station of glass and metal with lime green accents a few blocks from the United Center.

“Looks like it was rush, rush to get that done,” said Eulas Arrington, 35, a West Side resident, as he walked nearby.

Arrington, who grew up in a now-demolished housing project that faced the United Center, said he hopes that visitors come away with an opinion of Chicago that reflects reality, not what they might see in the media.

“They only look at the gang violence,” he said. “But that’s not Chicago. It’s just a peaceful place with nice people and good food.”

Bernadine Davis, 67, a retired state employee, said she was anticipating some headaches near her home, only a few blocks from the convention arena.

She planned to bike or walk during the convention week instead of trying to navigate traffic in her car. In the evenings, she said, she hoped to be joining the convention from her living room, watching speeches on television.

“I’ll be tuning in and watching Kamala,” Davis said. “It’s all about the strength of a woman, happening here in Chicago, and that’s a beautiful thing.”

Many Chicagoans say they plan to stay away from wherever the convention-goers will be.

Employees at several companies with offices downtown and in the West Loop have been told they can work from home next week to avoid potential headaches with traffic or crowds.

Some families are decamping for Wisconsin or Michigan for the week, trading the convention fuss for a last few days of vacation before children go back to school.

Chicago Public Schools pushed its first day of school to Aug. 26, though most teachers and other staff members will be working in school buildings beginning Monday.

While the media have regularly invoked comparisons to the 1968 Democratic convention, when Chicago police officers clashed with demonstrators in parks, business owners were thinking more of 1996, the last time that Chicago hosted a political convention.

That one was a huge boon for the city’s economy, recalled Pete Berghoff, whose family has owned the historic Berghoff restaurant in Chicago’s Loop since 1898. Berghoff said he has had plenty of bookings for next week, including requests for parties that he couldn’t accommodate because they were larger than the restaurant’s capacity.

But he was concerned by reports that restaurant business was lackluster in Milwaukee last month, when the Republicans held their convention.

“The worst-case scenario is that the DNC comes in, has their convention, lives within that six-block radius or around their hotels, and doesn’t really get around downtown,” Berghoff said. “I hope they’re out and about downtown, and we’re going to prepare as if they are.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .