Chicago Is Being Amazonified

[Judi Lynn]

BY
PAT GAROFALO

Chicago recently made headlines for turning public parks space over to Amazon package lockers. But those lockers are only one example of Amazon and public officials using public-private “partnerships” to give away public resources and harm communities.



Thanks to a deal Amazon cut with Chicago’s parks department, 49 Amazon lockers were recently deployed in public parks. (Photo courtesy Rossana Rodriguez)


Residents of Chicago who went for a stroll in a local park recently might have come upon an unexpected obstruction: an Amazon locker partially blocking their path. Thanks to a deal Amazon cut with the city’s parks department, forty-nine Amazon lockers — where customers can pick up and leave packages — were deployed in public parks, with another fifty-three planned for future placement.

Parkgoers and local lawmakers quickly revolted against the private co-option of public space. The outrage increased after the nonprofit news organization Block Club Chicago used a public records request to reveal that the city would receive, at most, $137,600 in payment from Amazon, which made a $7.8 billion profit last quarter alone.

“Amazon should not be occupying public space regardless of what they offer but we have to note that 137K is a slap in the face,” tweeted Chicago alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez. Amid the outcry, Amazon removed the lockers and halted deployment of others, pending the results of a project review.

This incident is emblematic of two trends, neither of which are good for taxpayers or local communities: Amazon’s increasing use of public resources to entrench its monopoly, and Illinois and Chicago’s reliance on public-private “partnerships” that result in public costs and privatized benefits.

More:
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/09/amazon-chicago-lockers-park-lori-lightfoot

[CrispyQ]

1. I would be pissed to find one of these on a trail I used.

A huge corporation that doesn't pay taxes hijacking our Commons. Also, people are going to block the path while they load & unload those lockers. If bikes are allowed on this path, it's even worse. What a stupid fucking idea!

$137,600 from space-man.

[brush]

2. Why what could possibly go wrong?

Last edited Sat Sep 4, 2021, 04:35 PM - Edit history (1)

Guess no one ever heard of porch pirates, or people following delivery vehicles to see where they drop off packages.

And the space behind that bank of lockers is big enough for someone to hide behind.

But that's just me.

[mopinko]

5. no. that's what everyone is saying.

nobody wants to use this thing.

[brush]

7. What do you mean no? That's what Im saying.

Did you even read my post, not just the headline? And does the headline even need a sarcasm gif?

[mopinko]

10. you said it's just you. it's not.

everyone's reaction is that this is stupid.

and no, i didnt read they link. i already read a couple of other stories. it's my city.

[brush]

11. You do get the sarcasm though, right? I'm not advocating for the boxes.

[bamagal62]

3. Very disappointing.

[Shermann]

4. What an eyesore nt

[2naSalit]

6. I wonder how long it will be...

Until someone knocks one over or blows one up.

[frazzled]

8. They've already been removed from 2 parks

due to public outcry. I’m guessing more may be yanked as the public becomes aware. It’s such a stupid, boneheaded mistake from the Park District and Mayor Lightfoot. It doesn’t even generate much money. Worse, it opens the parks to commercial intrusion.

I hate Amazon.

[2naSalit]

9. +1

I refuse to use Amazon for anything, I won't even open their web site. Amazon is poison.

[hermetic]

12. I refuse to use Amazon, as well.

There are alternatives

[hermetic]

13. In my town

They have one of those boxes set up outside of the grocery store. Makes sense to me. Not likely to get mugged there, big parking lot and you can drive right up. I'm sure there are tons of places in Chicago that could be done. Just not in freaking parks, ffs.

[argyl]

14. These monster companies should be broken up. Bell worked a damn sight better when it was run locally

And some of these social sites should be flat done away with.
Amazon, Apple have at least one thing in common. Horrible service. I've tried contacting Amazon and been directed to a place called Just Answer and even LinkedIn. The largest company in the world and this is how they handle legit issues.
Getting someone to actually talk to is about impossible. It's usually just tap, tap, tapping your questions and they take the attitude you should know this, instead of being a customer with a legit beef. They can be and are often quite rude.
A couple of semesters of Community College and they fancy themselves computer engineers. They're not, far from it.
I guess a little more voice communication for a company operating on a shoestring budget is too expensive. I've read it's not accidental, that kind of piss poor service makes you say "Why bother?"

Horrible companies, particularly Amazon. I had Amazon Music about a year ago; 1,000's of tunes and good money paid for a lot of them and my tunes just vanished. Didn't bother to help, sure as hell didn't apologize.

They can kindly kiss my ass.

[fwvinson]

15. Yes, but, I worked for a while at a large customer service site.

The customers calling in were extremely angry, most of the time, when they call. But, I could fix their problem in just a few minuets, mostly. Then they were happy. A very few had to go into the more technical dept. then they fixed their problem.

[argyl]

16. You were one of the good ones.

I've had way too much experience having to deal with these silly dweebs. And I've always started out being very polite until I quickly realized these simpering little fools think I'm some doddering old fool for not knowing what these fucks do all day. And you're right, I do get plenty pissed by being treated by some smirking fool like I'm some brainless old fart.

And when I had to use a computer for work it was basically the Office Suite. I could type just fine, was a whiz on Excel, and could put together a Power Point graph.

I have a Masters Degree in Environmental Sciences as well as a Bachelors in Biochemistry. I worked 35 years in having a hand in cleaning wastewater and making it potable to discharge into creeks. I tallied the results of what went out; about .55 trillion gallons over the years. Also worked about five years cleaning toxic sediment sludge such as lead, nickel, and cadmium from some of the most polluted, from mining, of some of the most polluted rivers in the Mountain West.

That's important, vital work requiring education and technical skill and often working in some very physically demanding conditions as well as miserable weather.

DU consists of so many capable people who have done more in their careers than I've done with mine.
But to hear the smirk in some squeaky voiced kid's voice as he's sitting in some cubicle treating me like an old dinosaur does tend to piss one off.