Will Chicago’s neighborhoods shine?
Upside: Chicago proves itself to be a model city by demonstrating that it's possible to embrace free expression while maintaining safety and civility.
Downside: Protests turn violent or aggressive and people remember '68 and the pandemic/Floyd demonstrations, cementing a rep that Chicago is an out-of-control city with bullying police.
Upside: safe, smooth convention and an emerging vision of an advancing West Side validate the notion that homegrown interventions are working, and that Chicago is a leading laboratory of progressive solutions.
Downside: Community violence spills into view and Donald Trump's depiction of Chicago as lawless and violent looks less like a politically motivated caricature.
