Brandon Johnson's uphill battle as Chicago's progressive mayor.

Chicago's downtown area is facing an existential crisis due to unused offices and empty retail storefronts, which is rooted in the pandemic and jarring changes in economic cycles. The situation is causing concern in the field of high finance because banks now have on their books more commercial property that's worth less than their mortgages. The incoming Mayor, Brandon Johnson, campaigned on investing in poor areas and narrowing the racial gaps in wealth and opportunity, but he'll find that tending to downtown will be high on the to-do list as it determines Chicago's business climate and raises much of the tax revenue for Johnson's menu of social programs.