For a hustling Chicago, the Democratic National Convention is all in a day's work

Chicagoans can be hard to impress. That applies even to an occasion infused with intrigue and involving the nation’s highest office — the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

On the one hand, the city is doing everything it can to present a well-scrubbed face for the four-day TV show. Security and traffic plans have been in the works, a progressive City Hall has cleared out a homeless camp to thwart prying TV eyes, and city crews are lavishing attention on streets that delegates are likely to encounter.

“You can tell a lot of work is going on. The sidewalks are getting fixed,” said Michael Edwards, president and CEO of the Chicago Loop Alliance, promoter of downtown business.

Civic boosters see it all as worthwhile because the convention is a bonanza of free media exposure for the Democratic Party and Chicago. The hope is that coverage from an expected 15,000 media attendees will resound in corporate boardrooms and yield more business relocations and conventions in the years ahead.

It's undeniably big — for the country and Chicago’s pride. But viewed another way, it’s a slice of everyday life. In some places, the "City of Big Shoulders" shrugs over the DNC, even business owners who count on it to fatten their bank accounts.

Sam Toia, head of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said Chicago members likely to see convention spillover are approaching it as a week’s worth of busy weekend days, especially of prime tourist spots such as The Gage or Gibsons.

Recalling the 1996 Democratic convention, Toia said some restaurants will stay open later for increased business after 10 p.m. He said that while the windfall is welcome, the restaurant industry has been dealing with tough times due to inflation and higher wages, including the 16% increase in Chicago’s minimum wage for tipped workers that took effect July 1.

Many operators have bitter memories of the riots that hit businesses following the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. They also point to alarming cases of crime in popular parts of the city, such as downtown or River North, as scaring off out-of-towners and suburbanites.

There are stubborn worries about unrest that the convention could bring. President Joe Biden’s late withdrawal from the race has magnified the partisan event's importance, possibly inviting protests.

Michelle Durpetti, managing partner of the Gene & Georgetti steakhouse, said the approach of the convention is “a little nerve wracking.” She said some restaurateurs are considering precautions such as keeping boards on hand in the event windows are busted.

But overall, “the DNC is the right thing to energize people and to get people into the city,” Durpetti said.

She said it’s not only crime, but traffic on the Kennedy Expressway and a still-reduced population of daytime office workers that have cut into business. Her advice to businesses is to be ready, but don’t over-prepare.

“We do expect a lot of chaos,” said Sam Sanchez, whose restaurants include Moe’s Cantina in River North and Wrigleyville. But he hopes for a good kind of chaos; he said he has booked four convention-related events.

“The business owners, they have no negativity when there are a lot of people. They are coming here to spend money,” he said.

For those not in the business of late-night events, the convention is less challenging.

“We just hope people show up here,” said Harlan Berk, proprietor of a Loop coin and antiques dealership, who would be happy if the Democratic assembly has a subset of numismatics.

Hotels are poised to rake in cash, but that’s what they’ve been doing the last couple of years as the pandemic subsided and leisure travel led a demand revival. Crowded downtown sidewalks attest to the drawing power of events such as Lollapalooza and the NASCAR Chicago Street Race.

Market data from research firm STR and Choose Chicago show average hotel occupancy is about 10% below pre-pandemic 2019, but operators have pushed room rates higher, allowing the city’s hotel tax collections to top that year’s level.

Chicago is a big-event town. While the DNC expects to draw 50,000 people, convention planners at McCormick Place can count nine events on the calendar that will draw about the same number or more.

Three weeks after the DNC, Chicago will host the six-day International Manufacturing Technology Show with an expected attendance of 110,000. It’s double the DNC attendance but minus the media horde.

Michael Jacobson, head of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, welcomes the DNC but isn’t blown away by it. “When it comes to the sheer size and scale of this event, this is what we do,” he said.

John Deere and Accenture are two employers who have told Chicago-based workers to stay away from the office during the DNC.

A Deere spokeswoman said the decision stemmed from “anticipated crowds and commuting challenges.” Other companies may do the same, but the effect may be hard to notice as office workers still don’t centralize like they once did.

The DNC’s promotional material stated the convention is expected to generate $150 million to $200 million for Chicago, a figure that’s supposed to be based on events of similar size.

Organizers have also provided media with a list of contacts from Chicago neighborhoods. One contact the DNC lists is Bernard Loyd, developer behind the Boxville market of small entrepreneurs on 51st Street near the Green Line. He’s planning a DNC-timed event celebrating Bronzeville culture but said he hasn’t had follow-up from convention officials.

“I have spoken to a number of colleagues. There is concern that we have seen very little activity” related to the DNC, he said. “That’s very disappointing given the level of support the Black community has given to the Democratic Party.”

When the convention ends, the skies over Chicago will whoosh with VIPs leaving town. The general hope is that it will be remembered as peaceful, profitable and with few trailing aggravations.

“Everybody’s a little nervous about this,” Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) said. “Nobody’s pulling their hair out though.”

The DNC’s exit will free up promoters to concentrate on other big revenue producers, such as a really coveted one late in the year.

No, it’s not Taylor Swift again. It’s the annual gathering of the Radiological Society of North America, scheduled Dec. 1-5, bringing in about 40,000 medical professionals with big bankrolls. They might carouse a little, but radiology provides no fodder for civil disobedience.