Chicago Urban Planners: Time to Switch to Eastern Time Zone

Maybe its the cool, rainy weather of the last couple days here in Chicago. I know the calendar says August 28... but it feels like the middle of fall. And the sun sets tonight at 7:31pm! What???? Where is my evening sunshine? Where did summer go?

I've lived in Chicago for over 6 years now, and I have a growing distaste for the Central Time Zone. Well, to be precise, I have an issue with Chicago's place within it.

For those who are geographically challenged, Chicago sits on the extreme eastern edge of the central time zone along the southwestern edge of Lake Michigan (you can view the above map). As such, Chicago enjoys early mornings, but then suffers from early evenings. This is frustrating in the summer, and damn shitty in the winter!

At some point in history, some city or state fathers got together and decided that the residents of northwestern Indiana who work in Chicago are inconvenienced by the fact that they live in one time zone, but work in another - even though their commute to work was only a 45 minute drive - and therefore something must be done about this. So the masterminds decided to amend the time zone line (previously the Illinois - Indiana state borders) and move the line east approximately 25 miles to accommodate the Indiana suburbs that service Chicago (again, see above map). Seems reasonable enough.

However, why keep it like that? Instead of moving the line 25 miles to the east to accommodate Indiana, why don't we instead shift the line about 25 - 50 miles WEST of the state line around Chicago's suburbs and exurbs and then put us ALL in the eastern time zone?

A small list of the benefits:

• Later daylight which everyone enjoys. No more leaving work in January at 5pm to a PITCH BLACK night.
• Greater energy efficiency - less time at night for appliances (lights, TVs, air conditioners, etc) to be running.
• Chicago's financial markets which are synced to New York and Boston markets will be on par working hours.
• Television listings would be less confusing.
• More daylight means sunnier dispositions (I'm sure a psychologist more qualified than me can substantiate this somehow).

The two biggest arguments I hear against this idea are these:

• Waking up to a darker morning is hard
• I don't want my children waiting for a school bus in the dark
• Nighttime sporting events will be on later, and I can't stay up!

These are valid arguments I suppose, but here are my thoughts on that:

Yes, waking up in the dark kinda sucks. But I think its a small price to pay for more daylight hours to enjoy your evening with.

Parents don't want their children going to school in the dark for fear of their safety. Valid concern. However, my argument to them would be: Is your child safer in the dark at 6am or 6pm? The criminal element is far less likely to be active at 6am than at 6pm. So, if we can keep the sun shining a little later in the day, my guess is crime might actually decrease (wild assumption, I'm sure. But the point is, you'll feel safer knowing your kids are coming home from school and soccer practice while the sun is still shining).

As far as the television argument, there used to be a time when this held water. However, in today's TiVo time shifting world, the actual timing of television broadcasts is far less important. I can only speak for myself, but 95% of the television I watch now are programs (shows, sporting events) which I recorded and am watching at a far more convenient time for me.

I'm sure I'm missing some other important reasons that support keeping the zone as is. I'd love to hear what they are. Please feel free to comment below what some of these issues are. I'd like to compile a real list of pros and cons for presentation to some deciding body some day.

That reminds me: Who would I even talk to about changing this? Who has the authority to make such a change? Any insight on this would be helpful as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen of Chicago, this would seem to me to require minor and simple change to accomplish - as simple as changing your clocks to daylight savings time...and the benefits would FAR exceed the negatives. Anybody with me?