So, can anybody give me the super simplified version of where the Bears stand with a new stadium?
Short Version: I live close to the AH site and have friends/neighbors involved in the local governments dealing with the AH site. 9-12 months ago the consensus was 50/50 for the Bears moving to AH. The last 6 months or so the consensus has been "isn't going to happen".
Longer Version: Here's one example of the disconnect between the Bears and AH. AH gets their water from the Northwest Water Commission (AH/Buffalo Grove/Wheeling/Palatine), which pipes in water from Evanston (Lake Michigan). What was adequate infrastructure for the local area is now inadequate if there will be a massive development that needs to support over 100,000 more people at a time. So the question then becomes who will pay to build new underground water pipes to bring this extra water in which will cost millions if not tens of millions. You can extend this to every level of infrastructure. The Bears want the government to fund these sorts of things and the governments aren't playing along. This also runs against the public statements from the Bears that they are fine funding the stadium themselves. Today, AH only happens if the Bears open their checkbook.
Also, the Bears plan involves a TIF district which freezes their property taxes at the current level. Just going from a $3M to $15M property tax bill it is clear why the Bears would fight this, but also because they want the really low value frozen for up to 23 years. Which is really hundreds of millions of current/future taxes being fought over.
Personal View: There are like 3 million people who live in Kane, Dupage, McHenry, and Lake counties plus suburban northern cook county. For these people getting to AH is easier than going downtown. Even if you're in Will County, it might be easier to get to AH. I do want the stadium built in AH just because it is close to where I live. But I also know that these stadium projects never bring in the promised economic gains and it would be foolish for taxpayers (me) to fund the massive project with all of the recurring added costs to make the Bears rich. This is also an upper middle class area so the jobs a stadium would bring aren't in highest demand compared to the city. Plus, I live out here because I want to live in a suburban area and not an urban area, so it isn't a big loss that the area isn't heavily urbanized if this falls through.