It's not "entitled" to be against things that negatively impact oneself and don't provide any benefit. I think skepticism of expansion in the name of progress or to make it easier for companies to make profits without contributing back to the communities they negatively affect with their growth is reasonable. Particularly in Chicago, where capital investment in infrastructure at the expense of the communities they displace has a history of entrenching social and political problems (for example, Lake Shore Drive cutting off the lakefront, the Eisenhower, Edens, and Kennedy expressways demolishing communities and segregating what's left). Building things up is not always a net good.
Twenty years ago, they decided to bulldoze a community to relieve ORD's growing traffic instead of investing in the Peotene airport. And now, there is nowhere left for ORD to grow. There's nowhere for Midway to grow. If we've accepted that Chicago is a hub for air traffic, it needs to go somewhere that can handle it - and the choices are the south suburban project (for which the land is already secured, and there's political support from the state, feds, and local government), or the Dupage airport. There's less money and interest involved in the latter. The other choices are Rockford, Gary, and Milwaukee - all of which have stagnated as passenger and cargo destinations.
Expanding ORD is a political fight between DuPage and Cook county, and the only city that's truly in favor of it is Chicago and Cook County - because they're not impacted by it, and they get the gate fees and sales taxes at the terminals. Meanwhile, Will County is inviting the development, and they need it! The south suburbs have stagnated for decades, and could use the investment. The western suburbs and near west side don't need more air traffic. Particularly when the growth the airlines want is not to ferry more passengers into the area, but to move them through to other destinations, and to handle more cargo.
And it's not just "entitled" suburbanites that are against expansion at O'Hare. United and American have said they want the expansion of Terminal 2 and the O'Hare 21 project halted because the increased gate fees that fund it are making it uneconomical to use ORD as a hub. When even the market rejects expansion, we need to look to alternatives - and the south suburban airport is the best candidate, particularly for cargo.
What I'm saying is that this isn't rampant pork barrel spending, or "coddling" people who have no idea what they're talking about. It's our elected government listening to what their constituents want without caving to industry demands, or the tax priorities of a singular community. Keep in mind, half of the population of metroland Chicago isn't in the city. They have voices that should be heard too.