Which schools have gangs?????

[gardener34]

Lots of these gangs have been around for years - I remember friends who lived in Northlake, Maywood and Bellwood talking about the L-Kings and the disciples 25 years ago when I was in high school. (If you are really that anxious - you could always send your kid to private/parochial schools).
I live in the fox valley and I have never heard of anything bad regarding west chicago either.

[rasman]

I have lived in Elgin for five years now without experiencing a single gang incedent. There is minor gang activity in Elgin, but it is greatly under control with police doing a great job. My children have gone to elgin schools and have had no problems with gangs. Elgin is under gioing significant growth and revitalization. City services are beyond compare. People who have issues with Elgin have not visited recently or just don't like diversity. Because of these people, great deals can still be found in Elgin (but not for much longer)

Keep in mind, like chicago, Elgin has very nice neibhorhoods and some not so nice. A good local realtor can show you around.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by donbo50

Please be advised that we, over 50 adults, have lived in the unincorporated area of West Chicago, north of North Avenue between Wayne and Bartlett in Oak Meadows for 16 years. Have never seen a gang member or even know anyone here who has. Our neighborhood is wonderful and safe. Taxes are much more reasonable than in the bigger cities around us. We are in an area that has close shopping in St. Charles on one side, Bloomingdale on the other, two train stations to choose from and a prairie path nearby. A golf course right across the highway is a plus too. What more do you want?
I take offense when people use names of towns in terms of a downgrade. Each city and town in the suburbs has a "bad side of town". Everyone knows that but won't admit it. Sort of like using names as a status symbol. That gets very old. I say, go where you are comfortable and can afford that city's cost of living.

That part of West Chicago is nice, Ill give you that. But head south of Main and its basically mini-Mexico, and they once had a BIG problem with gangs. Heck, on Clayton Street alone, there were 9 drive-by shootings in one year alone!!!! Whats completely ironic is that those apartment complexes are RIGHT NEXT TO THE PD!!!!!!! Latin Kings, Ambrose, S-D's, G-D's, etc, etc. were BIG in the early 90s. But like I mentioned, the city did a wonderful job on cracking down. I grew up in West Chicago, alot further south than you, I was in the middle of it all. Sure it wasnt horrible, but gangs were definitely there. Noone was using names to downgrade, just pointing out towns with schools that had gang problems, and yes, West Chicago was definitely one of them.

[Joe107]

Towns with Gang problems usually have high crime rates. Check the city data crime index to compare.

[gardener34]

Exception: towns with big malls - the big malls skew the crime rates sometimes.

[Mainmast]

I grew up here in the Fox Valley and there is a significantly higher gang presence in those cities, South Elgin included. In the late 80's early 90's I know for a fact that Elgin had 400 active gang members with Aurora being close to 1k. Anything north of Carpentersville along the Fox River has been pretty much free of gang activity. Schaumburg has great schools and gang presence is almost non-existent but, it's here too. I stumbled on this forum because my son reported a stolen bike. He is concerned to say the least because the kid that he reported supposedly turned out to be a GDZ gang member and has threatened him. I seriously hope this blows over. I would think less of it if I hadn't met the police in front of the kids house. There were 20-25 teens there that looked the part, to put it nicely.

[homewifeev]

Try Evanston is pretty safe with the former police commisioner there. Darryl Pickett was just an unusual wierd incident and it has the city on edge.