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Forgot to mention that the stolen mail thief was my exhusband who used credit card applications to obtain credit cards in my name. Credit card fraud. He knew where I lived after our divorce and knew that I had good credit. So I don't know if that one counts? I could have lived in a very low crime rate area and he would have still stolen my mail.
Not everyone - - but some - - Chicago people have their own level of crime. I suppose one could generalize with this statement, for everyone and everywhere. If 'X' family is a decent family with no or very little personal history crime - - and if they have been attacked in certain areas of the city of Chicago - - then they have an interest in fleeing (moving) out to Chicago's suburbs. They have become frightened of their own Chicago (city) community. However, when long time residents of Chicago's suburbs spot this type of migration, then they also flee the close in suburbs in favor of further out western suburbs. When that happens, they leave behind expensive houses for some one else to buy. So why does that happen? One reason is that people migrate from Chicago taking their own level of crime with them. Perhaps 'X' family does not participate in violence - - murders, drugs, theft, gang wars etc. However, their own level of crime might be shop lifting or some other form of lesser crime. This type of people + crime migration is called the Domino Effect and is quietly increasing at a tremendous pace in the Chicago area suburbs.
Best Regards,
Carter Glass
A true deconstruction of this meandering post would take too long, so here's the basics:
1) Your perception of crime in Chicago is outdated. The crime rate in Chicago has been steadily improving over the last two decades. It isn't nearly as bad as it was in the 70s and 80s. Over a million middle-class people make this city their home, so it stands to reason that not everyone is afraid of their own neighborhoods.
2) There are numerous other reasons why people are "fleeing" to the suburbs, such as better public schools, more affordable real estate, more elbow room, and job opportunities what with so many corporations setting up shop out in the 'burbs these days.
3) Chicago's population actually increased between the 1990 and 2000 censuses, for the first time since the 1950 census. If people are fleeing from the city, evidently more people are fleeing to the city.
I think what you're describing is basically "White Flight." What I don't agree with is that the Flight is caused by a necessary or understandable removal of oneself from actual danger. I think what happens in most cases is that people see minorities moving into their neighborhood and assume crime, danger and lower property values will follow. Worse, if you got a few drinks in a lot of them, I bet many would admit that they are uncomfortable living around Them, believing that these individuals represent something that they are superior to. So they want to buy into a place more in keeping with what they feel they deserve, and, since their salaries often don’t quite reflect this superiority, they move far out.
During the past dozen years, I’ve lived in Lakeview, Lincoln Square, Logan Square, Uptown, Oak Park, and Berwyn. All of these would probably be considered undesirable areas per your theory in that they are in or right on top of the City and its perpetual attacks on one’s person. Yet, the only time that anything adverse ever happened to me was in Logan Square over a decade ago when I was attacked and chased by a group of teenagers, though I got away without injury. Instead of blaming that debacle on the City and moving out to Sycamore, I attributed it (correctly) to some random punks who didn't represent the City as a whole. The incident has not been repeated to date. I felt safe in all of these areas.
As you may be able to tell, I have serious issues with the whole white flight thing. For one, underlying it is a form of racism and/or misplaced elitism. For another, it's destroying the environment. For every new subdivision that pops up in a corn belt ex-burb, I see hundreds of thousands of additional gallons of fuel wasted per year (both in commuting and in the energy needed to build, heat, cool and maintain the mega homes being built to make these areas attractive), acres of rich farm land destroyed forever, and, worst of all, the perpetuation of the myths that keep Chicagoland one of the most segregated regions in the country.
Fortunately, as Drover points out, there has been a “back to the City” movement, and it's getting stronger and stronger as people rediscover the benefits of living in close communities with amenities and public transit within walking distance.
I left the burbs for the city in 92 and haven't looked back (okay there were a couple of years away to finish up school, I thought if I put myself in the middle of a corn field I'd be motivated to finish and move back, it worked). Not everyone goes from the city to the burbs.
As far as crime is concerned, other than being pick pocketed once and having my car broken into far too many times (in both good and bad neighborhoods), I've not had much problem with it.
That being said, I my purse stolen, car broken into, and have been hassled by gang-bangers and thugs in the suburbs as well (and given the suburbs I grew up in and around, gangs and crime just never seemed entirely an urban affair, I knew more than one kid in the s. burbs who had problems with both).
I've much preferred living in the city than the burbs, perhaps if I had lived in nicer burbs my opinion would be different, but I somehow doubt it.
Not everyone - - but some - - Chicago people have their own level of crime. I suppose one could generalize with this statement, for everyone and everywhere. If 'X' family is a decent family with no or very little personal history crime - - and if they have been attacked in certain areas of the city of Chicago - - then they have an interest in fleeing (moving) out to Chicago's suburbs. They have become frightened of their own Chicago (city) community. However, when long time residents of Chicago's suburbs spot this type of migration, then they also flee the close in suburbs in favor of further out western suburbs. When that happens, they leave behind expensive houses for some one else to buy. So why does that happen? One reason is that people migrate from Chicago taking their own level of crime with them. Perhaps 'X' family does not participate in violence - - murders, drugs, theft, gang wars etc. However, their own level of crime might be shop lifting or some other form of lesser crime. This type of people + crime migration is called the Domino Effect and is quietly increasing at a tremendous pace in the Chicago area suburbs.
Best Regards,
Carter Glass
I can tell you that while crime is a major factor as to why people flee their "inner ring" burbs, it is not the only reason. I will use my own example here. Orland Park is one of the best examples of people fleeing their million dollar homes for towns further out. Only about 20 years ago, Orland Park was a deselet suburb where farm tractors driving down La Grange Road was typically the root cause for traffic delays, and corn could be seen blowing back and forth on the horizon. Today tedious gridlock plagues the entire town on all of it's major thouroughfares daily causing people to sit in agonizing traffic back ups for 15-20 minutes just to drive 1 mile to get to their local grocier. Roads were never put in in the proper fashion to accomodate all the growth and today the village is scrambling to allocate funds for the roadway's much needed expansion. Problem is though that now businesses line the streets and mature trees have to be removed to make way for additional lanes making capacity increases on the roadways next to impossible or very costly.
The next problem exists in the town deciding in the 1970's to turn itself into a shopping mecca for the south side. While the malls are nice and create a great deal of tax dollars for the town, the traffic the malls create, makes living in the town from about Halloween to January 10th totally miserable. Traffic routinely backs up on major streets for as much as 3 miles, backing up through many of the smaller neighborhood intersections (Wheeler and 94th Avenue, 144th and La Grange Road, Ravinia and 151st Street, etc) creating more gridlock thus not even allowing one to enter or exit their own neighborhood without having to drive like a NY cab driver driving through mid-town Manhattan during rush hour.
Then the next aggravation to come into play is the sheer mass of the crowds everywhere you go now. It doesn't matter what restaurant you choose on a Friday or Saturday night in Orland Park. If it is between the hours of 5-9 PM you are going to wait anywhere you go, and in some cases wait over an hour just to get seated! Lines at stores are another aggravation. Due to the mass exodus of people out of the city to towns like Orland and Tinley Park, even the stores are over crowded forcing residents to have to wait in lines to check out somewhere for over 20 minutes many times. Then there comes the overcrowding at all the schools. While Orland and Tinley both are reknowned for their excellent school system, the system is not without it's troubles. Classrooms are overcrowded and hallways are jammed with kids during passing periods forcing the school district to build more schools or become more creative with it's hours of operation where kids are encouraged to get on programs like the work-study program allowing kids to leave school for work at noon therefore getting them out of the building to "lighten the load on the building" so to say.
And all of this listed above is just part of the problem with people flocking out of the city to the inner ring burbs, lets also not foget about all the "trash" that flees out of the city as well, and with it, all their problems just seem to follow them. Newbies begin to not take as good of care for their yards as original owners once did, bushes are left untrimmed, lawns uncut, junk cars can now be found on neighborhood streets, gangs walks the sidewalks, etc. Giving once posh neighborhoods, more of a look of being "in da hood".
So, to say that crime is typically the root cause for people to flee their once beloved towns, is partially correct. Sometimes towns become guilty of "building themselves out" or another words burning themselves out or others just loose their lure causing long time homowners to be drawn to newer areas thereby selling to once city dwellers and creating a spiraling down effect for remaining long time homeowners. Towns that once held a luster and were highly saught after become towns that are dreded to so much as drive into, much less live in. Orland Park with all of it's overcrowding can be a good example for future towns to learn from of "dont let this happen to you"
Fortunately, as Drover points out, there has been a “back to the City” movement, and it's getting stronger and stronger as people rediscover the benefits of living in close communities with amenities and public transit within walking distance.
I agree there has been a return to urban living being desirable. just look at all the cranes in the south loop if you needed any indication. i think what we're seeing is actually a reverse exodus taking place: wealthy, young people choosing the city over the suburbs. by the same token, the inner city poor which previously inhabited these areas are getting pushed out to the burbs.
in the end though, exburbs are not a sustainable way of living, no matter how you dice it. its always better to build up rather than out.
I agree there has been a return to urban living being desirable. just look at all the cranes in the south loop if you needed any indication. i think what we're seeing is actually a reverse exodus taking place: wealthy, young people choosing the city over the suburbs. by the same token, the inner city poor which previously inhabited these areas are getting pushed out to the burbs.
In about 20-40 years or so once this trend plays out, we'll probably have a demographic situation more similar to Paris, France. The core city (Chicago) will be a beautiful, historic city populated primarily by the upper-middle to upper class. The lower socioeconomic classes will be displaced to the surrounding suburbs.
And all of this listed above is just part of the problem with people flocking out of the city to the inner ring burbs, lets also not foget about all the "trash" that flees out of the city as well, and with it, all their problems just seem to follow them. Newbies begin to not take as good of care for their yards as original owners once did, bushes are left untrimmed, lawns uncut, junk cars can now be found on neighborhood streets, gangs walks the sidewalks, etc. Giving once posh neighborhoods, more of a look of being "in da hood".
So, to say that crime is typically the root cause for people to flee their once beloved towns, is partially correct. Sometimes towns become guilty of "building themselves out" or another words burning themselves out or others just loose their lure causing long time homowners to be drawn to newer areas thereby selling to once city dwellers and creating a spiraling down effect for remaining long time homeowners.
Good point that I didn't even touch on. People moving to the ex-burbs assume that there's some kind of dip**** forcefield around these places that will keep them safe from all the problems they fled. Trouble is that if homes in the new community are in or near the same price range as in the community they left, there's always the risk that the troubled persons they fled from will ultimately follow them. Troubled people are people too, of course, and don't necessarily attibute the decline of their neighborhood to themselves. They also move to escape and yes, sadly, their grief and misery usually does follow them. Of course, then, instead of addressing the problems, the first wave moves further out and so on and so forth.
Essentially, they're just buying time. The only way to avoid it with any kind of certainty is to buy into an area so expensive and established that only the upper brackets will ever be able to afford it; e.g. Winnetka, Hinsdale, Lake Forest, etc. Unfortunately, most people lack the means do to this, and the beat goes on.
Good point that I didn't even touch on. People moving to the ex-burbs assume that there's some kind of dip**** forcefield around these places that will keep them safe from all the problems they fled.
so true. some people just dont get it.
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