Maywood, Illinois (Chicago, Aurora, Cicero: apartment, condos, crime)

[At1WithNature]

Originally Posted by potter

St. Charles Rd. from 13th-19th and Madison Ave. from 9th-17th Avenue.

And how do you know this?

j/k

[potter]

Originally Posted by At1WithNature

And how do you know this?

j/k

Cant really tell u- but just trust me.

[Lookout Kid]

Maywood is so completely void of non-black and upper income residents that it will have problems bouncing back. I think the Village of Maywood is close to 90% African American right now, and poverty is high. White Chicagoans and the middle class are scared to death to move there, and that will hold it back more than a suburb that has more of a mix of races and income levels. I think it will be the absolute last near-western suburb to see any improvement, assuming the area does improve some day due to the end of suburban sprawl.

Gentrification of bad city neighborhoods occurs because people are able to live there in spite of CPS. Maywood doesn't have the private school infrastructure for families or urban lifestyle that would attract young people and empty nesters.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Venom

I've read other topics on Maywood since I live here.
It's got a horrible rep.
So I want people to tell me everything they think on it.
Does it have any hope of getting better? Why did it it start getting bad?
How could it get better?

This is an example of a community that's probably gone too far into the Kohler Cadet. It's crime rate is 6,950/100k with 1,800 "index" crimes. Those are crimes that basically involve beating the crap out of someone, raping them, killing them, breaking into their home, or robbing them. To put this into some perspective, the much maligned (and decidedly un-gentrified) Cicero has a crime rate of 3,275/100k and 2,700 index crimes. Since Cicero has a population of 82k versus 25k in Maywood, that means you're more than twice as likely to be a victim of violent crime in Maywood than in Cicero. Katy bar the door.

So, think about it, if you're an urban pioneer, which are you going to pick? Maywood probably has a very long way to go before it sees any kind of mass improvement, if it ever will.

[Humboldt1]

I continue to be impressed with how River Forest Poilce are able to keep the riff raff from neighboring Maywood out.

I have shared this story once before on CD.

3 years ago, just before Christmas, I was stopped at the intersection of North and Thatcher. There was a black guy with a shopping cart full of electronics including 60 inch flat screen tv (this was 3 years ago, so this was worth more than 10K) and other high end electronics. Apparently, this guy was doing his Christmas shopping at the expense of River Forest residents.

It was strange to see this stopped and then I noticed his hands were handcuffed behind his back and 2 police officers were standing behind him, putting on a show for anyone else who thought it might be a good idea to steal from the wealthy residents of River Forrest. Perhaps if more shows like this were put on spillover crime from areas like Maywood could be contained.

River Forest continues to be a place I would want to raise a family despite its proximity to Maywood.

Maywood is truly a hell hole with few prospects of recovery.

[Lookout Kid]

Oak Park police used to be known for their vigilance as well, but they seem to have their hands tied by a liberal-bending city government. They seem to forget how high crime got in Oak Park in the 80s and 90s. A few more crime waves like the one this past summer will put Oak Parkers behind their police force again, however! Robberies really skyrocketed in Oak Park and River Forest this past Summer, but things have settled down again. River Forest saw something like a 300% increase in armed robberies for a few months after several straight years of declines. I'm hoping this was an anamoly, and not a new trend.

[potter]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Oak Park police used to be known for their vigilance as well, but they seem to have their hands tied by a liberal-bending city government. They seem to forget how high crime got in Oak Park in the 80s and 90s. A few more crime waves like the one this past summer will put Oak Parkers behind their police force again, however! Robberies really skyrocketed in Oak Park and River Forest this past Summer, but things have settled down again. River Forest saw something like a 300% increase in armed robberies for a few months after several straight years of declines. I'm hoping this was an anamoly, and not a new trend.

Oak Park has wanted this model town of Diversity for many years. And now that have it- a diverse town with great housing stock. However, is it safe to live in. IT is inevitable that crime will be rather high there due to being next to the Austin area of Chicago- one of the highest crime neighborhoods in the city.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by potter

Oak Park has wanted this model town of Diversity for many years. And now that have it- a diverse town with great housing stock. However, is it safe to live in. IT is inevitable that crime will be rather high there due to being next to the Austin area of Chicago- one of the highest crime neighborhoods in the city.

I argue that Oak Park IS a mostly safe place. It's remarkably safe considering it's location next to the hell hole Austin neighborhood. And most of the serious crime in Oak Park comes from outside of the community, so you can't really blame it's diversity. But the police need to be free to do their job without political interference.

[oakparkdude]

I'm not really aware of undue PC-influence constraining the activities of the Oak Park police department. Are there any incidents in particular that you are referring to?

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

I'm not really aware of undue PC-influence constraining the activities of the Oak Park police department. Are there any incidents in particular that you are referring to?

Neither am I. As far as I know, the Oak Park PD is involved in the regional anti-gang taskforce with Berwyn, Cicero, Riverside, etc. and has been viligent in fighting crime. This year was tough but it was like that all over. When the economy turns down, crime goes up.

The days where the cops would intimidate the bad guys out of town like some 1950s Alabama hick sheriff are long, long gone. Fighting crime these days is very complex, and involves things like increasing your demographics, regulating your apartments, community policing, residents diligently calling in suspicious activity, intergovernmental agreements and good communication with other departments, crime mapping, special units, etc.

With all due respect to Humbolt, shaking down some ne'er-do-well on North Ave. in a public display of tough probably made the cops feel good, but likely didn't do jack to lower crime in River Forest.