how is lansing IL (lower-class, violent crime, neighborhoods)

[WildWestDude]

Originally Posted by TammiT

Yes, Lansing is a "diverse" community. There are all races, predominately caucasion. The homes in the area in which I live $200,000 t $300,000. I am African American and my home on the high end and I believe worth every penny. I moved to Lansing for the diversity and the school. I believe Lansing is as good as Homewood. Unfortunately, there are still white people who believe when African Americans move into a community, they are low-income. Well, I am well above low income and can pay cash for a couple more homes. For those of you who are afraid, if you think running to Indiana will be a safe haven, using the "tax savings" as an excuse, you are gravely mistaken. Blacks know about Indiana too. Yeah, we discovered Dyer, Crown Point, St. John, Merreville, Highland and Shereville. I considered them, but preferred Lansing. I have friends who have moved there. My advice to you is don't get further in debt due to unnecessary fear.

All of my neighbors are of a different ethnicity and its great!!! Lastly, I am also on the PTA. Unfortunately, I have to recommend you visit the community yourself. The personal opinion of others are not reliable. At any rate, I think you will be pleased. Lastly, two white families moved on my block over the summer, so everyone isn't afraid of blacks in Lansing and running for the border. I believe Lansing will be the next community rated #1 town to live in Illinois.

While everyone has the freedom to move in this country,the obvious question arises that why do blacks go where the whites are? Why not stay in Gary for example and make something out of it? No jobs? There are plenty of bedroom suburbs where people stay in them but don't work there!
There are of people that like to live amongst the same groups and there is nothing racist about that.
Fear? Well, yah if crime goes up and crack heads move in.

[skyeINIL]

Originally Posted by rubber duck

Your last couple of sentences is why Lansing has it's back against the wall. There's a history of segregation on the south side, the first white flight out of the city didn't happen that long ago, and look what happened to the majority of neighborhoods that underwent the transformation, they're ghettos now. There's quite a few people in Lansing that remember the first white flight, and are uneasy with the transformation the town is undergoing now. Quite a few of them aren't sticking around to see what will happen, and I really can't blame them, but it certainley doesn't promote a diverse town.

The question I have is who is "quite a few people"? Are you speaking for a group of people in particular or just generalizing the white populations' thoughts because of your own? The white residents that I know and have talked to (e.g. parents at my daughter's school, neighbors) have no intention of moving because of the so-called changing situation. Like most towns surrounding the Chicago area, Lansing has good areas and bad areas. In my opinion, the good outweighs the bad by far.

My area is similar to the one that TammiT lives in, with the exception of the home values. I live in an area where the homes are valued at about $160-180,000. Anyway, it is very common to see families walking, jogging, playing, etc. No signs of gang activity, no loud music, no thugs walking the streets, blah, blah, blah.

However, if over the next year it turned out most whites moved out and only blacks moved in I may consider moving - not due to blacks moving in, but due to the fact that my area would NOT be diverse. I personally wouldn't feel as comfortable as I do in a diverse neighborhood (I do love diversity - but diversity does not mean all Latino or all African-American or all Asian) - it would have nothing to do with the race of the person.

vester, I happen to feel the same. I don't want my children to grow up or go to school around any one race. I myself am drawn to people for reasons other than race and hope my children feel the same. If Lansing did turn into a predominantly black town, I would probably move for that reason.

[skyeINIL]

Originally Posted by rubber duck

There are no doubt still safe areas in Lansing, from the way it sounds you must live on the south side. The areas I'm referring to are generally north of the expressway (apartments and cheap housing) and these areas coincide with most of the criminal activity that occurs in town. Also most crime goes unnoticed by your average citizen. Do you realize that there is a battle going on between the Latin Dragons and the Gangster Disciples over dealing territory in Lansing? Or that violent crime is up approximately 150% over last year (this includes homicide, criminal sexual assault, aggravated battery, armed robbery...)? Or that our police department is shrinking due to archaic village policies over residency, when crime is going up? Lansing is at a crossroads over how to deal with its current situation, if the village decides to continue down its current path Calumet City will continue to creep in. Harvey was a good town once too.

I'm curious as to where you've gotten your information and stats from. The stats that I looked up have shown that over the past two years crime has dropped and that we've had no homicides (I remember hearing about a homicide by the old pizza place on Burnham and 178th last year, so I don't know if that's accurate) for the past few years. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.

Also, are you a police officer or relative of a police officer? I know from experience that members of law enforcement tend to come down on the negative side of things because that is what they see all day, everyday. This is a huuuuge assumption by me, but maybe that could be where you're coming from?

[rubber duck]

To ignore what has happened in the past in the towns surrounding Lansing would be a foolish thing to do. How about South Holland? Dolton? Harvey? Calumet City? Burnham? Roseland? What you're failing to realize is that all these towns I've mentioned were all at one time predomintately white towns with low crime rates. What are they now? Maybe I should ask you is what makes you think Lansing is going to be the exception to the rule? Also I'd take the fact that Lansing has not had under 300 houses for sale at any given time for the last 4-5 years that a "few" people might be moving out. Check out the MLS sites for yourself.

The same fights went on over South Holland ten years ago. I heard all about how South Holland was going to defeat the odds and "be the next Homewood" and would be a diverse town. Well what happened? The white population moved out. South Holland also has no apartment buildings and dumped a ton of money into their downtown area, but the whites still moved out, so I'll ask you again, what makes you think Lansing is going to be any different? Trust me, I've head all this before.

[TammiT]

#1 What is different is that you are dealing with different people. #2 As I said, I don't see whites just moving out. I see them moving in. That's different. #3 I also see various other races living in Lansing. That's different. Lansing does not have to end up like all the other communities you mentioned. I know we can all live peacefully in the same community. We would not be the first. My question to you is how do you think diversity occur in some communities?

[TammiT]

Originally Posted by WildWestDude

While everyone has the freedom to move in this country,the obvious question arises that why do blacks go where the whites are? Why not stay in Gary for example and make something out of it? No jobs? There are plenty of bedroom suburbs where people stay in them but don't work there!
There are of people that like to live amongst the same groups and there is nothing racist about that.
Fear? Well, yah if crime goes up and crack heads move in.

Well, what I read was that people don't want to wait around to see if crime goes up. They are leaving because of fear that it might go up. My fear comment was in response to that. I can't respond to your initial question about blacks following whites. The answer is too detailed for this forum. I will say it is more complicated than that and as far as creating our own community. I won't respond to that. I recommend you do some serious research. Lastly, I agree. It is okay to live among your race if that is your preference.

[WildWestDude]

Originally Posted by TammiT

Well, what I read was that people don't want to wait around to see if crime goes up. They are leaving because of fear that it might go up. My fear comment was in response to that. I can't respond to your initial question about blacks following whites. The answer is too detailed for this forum. I will say it is more complicated than that and as far as creating our own community. I won't respond to that. I recommend you do some serious research. Lastly, I agree. It is okay to live among your race if that is your preference.

Research I have done. One group follows another. Facts are there and are simple.

[TammiT]

Originally Posted by WildWestDude

Research I have done. One group follows another. Facts are there and are simple.

If you performed proper research, you should know the facts are based solely on the data evaluated. Therefore it is always flawed. It is by no means simple.

[skyeINIL]

Originally Posted by rubber duck

To ignore what has happened in the past in the towns surrounding Lansing would be a foolish thing to do. How about South Holland? Dolton? Harvey? Calumet City? Burnham? Roseland? What you're failing to realize is that all these towns I've mentioned were all at one time predomintately white towns with low crime rates. What are they now? Maybe I should ask you is what makes you think Lansing is going to be the exception to the rule? Also I'd take the fact that Lansing has not had under 300 houses for sale at any given time for the last 4-5 years that a "few" people might be moving out. Check out the MLS sites for yourself.

The same fights went on over South Holland ten years ago. I heard all about how South Holland was going to defeat the odds and "be the next Homewood" and would be a diverse town. Well what happened? The white population moved out. South Holland also has no apartment buildings and dumped a ton of money into their downtown area, but the whites still moved out, so I'll ask you again, what makes you think Lansing is going to be any different? Trust me, I've head all this before.

If you check Wheaton, Warrenville, Naperville, Schaumburg and other so-called good communities, they're MLS listings run high as well in comparison to their populations. People move in, people move out. It's a fact of life. It's not always whites running from blacks. The only data I have is anecdotal, but Lansing does seem different.

What is wrong with South Holland? Just having a predominantly black population doesn't automatically make a town or neighborhood bad. I have several friends that live in South Holland and visit one of them quite frequently and it seems the same as it did ten years ago, just the color of the faces have changed.

[WildWestDude]

Originally Posted by TammiT

If you performed proper research, you should know the facts are based solely on the data evaluated. Therefore it is always flawed. It is by no means simple.

Let's get to the point:

Sure, then its all the white man's fault and the whole system's in general.
SUre, whites provided the guns, drugs, crimes like rape and murder, fire that burned the buildings and the bulldozers the knocked them down in Gary for example. Whites made the others poor. Sure, its the poor factor that created the above destruction.
But wait, those people must have been aliens from out of space, they couldn't have been one specific group.
Get a grip. Its one group of people that are responsible for the flight, and the majority of decay, destruction and violent crime.
If that one group behaved like the rest, then you would have better assimilation and integration.