Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-12-2012, 02:01 PM
 
Location: Uptown
1,520 posts, read 2,560,460 times
Reputation: 1236

Advertisements

this guy is obviously trolling...Chicago News Report. Stormfront links are just around the corner.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-12-2012, 02:06 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,764,559 times
Reputation: 7419
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aleking View Post
this guy is obviously trolling...Chicago News Report. Stormfront links are just around the corner.
I don't think they're trolling. Just unfamiliar with Chicago and taking anything on the internet as true.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-12-2012, 02:14 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,688 posts, read 10,062,651 times
Reputation: 3202
Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
and taking anything on the internet as true.
He's trolling. But if the above were true, I'm quite okay with not encouraging someone who believes everything on the internet to be true (except your response, which he found to be the other end of two extremes) moving to this city. There are enough morons in the area already.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-12-2012, 02:16 PM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 102,737,620 times
Reputation: 29967
Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
I don't think they're trolling. Just unfamiliar with Chicago and taking anything on the internet as true.
And posting links to overtly racist websites.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-12-2012, 02:21 PM
 
4,006 posts, read 6,009,580 times
Reputation: 3897
Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
Relax. It's a city. Things happen from time to time and yes, every once in awhile downtown someone gets mugged, and sometimes some people up to no good happen to go to the beach and get into trouble. How is that different from almost any other big city? Please listen to the people who live here and are out every single day. I hate seeing crime, but I hardly ever see any crime in these neighborhoods. I've seen more crimes being committed in suburbs before than in these places.

I have nothing to gain by telling you so and so neighborhood is safe and you don't have much to worry about. It's an internet forum for god's sake and I'm not giving any advice on particular buildings to live in. If you can't handle the fact that things happen every once in awhile in areas, then you should reconsider city life.

You sound like Bobby Knight when he said that if rape was inevitable, you might as well lay back and enjoy it.

I think you're making this sound like something that happens once a summer and only because it's a big city.

How come roving packs of white kids wearing polos and khakis aren't terrorizing the streets of Wilmette?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-12-2012, 02:27 PM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 102,737,620 times
Reputation: 29967
Quote:
Originally Posted by lenniel View Post
How come roving packs of white kids wearing polos and khakis aren't terrorizing the streets of Wilmette?
Because they're doing it on Clark Street when the bars let out.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-12-2012, 02:31 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,764,559 times
Reputation: 7419
Quote:
Originally Posted by lenniel View Post
You sound like Bobby Knight when he said that if rape was inevitable, you might as well lay back and enjoy it.

I think you're making this sound like something that happens once a summer and only because it's a big city.

How come roving packs of white kids wearing polos and khakis aren't terrorizing the streets of Wilmette?
What are you talking about? I'm saying it's a big city and **** happens. No, it's not best to just sit back and enjoy it, but if you think that NO crime is going to happen, then you're an extremely naive person, because it's a big city and things happen in any big city. Capiche now?

Why does everything have to turn into a racial issue? Absolutely ridiculous.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-12-2012, 02:42 PM
 
11,289 posts, read 26,065,670 times
Reputation: 11353
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmartGXL View Post
I have posted frequently about this issue over the past year and a half; you can look at my posting history to see what I had experienced on this issue during that time.

I was a 14 year resident of Chicago, spending most of that time living in East/Central Lakeview, as well as a few years spent over in the Bucktown/Wicker Park area. I moved to the area, from ohio, in 1998, and witnessed a lot of changes to the lakeview area. It had already mostly gentrified when I got there, but during the 2000's, I saw it become an even more amazing neighborhood, and got to live there during the era when a lot of people started wanting to move to the city and live in urban, walkable environments. I watched the neighborhood become this amazing place, attracting really great people, of all races.

Lakeview was (and mostly still is) an awesome neighborhood to live in. Same thing with Gold Coast and most parts of downtown. But as someone who loved living in Chicago, and who loves urban living, walkability, and nightlife, there have been some problems.

Yes, it is true, that most of those years, the area was VERY SAFE and there were rarely any major negatives to living there. Yes, there are bums/panhandlers, and yes there is the occasional crazy person who takes the Broadway bus down from Uptown, and stands on the street corner talking to himself. I dont have a problem with those people; they have always been there and most likely always will; I have no problem with that aspect of Lakeview. And yes, in any city, anywhere, you habve to have some degree of awareness and street smarts and to always watch out for muggers, etc.

At the end of 2008 I moved over to Wicker Park. Then in 2011 I decided I wanted to move back to Lakeview. I moved into an apartment at Belmont and Sheffield, and as soon as I moved in, I noticed something had changed in the area. Every night, there were large packs of black "youth", who would walk up and down Belmont and up and down Halsted. I have NO PROBLEMS with people of other race or color. But, for some reason, these large groups of kids that were now "hanging around" the area, had a hostile presence, a mean, confrontational attitude, and seemed like there were looking to fight or looking for trouble. They would block the sidewalks (a misdemeanor), act roudy/loud (misdemeanor), fight with each other (reckless behaviour, a misdemeanor), bully/intimidate people on the sidewalk (misdemeanor), on and on, every obnoxious rude behaviour you could think of, these kids were enagaging in it. It was NIGHTLY. The groups are also known for stabbing each other (has happened on many occasions, too many to count, there is even a video on youtube), but are also known for robbing innocent people walking by, both men and women (check the police records from when people call the cops from being mugged, its all on the internet). They particularly like to steal people's iphones, then jump on the Red Line and head back to their neighborhood. There is simply not enough police anymore to stop these idiots from basically terrorizing the area. The area that seems plagued with these problems is the part of the Belmont Corridor, from Sheffield down to Halsted, and then from there, up Halsted all the way to at Grace Street. Drive thru there at night, around 11pm, and you will see them; they hang out in packs of 5 to 20 and they like to block the sidewalk and menace people. How do I know this is all real? Because I lived right in the middle of it all for 1 year.

Also, three guys in my building (all of whom were gay) were beaten up by these groups of kids.

As the summer of 2011 went on, the violence got worse. Beatings, muggings, drug dealing; mean people, who dont live in the neighborhood, roaming the streets of Lakeview, looking for trouble.

When school went back into session in the fall of 2011, things quieted down a little bit, but there were still problems at night. You would still see the packs of kids, roaming up and down Belmont, roaming up and down Halsted. Some nights were better than others. Weekends were still bad. Like the other poster mentioned, I have seen kids jump on other people's cars, sit on the hoods, DANCE on the hoods (!!!) etc. the amount of riff-raff walking the streets in the Belmont/Halsted area now, is just insane. You dont even want to go there at night anymore, its awful.

During that time, Gold Coast also had similar issues; wildings taking place at night, etc. during Memorial Day weekend, the police had to shut down North Avenue beach, because large packs of gang bangers had taken over the beach and the bike path, and were fighting with each other....beating up innocent bicyclists, etc. After that weekend was when it seemed like everything went down the tubes for Lakeview and Gold Coast.

This past spring, I decided I had had enough, and took a job transfer to Dallas. So I am no longer living in Chicago. But I keep tabs on what has been going on there, and everything seems like it is WORSE than last year. Beatings, muggings, apartment break ins, you name it, lakeview/Gold Coast has been plagued with these problems. One of the worst areas right now, is the area right off the Chicago Ave El Stop. Almost every night, DOZENS of kids would come pouring out of the El stop. They like to hang out around the msdonalds there, and they sort of "own" the sidewalk there...same element as I described above...pushing, shoving, forcing pedestrians off the sidewalk into traffic, etc.
Yes, it is true, that the media is being asked by the Mayor's office, to not cover the crimes, or to downplay them. The media did, however, cover the WRIGLEYVILLE THROAT SLASHING. Oh yeah, the other posters on this site dont want me to bring that up, but YEAH...an individual brought a machete to lakeview one night, and decided to slash the throat of a yuppie out walking his dog....just like Jason from Friday the 13th!! He lived, but now has a scar on his throat! Dont believe me? Here is the link to the news report: Wrigleyville Man's Throat Slashed in Random Attack | NBC Chicago
What??? I've been in Chicago for 11 years now and have hung out in Lakeview a vast majority of that. I'm at Buckingham and Halsted at my BF's about 5 nights a week, have been for 2 years now. I'll definitely agree that things got dicey two years ago and last year - but seriously dude??.....more stabbings than you can count?

Last year started off really rough, but it died down after the second week in July and stayed decent all winter. This is coming from someone who was at all the CAPS meetings and walking the streets. My best friends own two bars and a restaurant along Halsted in Boystown, they know a bunch of cops and they had a ton of employees going home at 3am. They know what was up last spring and early summer.

Don't know why, but for whatever reason this year in Lakeview it didn't happen like last year. I was waiting to see what would happen all spring, but it's been very quiet in Lakeview this summer. CERTAINLY not worse than last spring. I'm out and about late at night all the time, the tension and atmosphere between people is vastly different now. I feel much more like I did 4+ years ago in the area.

Also the guy walking his dog who was slashed was by a mentally handicapped man - not some knife throwing youth. That could have easily happened anywhere.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-12-2012, 03:20 PM
 
2,918 posts, read 4,179,284 times
Reputation: 1527
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmartGXL View Post
This past spring, I decided I had had enough, and took a job transfer to Dallas. So I am no longer living in Chicago.
Then please let go, move on with your life, and let the people who actually live here report on what's going on here. Focus on what you like about Dallas rather than creating works of fiction about a city that was apparently not a good fit for you. We like Chicago. You like Dallas. Everybody wins!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-12-2012, 04:27 PM
 
Location: South Chicagoland
4,111 posts, read 9,015,671 times
Reputation: 2077
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiNaan View Post
Actually I'd still call that ridiculous. You'd have to change "South Side" to "Englewood and the areas immediately adjacent to it" before that comparison would start to make sense.
Not all of Detroit is "like Detroit" either.. lmao. Detroit is more than just a giant Englewood. Now we're just bashing Detroit.

Like the south side of Chicago, Detroit hasn't been the same since it experienced white flight and the collapse of its industrial base. It's not an accurate comparison but it's not a ridiculous comparison!

Last edited by urza216; 09-12-2012 at 04:53 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top