What on earth happened to Boystown at night (Chicago, Washington: rent, living in)

[TBideon]

Was it the Center on Halsted that caused these dramatic...demographic changes at night? You guys should have seen it yesterday - it was like all of Englewood showed up after 9pm and there were some very palpable tensions. A lot of guys, who don't act like they support the gay community based on their conduct and rhetoric, just looking for a fight or worse. It gets more dangerous every year in that area on weekends; just what the hell happened??

[gladhands]

You know, black people can be gay too? Not all of them are flamboyant either. Did you witness any trouble or just poor black people?

[noid_1985]

"Englewood" must be code word for something, intersectionality is so great��

[eevee]

Originally Posted by gladhands

You know, black people can be gay too? Not all of them are flamboyant either. Did you witness any trouble or just poor black people?

Right, like I missed the memo that black people shouldn't be in Boystown. Then again, I used to live in Lakeview, including not too far away from Boystown and, frankly, it's a kinda racist over there.

[TBideon]

I get it's easier to call someone racist than acknowledge a real problem there -- but the fact is there is something strange and ultimately bad/concerning happening in Boystown on weekend nights. It really is thug central or whatever the proper PC vernacular is. If you live in the area or visit periodically, you'll know what I'm talking about.

My understanding is the Center on Halsted had something to do with it, but I'm curious if there are other factors.

[Bluefox]

Is it anything new really? I remember about ten years ago being in Boystown and very nearly getting into a fight with a younger thug who was harassing my female friend. One of the only times in my life I've felt like the fists were gonna come out. He was saying extremely disrespectful things about her being Mexican and kept following us. He was clearly looking for trouble. I don't feel like it makes me racist to acknowledge that sort of thing does occur.

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by TBideon

I get it's easier to call someone racist than acknowledge a real problem there -- but the fact is there is something strange and ultimately bad/concerning happening in Boystown on weekend nights. It really is thug central or whatever the proper PC vernacular is. If you live in the area or visit periodically, you'll know what I'm talking about.

My understanding is the Center on Halsted had something to do with it, but I'm curious if there are other factors.

Were they robbing, attacking or harassing people? I need you to explicitly state what they were doing, other than milling around and being black.

[TBideon]

Harassing and intimidating. Absolutely enormous groups of teens and slightly older. Just a very tense environment.

As for crime, just read through the cwb site.

[Alacran]

Why are people quickly trying to make it seem like it's nothing?
These dude's come and try to start ****, be rude to everyone.

[mjtinmemphis]

It is unfortunate. Chicago has always been a bar fighting town.

Where I live in St Louis, every Friday and Saturday night between 230 and 330 in the morning, there are fights in the parking lots near Washington Avenue. Where ever there are intoxicated people, there are issues.

The biggest difference with the videos referenced in the blog are the fighters are not bar patrons. Many look too young to drink. I remember seeing a couple of scenes like this while living in Chicago visiting Boystown, I know the problem exists.

Another bad scene was on the lakefront memorial day weekend. The difference was skin color. I can see a big difference in the comfort level based upon race. I know there are fights all the time on Rush st and some are worse then what we see in the videos.

Chicago is a rough em up, beat em up type of town when it comes to the bar scene. If you don't like it, don't live near entertainment areas with drinking establishments and definitely don't pay high rent there. That goes for any city but especially tough town Chicago.