Is Chicago really dangerous? (Lincoln, Humboldt: city hall, insurance, felony)

[jefffla01]

Having spent loads of time in Chicago, I agree that using common sense is a key to avoiding bad situations.

Chicago, on the whole, is a fine town----good people and lots of fun things to do. Like any large urban areas, Chicago has several neighborhoods to avoid and it is up to you to do the research on avoiding these areas. I would not plan on doing a great of socializing in a lot of areas on the south side----can be a bit nasty.

Chicagos crime rate and murder rate is high----big surprise. Big urban areas have high crime rates and when you visit the areas avoid the bad neighborhoods.

Use common sense----stay out of seedy dives----stay away from trashy hotels and boarding houses----and avoid flashing jewelry and fancy items that call attention to yourself.

Chicago is a tough town---that is undeniable. Yet it is also a great city loaded with hard working and caring people. It is a great town to have fun in and it is a secure city-----once again use common sense and ask the locals what areas to avoid.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by ofcjim40

Conspiracy theory, but you say they are widely held but you dismiss them without merit. That's pretty funny.

No. Not funny, you are being asked to verify and back up what you are saying with evidence. You can't do it, other than with opinions and anecdotal evidence from very questionable sources. If you make broad statements you need to back them up, and you have not.

Originally Posted by ofcjim40

\There has always been a flow of neighborhoods changing. While some improve, some decline. But also at issue us with the tearing down of a lot if the housing projects of Chicago, some of gone to the suburbs thus driving up some of their crime rates. I deal with a relatively high number of former Chicago residents that now live in the Burbs.

I don't doubt this is true, but it has nothing to do with crime rates in Chicago. If anything is helps to explain why crime has dropped in Chciago.

Originally Posted by ofcjim40

So again the vast majority of this discussion is based upon opinion since we can pretty much rule out the stats as being anything valid. So I guess it's one of those areas where we will agree to disagree.

No, I don't agree to agree to disagree - I want you to provide at least a SCRAP of evidence that your accusations of deception thrown at the CPD have some basis in fact. It is a big accusation. I have friends in the CPD as well, and they would be really offended by the way you depict them as just making up numbers left and right. A blog of anonymous disgruntled cops (or people pretending to be cops) doesn't count as proof. Local media would LOVE to be able to prove the accusations made on Second City Cop against Daley and Weiss. It could be potentially Pulitzer award winning stuff. They have been unable to verify even the basic facts of any accusations made on that blog.

It is not just opinion, I asked you some straightforward questions and spelled out the logic of what I was asking you. You are now falling back on some squishy "it's all just opinion" approach. Please back up what you say with logic or facts.

What we are discussing are serious problems that need to be fixed, and Chicagoans need to have honest conversations about these problems. People spouting opinions that are not based in fact does nothing to help us improve the situation and improve the city.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by jefffla01

Use common sense----stay out of seedy dives----stay away from trashy hotels and boarding houses----and avoid flashing jewelry and fancy items that call attention to yourself.

Overall this is a really good post full of common sense, but I wouldn't worry about avoiding seedy dives. I'd suggest seeking them out . Just have a thick skin and roll with whatever comes your way.

[ofcjim40]

Here is a start of my evidence that you want me to post. Give me some time to add to it. It's far easier to post the links and let you read than to copy and paste parts of the article. Also I can't be accused of altering the articles to make my point. It is well know that Daley alters the stats, but he has plenty of people he controls. I'm sure there are plenty of people working on getting the truth out, but Daley has a way of protecting himself from federal charges. I am quite sure none of your CPD friends would be offended by what i wrote, and I'm sure they would agree with what I say. But there are plenty of Cops out there too that play the politics and drink the Kool Aid to get ahead and not ruffle feathers. There will be more added to the list...

Anderson Cooper 360: Chicago Killings « - CNN.com Blogs

911 System Inundated, As Size Of Chicago Police Force Dwindles - cbs2chicago.com

Suit: Cops slow to respond to store owner's slaying - Chicago Breaking News (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/05/city-sued-over-slaying-of-sweet-shop-owner.html - broken link)

Pajamas Media » Chicago: Where Criminals No Longer Fear the Police

WHERE HAVE ALL THE MURDERS GONE?

[ofcjim40]

Police officer slain as mayor embarrasses himself and city - Chicago Tribune

CRIME, GUNS, AND VIDEOTAPE: Chicago’s Fraudulent Murder Statistics

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janet-..._b_589674.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...2059109.column

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by maybeitsjustme

From an outsider's perspective reading this forum, it sounds like nobody should even VISIT Chicago, let alone live there. The amount of crime that is reported and talked about seems to be very high compared to other cities around the country.

Is this an affliction of this community to talk about crime, or is it true to all of Chicago's neighborhoods?

I live in Boston and am getting transferred to Chicago as of October 1st of this year. Reading on this forum is making me scared to move.

As a visitor in Chicago, I never felt scared, threatened or intimidated. This was spending most of my time in Wicker Park and Lincoln Square. Is it really that unsafe to be out in any neighborhood in Chicago after dark? I find that hard to believe.

Anyway, what are safer neighborhoods to live in. I've read the other posts--but i'm looking for specifics. Streets close to nightlife and shopping in lincoln park, river north, lakeview, etc..

Thanks.

Chicago is a real cohesive city, its not a life style city like Boston or Seattle.

This means it has some nice areas and some not so nice areas, and anything and everything in between.

If you can not handle this or you can not tell the difference between an area you feel safe in and an area you do not, you should probably avoid looking into big cities all together.

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by williepotatoes

And we know that no other cities massage statistics, only Chicago. The evil puppetmaster Daley alone wields these powers.

Not true. In sf they do this. Ive seen police convince people not to file assault charges on people by saying things like "well this will just be a waste of time" and "what if this guy figures out where you live, you dont want to press charges".I'm more of the firm belief that Chicago is not unique in any way shape or form to this.

[Chicago60614]

The media has REALLY been out in force this year - which is why a vast majority of people naturally assume violent crimes are up.

Even if you're talking how medical advancements have driven down the murder rate, that doesn't relate to the fact that overall violent crimes in the city have been reduced from 93,000 in the early 1990's to 14,000 through the first half of this year. You can doctor numbers up, but you can't really make tens of thousands of violent crimes just "go away" as easily as you could someone having their bike stolen who just doesn't bother to report to the police. Although I'm actually willing to bet people are more incline to report petty crimes now than they were during the dark days of the 1990's.

As has been stated 100,000 times on here - crime in the city is for the most part segregated to certain areas. I actually believe a lot of the places that are freaking out about crime right now are doing so because the hot beds of crime that was the housing projects are gone - and a lot of those people were tossed up to land all around the city.

The huge test will be to see if those people can be integrated into society better now that they aren't holed up in these little enclaves of severe poverty and crime (the projects). Hopefully this is just another transition period for the city, and things will calm down even more in the upcoming years.

You squelched a lot of the crime by tearing down the projects, and now you're seeing the immediate aftermath of that. Only time will tell if the police can get a handle on these things and not let the neighborhoods fester even more. Although the worst of the worst neighborhoods are markedly better than in the past. You just have things creeping into areas of Chatham, the southwest side, Portage Park, etc. that you didn't see in the past. Those are the areas that need attention ASAP.

As someone pointed out, a majority of murders are gang related, this year around 64%. Also you have a city that's very roughly 1/3 black, hispanic and white. This year whites are 3% of the murder victims, hispanics around 21% and blacks around 76%. That spread is just nonsense. People on the south/west side have felt abandoned for years now. Maybe they are and maybe they're not - but you can't just sit on the sideline and tell them to start paying attention and standing up after 30 years of failing to address any problem. People won't just change because you want them to. I'm not saying I have the answers - but this city really just seems to look at troubled neighborhoods and shake their heads, then go back to whatever they were doing. I'd be willing to raise my property taxes to a degree if we could hire 2,000 more officers and have them attack these areas, start more community programs and be a force on the street. Let the 90% of people in those neighborhoods who are just as horrified as everyone else know they have a large army standing behind them to help eradicate this problem.

blah blah blah...that was long.

[Jandur]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

As someone pointed out, a majority of murders are gang related, this year around 64%. Also you have a city that's very roughly 1/3 black, hispanic and white. This year whites are 3% of the murder victims, hispanics around 21% and blacks around 76%.

This. As bad as it sounds, the violent crime is really just part of the lives of poor minorities. This isn't to say there is no crime in the nice areas of Chicago, but unless you're running around in West Garfield Park at night and alone you're probably going to be fine.

I walk around at night on the weekends all the time through Lincoln Park/Gold Coast etc. You really don't have to worry about getting shot. If you have a $3000 purse on your arm and are alone then yeah, maybe not the smartest thing to do.

Stay out of the bad areas (it's not that difficult) and you dramatically reduce the chance of bad things happening.

[slow_nerve_action]

Some of us have moved our family and kids back in to Chicago proper from suburban environments. So far, its been just as safe, better opportunities, and you don't run into the mindset that certain types in the suburbs are known for.