Is Chicago really dangerous? (Harvey, Dolton: apartment, crime, safest area)

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by sweeti1980

yeah, englewood is great!!!!!my neighbors are millionaires.

Tee hee - Sweeti is kidding: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englewood%2C_Illinois

[chitownlife]

Chicago consistently has a higher crime rate, and even raw murder count than New York, Los Angles, and most other big cities. Chicago has an entrenched deeply rooted gang nation, probably the biggest in the country. Even on the north side peeps get merked. EVen in the gentrifying areas gang members remain. A lot of people are oblivious, especially those that don't actually spend time in their neighborhood, whose sole intention is to live in one place and shop and socialize elsewhere. that being said, take a look at these two links. crime has gone down consistently for the past 15 years. so it's all relative. But Chicago was built on gangsters and corruption.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/s...ck=1&cset=true


http://citizenicam.chicagopolice.org/ctznicam/ctznicam.asp?cmd=addr (broken link)

[ekg56]

I gew up in Rogers Park in the late 60s and early 70s. I can remember even then the gangs were a problem. Of course not to the extent they are now. But I do know we would be out in the bars and there would be a gang shooting down the street and we would all go and check it out. But I would stay out until 2 AM and walk home alone down Clark street. Wouldn't do that now but we still have my Mom's house in Rogers Park and we do walk around the neighborhood for dinner at 9 PM and aren't afraid.

[Naya01]

Originally Posted by gabry76

Hello everybody,
I'm about to move to Chicago but I heard a lot of people saying that Chicago is very dangerous and the crime rate is very high. One of the many reasons why I'm leaving Miami to move to Chicago is just the high crime rate in Miami...I don't want to find the same problem over there...
Any advice?

Depends on the neighborhood. Certain areas are very safe (downtown, Lincoln Park, Beverly) some are not (Englewood, K-Town, Little Village) all big cities have crime. We're pretty low on the list though compared to most cities as large as we are. However, no neighborhood is exempt from crime. The North and West burbs tend to be safer overall though. Chicago is also very segregated so depending on which Ethnic group you want to live around, you have to factor that into your equation as well.

[mmcgirk3]

Originally Posted by Naya01

Depends on the neighborhood. Certain areas are very safe (downtown, Lincoln Park, Beverly) some are not (Englewood, K-Town, Little Village) all big cities have crime. We're pretty low on the list though compared to most cities as large as we are. However, no neighborhood is exempt from crime. The North and West burbs tend to be safer overall though. Chicago is also very segregated so depending on which Ethnic group you want to live around, you have to factor that into your equation as well.

Where do you get your stats from? Chicago is not LOW on any list of crime.
And by K-Town, I hope you are not referrinig to Kenosha. Kenosha was on the list of safest cities in America and not long ago voted best place to raise a family.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

K-Town is an area of Chicago's West Side. The streets all start with K's. Karlov. Keeler. Kildare. Kilbourn. Kilpatrick. Etc.

Do you live in Chicago? Some areas are very safe.

[downtown1]

gabry76, Chicago is NOT in the top 25 most dangerous cities list according to Morgan Quitno

City Crime Rankings by Population Group

[downtown1]

a couple things...

1. You used old stats (2003). The total number of homocides have been decreased. Chicago is now 3rd in total of murders after New York and LA.
2. Gang activity in Chicago area is nothing compared to LA (Gang capital of America).

Chicago Police Department Weblog: Overall Crime in Chicago Continues to Decrease in Every Major Category for 2006 (http://cpdweblog.typepad.com/chicago_police_department/2007/01/overall_crime_i.html - broken link)

Originally Posted by chitownlife

Chicago consistently has a higher crime rate, and even raw murder count than New York, Los Angles, and most other big cities. Chicago has an entrenched deeply rooted gang nation, probably the biggest in the country. Even on the north side peeps get merked. EVen in the gentrifying areas gang members remain. A lot of people are oblivious, especially those that don't actually spend time in their neighborhood, whose sole intention is to live in one place and shop and socialize elsewhere. that being said, take a look at these two links. crime has gone down consistently for the past 15 years. so it's all relative. But Chicago was built on gangsters and corruption.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/s...ck=1&cset=true


http://citizenicam.chicagopolice.org...m.asp?cmd=addr

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by downtown1

gabry76, Chicago is NOT in the top 25 most dangerous cities list according to Morgan Quitno

City Crime Rankings by Population Group

Actually, Chicago and other Illinois cities aren't included on that list.

Here's why (from Morgan Quitno's site):

For several years, rape numbers submitted by cities in the state of Illinois have not met the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) guidelines. This remains the case with 2005 crime data. According to state statisticians, the state of Illinois tracks "sexual assault," which includes not only female rapes, but also offenses such as male rape, sodomy, etc. For these reasons, Chicago and other Illinois cities once again are not found in this year's Safest City rankings. However, Chicago and other Illinois cities are included in our book City Crime Rankings for all of the other crimes.

In the past, our award has received criticism because it omits Chicago in its rankings. While we understand this concern, it is our view that it is more important that rape be considered an important crime and kept in our methodology. However, to see how Chicago might fare in our rankings, we calculated a separate, internal ranking that took rape out of the formula. Under this scenario, Chicago came in as the 52nd most dangerous city.

It's actually to Chicago's credit that it has a wider definition of sexual assault, in my opinion.

[soothsayer1234]

I think the entire country is dangerous, at this point. The south, as a region, is the most dangerous, hence the probs in Miami are partly just its geographical location in the south. The midwest as a region is pretty safe. Most of the midwest's crime is highly concentrated in its inner cities. Even in the Detroit metro, you can live in a lovely suburban area, and never know that you were 15 miles from the city. Chicago has a more active city center than other midwest metros, however, the crime is largely concentrated in the city here as well. The best advice I can give you about the city is this...just know where you are going, and dont be naive. You will likely be approached by panhandlers/scammers downtown and in the poor areas. Don't interact with them in any way. If something makes you feel wrong about a situation, act on your hunchess and avoid it.Simply be smart, and you should be fine.