Is Chicago really dangerous? (Cicero, Oak Park: homes, to live in, most dangerous)

[Drover]

Gee, I wonder if Staten Island was used in the NYC stats because it's actually, you know, part of NYC proper, whereas St. Louis County is not part of St. Louis proper. Is it really that big of a mystery to these brainiacs?

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Drover

Gee, I wonder if Staten Island was used in the NYC stats because it's actually, you know, part of NYC proper, whereas St. Louis County is not part of St. Louis proper. Is it really that big of a mystery to these brainiacs?

This St. Louis guy makes this argument all of the time. He says that St. Louis was weak about annexing nearby suburbs in 20th century, but it's a lousy argument. St. Louis has about the same proportion of city to suburb as any other metro area (or at least it did before half the people left St. Louis proper).

[aragx6]

I think Shadow's point is that St. Louis gets a hard knock because of an immensely stupid decision 100 years ago to break from the county (because back then the county was full of hillbillies and St. Louis was very affluent). Because of this, areas of the county that would almost certainly have been annexed as the area grew (as happens in other cities) never did, so the square mileage of St. Louis is artificially small.

That is in no way to claim that there are not serious crime issues in St. Louis that need attention and hard work to address, but much like Chicago, crime in St. Louis is very localized. There are large swaths of South St. Louis that are very safe, as well as large swaths of North St. Louis that are starkly impoverished and crime ridden.

Add this to the fact that many non-St. Louisians believe that East St. Louis is part of St. Louis proper, and the reputation factor becomes important.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Originally Posted by Ex-Harvey Resident

Danger is every where. It's just not prone to Chicago....it's just the fact Chicago has been in the news lately....due to a streak of deadly violence. Actually, Chicago is not even in the top 25 listing of most dangerous cities!

Here's the link, if you would like to check it out for yourself. St. Louis is listed as the number #1 most dangerous city!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15475741/

No offense, but I think you need to do some more research.
St. Louis Metro area is not near as dangerous as some parts of the city.

According to Morgan Quitno, St. Louis is 3rd most dangerous city and of the top 25 Metro areas, it is not listed at all in the most dangerous category. City Crime Rankings by Population Group

Also, Chicago does not catalog their data right, so they are not included.

To say St. Louis is the most dangerous, especially without data from Chicago, or the entire state of Illinois, is, in my opinion, a bit nearsighted.

[aragx6]

It's really not worth arguing over, it's actually kind of sad. there's a lot of crime and poverty in most major cities in America and we all should probably get active and do something about it rather than snipe about whose it worse.

I was kind of unpopular in elementary school, so to get attention off of myself I would pick on the kid that was less popular than me, and then he would do the same to the kid that was geekier than him. It doesn't do anyone any good.

And actually, I'm happy with St. Louis being "diamond-in-the-rough-esque" as I can buy this house: Single Family Home - 3958 Juniata St, St Louis, MO, 63116 - Realtor.com in one of my favorite neighborhoods in St. Louis with restaurants, shops, bars and a gorgeous park in walking distance for what a condo in Wicker Park would cost me. (Which is one of the major factors in why we'll probably move back to St. Louis in about 6-10 years)

But until then I intend to really enjoy everything that Chicago has to offer, because I love it so much. I just know that I won't be able to afford to raise kids here!

[chet everett]

Lyrics: My City Was Gone

[KevK]

Chicago is not danagerous as long as you know which neighbourhoods to stay away from. Most of the killings there are just gangs killing gangs- nothing anybody else needs to be worried about.

[Where2Live?]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

I am not so familiar with the south side. However, on the west side you generally want to avoid;

Austin
East Garfield (news article saying it is most improving neighborhood is crap)
West Garfield Park
North Lawndale
South
Lawndale
Little Village
Most Humboldt Park, especially south of Grand
Western Logan Square
Hermosa (getting worse)
Cragin (getting worse)

For Suburbs, avoid;

Maywood
Berkley
Bellwood
Melrose Park
Stone Park
Northlake
Franklin Park (some is okay)
Villa Park
Addison (south of lake)
Cicero
Berwyn (close to cicero)
Hillside
North Riverside
Forest park (beoming more like maywood)

Be careful also in rolling meadows, parts of palatine, parts of hoffman estates, streamwood and hanover parkm
Even be careful in parts of schaumburg due to section 8 which is bringing down these other suburbs.

I am sure some posters will not agree with my assessments of these neighborhoods.

LOL, I've lived in Villa Park since 1996. This area is about as safe as it gets! True, there are a few low-income housing areas around North Ave. and Roosevelt Rd that I wouldn't recommend a person move to unless he/she cannot afford to live anywhere else, but c'mon dangerous??? Absolutely not! Even neighboring Oakbrook Terrace has a higher crime problem and, with the exception of a tragic murder in '07, there has not been a murder in the area in 25+ years.

Sometimes I wonder what people are thinking. There is no perfect utopia (not even Naperville! ). Crime happens. A person cannot live in a bubble-completely protected from any and all bad elements. The original poster understands this I'm sure. Miami and Chicago are big cities in America with relatively high crime rates. Some areas area safer than others. You definitely need to make a trip to the area to get a better feel for things. Rest assured though, there are PLENTY of wonderfully safe places to live in the city and a MULTITUDE of very safe suburbs. It's a great place to call home!

[Miami305Kid]

Miami is crazy with crime. People often think of Miami as a beautiful vacation spot, which it can be but they don't realize the entire county is filled with dangerous ghettos. Liberty City, Overtown, Hileah, South-Miami Heights, parts of Miami Beach, Miami Gardens, Opalocka, Naranja, Lynwood, Cutler Ridge, etc. Miami can get bad real fast

[noid_1985]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

I am not so familiar with the south side. However, on the west side you generally want to avoid;

Austin
East Garfield
West Garfield Park
North Lawndale
South
Lawndale
Little Village
Most Humboldt Park, especially south of Grand
Western Logan Square
Hermosa (getting worse)
Cragin (getting worse)

For Suburbs, avoid;

Maywood
Berkley
Bellwood
Melrose Park
Stone Park
Northlake
Franklin Park (some is okay)
Villa Park
Addison (south of lake)
Cicero
Berwyn (close to cicero)
Hillside
North Riverside
Forest park (beoming more like maywood)

Be careful also in rolling meadows, parts of palatine, parts of hoffman estates, streamwood and hanover parkm
Even be careful in parts of schaumburg due to section 8 which is bringing down these other suburbs.

I am sure some posters will not agree with my assessments of these neighborhoods.

On a scale of 1-10(10 being the worst) I will rate how safe these neighborhoods Humboldt1 has given us...

Austin- 7 Chicago's largest neighborhood is rough once you past Central, but even as big as Austin is it still isn't as bad as other neighborhoods that are a lot smaller.
East Garfield-7 Back in the 90s this neighborhood used to be among Chicago's deadliest, but now is making a bit of a turn around with rehabbed buildings and gentrification process.
West Garfield-10 Between Hamlin ave. and Pulaski ave. this neighborhood is still a thriving gang war zone.
North Lawndale-10 probably #2 on Chicago's worst neighborhoods to live in.#1 Going to Englewood.
South Lawndale-8 not as bad as it's sister to the north, but still has it's share of gang activity.
Little Village-8 see South Lawndale. Same neighborhood
Humboldt Park-7 Like East Garfield Park the Eastern half of Humboldt Park is going through a gentrification process which is having a positive effect on the neighborhood. The western half of Humboldt Park ranks amongst the grittier places in Chicago.
Western Logan Square- 6 A few notches below Hermosa
Hermosa-7 Probably not as "beautiful" as the name proclaims, this neighborhood which is just north of Humboldt Park incurs many of their neighbors gang issues.
Cragin-6 *see western Logan Square*
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Da Near West Burbs

Maywood-8 has some nice blocks a little north and south of 290. However this neighborhood is still ran by crooked cops, gangs, and drugs. Not as bad as most people think although an 8 is pretty high. Equivalent to Markham
Berkley-4 Sometimes the "riff raff" from the less affluent burbs of Bellwood and Hillside travel into the area but are quickly made waste of by police. Equivalent to Homewood
Bellwood-6 is trying to clean up it's act by giving more to the community, they're currently in the process of renovating their recreation center. Majority of Bellwood's crime happens east of 25th street near the Maywood/ Bellwood boarder. Equivalent to Tinley Park
Melrose Park-6 is home to the Maywood Race Track and a lot of stores along North Avenue. Most of the crime happens either at the stores or to the south at the Maywood/ Bellwood / Melrose Park boarder. EQ. to Matteson
Stone Park-9 This small town of less than 4k has is fair share of gangs, prostitutes, and crooked cops. Almost anything north of Lake st. on Mannhiem Rd. is shaddy. EQ. to Harvey
Franklin Park-7 shares some of the same problems Stone Park to the south has EQ. to Riverdale

Villa Park-5 few gang problems but still is a decent place to live
Addison-5 same as Villa Park
Cicero- 10 Boarders Chicago's Austin (north) and North Lawndale (west) neighborhoods there is a lot of gang activity and tention, not to mention even worst city officals.
Berwyn-7 called "little Cicero" by some the closer you get to North Riverside to the west and Oak Park to the north the better it tends to get.
North Riverside-3 Most of the crime tends to happen at the mall. Anything west of the mall is probably a 1 or 2 when it comes to safety. EQ. Orland Hills
Forest Park-4 Most of the crime happens at the Wal~Mart ....people are always trying to get a bargin. But really that Walmart is "crime central"---I should know I used to work there