Safety on Chatham (87th/Cottage Grove) (Chicago: transplants, neighborhood, living)

[TBideon]

My girlfriend will start working there in several months, and I admit I'm a little nervous about it. I've read reports how the area was(is?) a black middle class neighborhood, but there have been a great deal of crime, including several murdered cops in 2011.

How nervous should I/she be? I've been reading articles on it, but they're mostly from 2011. Most of them say the same thing - white pre-block busting until the early 60s, then black middle class, older generation moving out or dying, newer kids a problem, kids from projects being a huge problem, a liquor store was a disaster, still some city employees and cops living there. Professional class mostly moved out.

That's pretty much all I can figure. Anyone have any input?

[Chicago South Sider]

She won't make it out alive.

[ParkerP]

^^^Don't say that LOL!
OP if she's at the bank that's there, then she'll be fine. The guards will walk her to her car at night if she asks them. Depending on how she looks, the worst that will possibly happen is some flirting from the local thugs.

[TBideon]

She's at a private company by there, and I see on google maps the parking lot is right outside. I'm really trying to find a silver lining to this - a job is a job, after all - but reading about all the projects' transplants and havoc in the area, it's just a bit scary.

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by TBideon

She's at a private company by there, and I see on google maps the parking lot is right outside. I'm really trying to find a silver lining to this - a job is a job, after all - but reading about all the projects' transplants and havoc in the area, it's just a bit scary.

She's going to be driving every day? Then what's the problem? No one gets dragged out of their car in Chatham. Have you looked at 87th street between Cottage and the Dan Ryan? It's all very benign - this isn't Englewood, guy. Keep calm, she'll be fine.

[Chicago South Sider]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

She's going to be driving every day? Then what's the problem? No one gets dragged out of their car in Chatham. Have you looked at 87th street between Cottage and the Dan Ryan? It's all very benign - this isn't Englewood, guy. Keep calm, she'll be fine.

Yes, but there are a lot of black people in that area. That's a frightening thing to deal with for many Chicagoans.

[Alacran]

I thought this dude was living there. Even then I wouldn't be concerned.

But just WORKING there?

Ha.

Don't even think about it.

[NARFALICIOUS]

Originally Posted by Chicago South Sider

She won't make it out alive.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by TBideon

My girlfriend will start working there in several months, and I admit I'm a little nervous about it. I've read reports how the area was(is?) a black middle class neighborhood, but there have been a great deal of crime, including several murdered cops in 2011.

How nervous should I/she be? I've been reading articles on it, but they're mostly from 2011. Most of them say the same thing - white pre-block busting until the early 60s, then black middle class, older generation moving out or dying, newer kids a problem, kids from projects being a huge problem, a liquor store was a disaster, still some city employees and cops living there. Professional class mostly moved out.

That's pretty much all I can figure. Anyone have any input?

If your girlfriend is scared, she can have someone walk her to the car. She's just WORKING there not living there. Go make that money and stop freaking out, lol.

Originally Posted by TBideon

She's at a private company by there, and I see on google maps the parking lot is right outside. I'm really trying to find a silver lining to this - a job is a job, after all - but reading about all the projects' transplants and havoc in the area, it's just a bit scary.

I suppose the "silver lining" is an exposure to Chatham. Why is exposure to an area you'd otherwise never venture into a bad thing? Are you really that narrow minded?

I'm a white man from IL and I work in Gary, Indiana.. My job kinda sucks and I actually see THAT as a "silver lining".

Maybe your girlfriend will learn a thing or two that has nothing whatsoever to do with the job description. Maybe.

[TBideon]

I'm definitely a little narrow minded about her getting harassed by residents or being unable to drive past kids obstructing traffic. If that happens, yeah, it would be upsetting for both of us. And yes she's driving and won't likely be strolling around the blocks during her lunch break, but it's a neighborhood I know very little about beyond what I've read (none of which was reassuring), hence my posting in the first place.