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I was watching the travel channel a few days ago and a random lady on the street in Chicago made this statement: "Chicago has all the benefits of New York, but you don't have to worry about someone stealing your wallet on the el train." Paraphrased.
So, I guess this question is for those who are familiar with both places. Is the statement true?
Is NY nothing more than an unsafe Chicago?
(to re-phrase the statement with my twisted logic).
Chicago on the other hand is one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. So dangerous that it's lawmakers are considering deploying the national guard to help control it's out of control crime.
Two Chicago lawmakers want the National Guard brought in to help fight a surge of violent crime in the city, saying there is a "war" in Chicago that warrants the same kind of deployment as the U.S. has in the streets of Iraq and Afghanistan.
... and is now compared to Newark in terms of crime
I've lived in New York for about 12 years and only stayed in Chicago for a month or so - so naturally I feel safer here since this is where I live. However, I never feel unsafe in New York and I often felt unsafe in Chicago. And I don't really feel like the 2 cities are that comparable. I feel like New York is more similiar to Boston and Washington DC. In Chicago - I definitely felt like I was in the Midwest (which I was, of course), and didn't feel like I was in anything like New York. That being said, I did like Chicago - but it's nothing like NYC and it definitely did not feel safer at all.
Location: Red Hook Brooklyn-winter Derby Line Vermont-summer
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I have never been to Chicago but when a friend of mine was moving to SF and driving by car from NY his car and everything he had was stolen in "The Windy City"
Speaking as a woman who has been to both Chicago and NYC a number of times (admittedly only as a tourist), I have NEVER felt even vaguely unsafe in either city... not even very late at night.
Speaking as a woman who has been to both Chicago and NYC a number of times (admittedly only as a tourist), I have NEVER felt even vaguely unsafe in either city... not even very late at night.
I guarantee you wouldn't feel safe as a woman wandering around Harlem, anywhere in the Bronx, most of Brooklyn and Eastern Queens alone at night. The same goes for the South Side or West Side of Chicago. Just picturing a woman from Australia walking around at 3 am in the South Bronx or Cabrini Green asking for directions is almost laughable.
If you're only walking around where tourists visit, you're unlikely to be exposed to anything that would make you feel unsafe.
^^ The OP never asked anything about being alone! And I never said anything about wandering around sketchy areas at 3am asking for directions! I would have thought that comes down to common sense... and would be just as dangerous in dodgy parts of London, Sydney, Paris, or just about any other major city.
Well, seeing as whats going on in Southside Chicago right now I would call it anything but safe. Also seeing as how New York has been named one of the safest big cities in the nation is saying something. Chicago is more like an UNsafe New York. It's still an awesome city though.
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