Worst places in YOUR area on Google Street View

[DavePa]

Originally Posted by MillennialUrbanist

This thread strikes me as cyberslumming, but I'll bite. Here are some for the Chicago area:

Ford Heights, IL:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5101...!6m1!1e1?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5163...!6m1!1e1?hl=en

Markham, IL:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5990...!6m1!1e1?hl=en
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5998...!6m1!1e1?hl=en

Just strolling down the street of your 1st Streetview. Just looks very Sprawling and rural-like to me?

I then came upon these homes a block down from your streetview.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5112...vGyg!2e0?hl=en

It does have Chicagoland curbing and sidewalks. But the HOMES ON SLABS? Looks more like in Houston. LOL. Might have been my first guess of that 1st streetview of yours? As Houston area or just in Texas. Seeing simple ranch-homes on slabs down the block.

I would NOT call it ghetto at all. Of course I know most areas in Chicago that are the gangland crime areas? Look darn good for being seen as Ghettos.

The 2nd streetview? Looks VERY RURAL. But also still to me. More like Texas with homes down the street with no burming alongside the roads as in the east on either side of the road, and homes on slabs again or ground-level? Like Texas to also to me. I still would never guess rural and nowhere near Chicago. Actually south of Chicago and same county.

But then I was more familiar with North and Northwest suburbs then those south of the city.

Just opinion on your streetviews of Ford Heights IL.
The streetviews of Markham IL 1st just very wooded and rural and more Southern to me as a first guess. The second Again more Texas-like for some reason? LOL. I just would NOT guess Midwest or anywhere near Chicago and not Ghetto but Country and rural.

[MillennialUrbanist]

Originally Posted by DavePa

Just strolling down the street of your 1st Streetview. Just looks very Sprawling and rural-like to me?
...
I would NOT call it ghetto at all. Of course I know most areas in Chicago that are the gangland crime areas? Look darn good for being seen as Ghettos.

Looks can be deceiving. Ford Heights is actually the poorest suburb in the entire Chicago area. Possibly the most dangerous one for its size. They can't even afford a police department; Cook County sheriffs took over the policing role. Loitering, assaults, robberies, and even carjackings are quite common. I'd say Ford Heights is similar to California bad areas (Compton et al.): houses look decent, but the population is heavily crime-prone.

Markham is comparably better than Ford Heights in terms of crime. But it's still poor and has many abandoned areas. It lacks the elements needed to attract investment and foster growth. So when existing population moves away, it doesn't get replaced by newcomers, and nature reclaims the area. In fact, if you look closely at satellite views of Markham, you can see faint traces of former streets in parts of it.

I wanted to post something unexpected, rather than the usual urban shots of graffiti and rundown buildings. But you're right: it's very interesting how a dense urbanized suburb with a widespread street grid can look so rural.