What happened to the Crime?

[Rikrich]

Originally Posted by domergurl

Oh come on, don't be so dramatic. It's not like driving to a third world country. Heavens to bits, what would you do if you drove into NYC?

Chicago is a great city. A major WORLD city. If you compare Indianapolis to Chicago, well, there's no comparison. Bad parts, yes, absolutely, but I've been in neighborhoods in Indianapolis that scare me more than some of the neighborhoods in Chicago. At least in Chicago, you know where the bad places are. Here, it's hit or miss, street by street.

To each his own. I have no desire to visit the place, let alone live in Chicago.
I live in Indy, but moved here nearly five years ago from the Baltimore metro area. Indy is a safe and quiet small town compared to Baltimore. The crime here is nothing compared to what occurs in Charm City. No offense intended, but I find it rather hard to believe that you have been in neighborhoods in Indy that scared you more than some of the neighborhoods in Chicago. The homicide rate in Chicago, not to mention the crime rate is much higher. Again, to each is own. Chicago does not appeal to me based on what I have heard and read.

[domergurl]

Yes, to each his or her own. I always felt like there were cops around in Chicago, not so much so in Indianapolis. I remember one time, I had to go to Humbolt Park on the near west side of Chicago to file for unemployment. I took a city bus out there, did my business and went back to the busstop. A kind postal worker took one look at me and said "what are you doing here?" I told him what I was doing and he stood with me until my bus came. I don't think that would happen in Indianapolis in a neighborhood like Humbolt Park.

[sweetana3]

The same thing happened to my elderly inlaws in London. They were there during poll tax riots and the bus driver would not let them get off because he worried about their safety in a dangerous (at the time) area. So he took them ride back down to their starting point. There are nice people out there.

[Rikrich]

Originally Posted by domergurl

Yes, to each his or her own. I always felt like there were cops around in Chicago, not so much so in Indianapolis. I remember one time, I had to go to Humbolt Park on the near west side of Chicago to file for unemployment. I took a city bus out there, did my business and went back to the busstop. A kind postal worker took one look at me and said "what are you doing here?" I told him what I was doing and he stood with me until my bus came. I don't think that would happen in Indianapolis in a neighborhood like Humbolt Park.

I am VERY GLAD that postal worker was nice enough to stay with you until your bus arrived. Take care of yourself.

[bioteacher]

I wanted to respond to so many people's comments out there. We moved here from Daly City, CA (just south of SF). I worked in SF, downtown, for 6 years near one of the worst neighborhoods. There were drive by shootings in broad daylight.
We have been in Indy for about 2 months and we live in the city and WE HAVE CHILDREN. One of them is going to start kindergarten next year at public IPS Montessori and currently attends preschool at a private Montessori that cost less than 1/2 of what her Montessori cost in SF. I am an employee of the dept of education and despite the fact that I went to private schools K-12, I am planning on sending her to a public school in IPS. IPS has magnet schools that have excellent reputations. You can look at the demographics of these schools on the dept of ed's website and also at greatschools.net. These are not charter schools and these have lotteries to get into, but they are not that difficult to get into.
We live in Broad Ripple and we have had our share of crime, but most of it is cirmes of opportunity. People are not used to crime and therefore they don't know how to take steps to prevent it.
Indianapolis, so far, is a great city that is VERY affordable for families and has a lot to offer, but many people think that IPS is the pits so they go to Carmel, Fishers, Nobleville...etc.
My take is that it takes people investing in the schools and believing in something to make it valuable. If you want to know what it looks like when urban flight takes place, just look at St. Louis. I lived there for 4 years and the downtown is awful.

Just my humble opinion...