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Can anybody else confirm or refute this 7% statistic or link to a credible source? I've heard many times that crime rates have skyrocketed from Chicago transplants all over the Midwest. I'd have a hard time believing this drastic increase in crime is really due to 7000 people. Something isn't right here.
Forgive me for not reading the entire thread to see if the source is given. It's a REALLY long thread!
That is the statistic of people who left the projects. There are other people who have moved in.
The latest crime stats for city-data are from 2009. This is what I got for cities in Iowa for 2009.
City/Crime rate/murder rate/# of murders(notes)
Ames/211.1/0/0(Ames had 2 murders in 2007 and 4 in 2008)
Cedar Rapids/303.6/0.8/1(there were 6 murders in 2006, 3 murders in both 2007 and 2008)
Council Bluffs/648.9/3.4/2(Council Bluffs recorded a murder rate of 12 per 100,000 in 2000)
Davenport/436.8/3/3(highest murder rate ever record was in 2002 and 2005 with 7.1 murders per 100,000)
Des Moines/388.7/3/6(crime rate reached its peak in 2007 but have gone to a record low for the decade at 388.7)
Dubuque/284.1/3.5/2(highest crime rate in 2007)
Iowa City/193.0/1.5/1(In 2008 there was a murder rate of 10.4 per 100,000)
Sioux City/284.5/3.6/3(murder rate of 8.1 per 100,000 recorded for 2001)
Waterloo/444.3/3/2(high crime rate but relatively low murder rate)
Well, I have lived in Burlington just a few years. I can say I do not feel it is the safest place for a town of only 20,000. Since I have only lived here a few years, I do not feel it is my right to "judge" who commits the crime; I HAVE heard from several people who have lived here their whole lives that it didn't used to be like this. That it started getting bad when Tysen Food Company around Columbus Junction started busing in people from Chicago to work.
I know there is crime everywhere, I just hate that such small town Iowa can receive such a bad name! Like I said, I haven't been here nearly as long as some other people, so this is what I have heard from them.
One thing I don't get is this. If people are working, why would they commit crimes? My understanding is that idle hands make for more crime.
One thing I don't get is this. If people are working, why would they commit crimes? My understanding is that idle hands make for more crime.
Right- I understand exactly what you are saying. Again- from what I hear from people who have lived here is that "they" first started getting bused over to work; however, they did not necessarily continue working; this was their way out of Chicago, but no matter how long they actually worked, they still stayed living here.
Right- I understand exactly what you are saying. Again- from what I hear from people who have lived here is that "they" first started getting bused over to work; however, they did not necessarily continue working; this was their way out of Chicago, but no matter how long they actually worked, they still stayed living here.
And I wouldn't blame anyone for staying in Iowa. Unemployment rate in Iowa is lower than Illinois or in Georgia where I live. Right now Georgia is in the top 10 as far as highest unemployment rates. Iowa is in the bottom 10 in unemployment. Illinois isn't in the top 10, but it's still above the national average. So I can understand people moving to Iowa. My father is up there now working. He has a college degree and for some reason, work is harder to find in Georgia.
As far as the whole projects thing in regards to Chicago - a very large % of the people moving from Chicago did NOT come from the projects anyway. That whole 7,000 people who left the Chicago area from the projects is just a small number of the actual people from the troubled south and west sides who decided to leave.
My mom has taught in Iowa City for decades, and my old roommate actually worked 5 years in Chicago Public Schools, and has now done 5 years for the Iowa City Public Schools.
Both have said there were dozens of kids from Chicago who came into the school system, and none of them in their classes actually moved from the projects. It was normally extended families that would slowly move in groups as more and more people became grounded in Iowa and they spread the word about opportunities.
It's easier for people to move when they have a social base in their new home. The more friends and family were in Iowa, the more comfortable and confident others would have at joining them.
A large number are just looking for a better life, less crime and more opportunities for their families. They're trying to LEAVE the problems behind, not drag them to a new home. Unfortunately it's easier to take the person out of the ghetto than it is to take the ghetto out of the person. It's just a vastly different culture between the south side of Chicago and Iowa City. My roommate understood the Chicago ghetto culture, and she sees it popping up in Iowa City. To most people who grew up in that kind of environment, it's just completely normal. People in Iowa City see a lot of disrespectful, irresponsible behavior, but it's not that people are TRYING to be that way, it's just what they know. People being overly loud, littering, fighting, etc. The key is to break that culture with the new generation of kids moving to Iowa City. Teach them to understand that a lot of the crap that goes down in the trashed out areas of Chicago is NOT normal, and it's NOT how to live a successful life. A lot of it is just teaching people about mutual respect. What bothers me the most is this whole DISRSPECTING thing you get from people. You accidentally bump into someone on a bus or the street, and all the sudden you're DISRESPECTING them and have issues. No dude, I just bumbed into you and I'm sorry - I'm not trying to start a huge scene. No harm, no foul.
It's an issue that is evolving, but it's not as easy as gangbangers clearing out of the projects and setting up shop at some place off Broadway in Iowa City. That is happening as well, but it's certainly not a plural of the people moving.
As far as the whole projects thing in regards to Chicago - a very large % of the people moving from Chicago did NOT come from the projects anyway. That whole 7,000 people who left the Chicago area from the projects is just a small number of the actual people from the troubled south and west sides who decided to leave.
My mom has taught in Iowa City for decades, and my old roommate actually worked 5 years in Chicago Public Schools, and has now done 5 years for the Iowa City Public Schools.
Both have said there were dozens of kids from Chicago who came into the school system, and none of them in their classes actually moved from the projects. It was normally extended families that would slowly move in groups as more and more people became grounded in Iowa and they spread the word about opportunities.
It's easier for people to move when they have a social base in their new home. The more friends and family were in Iowa, the more comfortable and confident others would have at joining them.
A large number are just looking for a better life, less crime and more opportunities for their families. They're trying to LEAVE the problems behind, not drag them to a new home. Unfortunately it's easier to take the person out of the ghetto than it is to take the ghetto out of the person. It's just a vastly different culture between the south side of Chicago and Iowa City. My roommate understood the Chicago ghetto culture, and she sees it popping up in Iowa City. To most people who grew up in that kind of environment, it's just completely normal. People in Iowa City see a lot of disrespectful, irresponsible behavior, but it's not that people are TRYING to be that way, it's just what they know. People being overly loud, littering, fighting, etc. The key is to break that culture with the new generation of kids moving to Iowa City. Teach them to understand that a lot of the crap that goes down in the trashed out areas of Chicago is NOT normal, and it's NOT how to live a successful life. A lot of it is just teaching people about mutual respect. What bothers me the most is this whole DISRSPECTING thing you get from people. You accidentally bump into someone on a bus or the street, and all the sudden you're DISRESPECTING them and have issues. No dude, I just bumbed into you and I'm sorry - I'm not trying to start a huge scene. No harm, no foul.
It's an issue that is evolving, but it's not as easy as gangbangers clearing out of the projects and setting up shop at some place off Broadway in Iowa City. That is happening as well, but it's certainly not a plural of the people moving.
I think a clarification is in order. I did not state that 100,000 people moved here from the projects. I was just giving information to the public from a quantitative standpoint. For all I know, the 7,000 people that left Chicago were a diversity of African Americans, from the Brooks Brothers suited guy working at the Mercantile, whose family is 3 generations deep in the black middle class neighborhoods, such as Chatham or Morgan Park, to the working class stiff from Marquette Park who takes the El to and from work, and is concerned about the prevalence of gangbangers shooting up the streets and alleys of the neighborhood, to the working-class poor (or dope dealer) man/woman from Cabrini Green (of course, there are dope dealers out in the tony suburbs of Lake County as well, but that's another topic for another day). I can safely guess that the typical person moving outside of Chicago into neighboring states is one of the latter 2 demographics, and not the middle-class/upper middle-class AA, since most middle-class AAs from Chicago would probably gravitate towards areas with a strong black middle-class presence---think Atlanta, DC, Texas, or the Carolinas.
As far as migrants needing an education, that goes both ways. Many people in Iowa need to realize that just because someone is an African-American from Chicago doesn't mean they are a hazard to society. Stigmatizing doesn't do a society any good in the long term.
Last edited by Squeaky2012; 08-22-2011 at 01:53 PM..
Can anybody else confirm or refute this 7% statistic or link to a credible source? I've heard many times that crime rates have skyrocketed from Chicago transplants all over the Midwest. I'd have a hard time believing this drastic increase in crime is really due to 7000 people. Something isn't right here.
Forgive me for not reading the entire thread to see if the source is given. It's a REALLY long thread!
The statistic is from the Urban Institute, which is based in Washington DC, and deals with issues dealing with urban areas. (obvious point...) The institute has written extensively about the hemmoraghing of the black population in Chicago (Chicago has lost roughly 200,000 blacks since 2000), and the migration tales that ensued.
People need to realize that most black people in Chicago aren't super poor, but blame the media and intellectual laziness for that. In fact, most blacks left Chicago to move into middle-class suburbs---Country Club Hills outside of Chicago is one of the most prosperous suburbs in the United States, and is predominantly African American, with a curfew for children at roughly 9 PM---or went "home" to the South, to such places as Atlanta, Texas, and Mississippi, where there are large black middle-class communities, which is the norm, unlike the Midwest and Northeast.
I think a clarification is in order. I did not state that 100,000 people moved here from the projects. I was just giving information to the public from a quantitative point. For all I know, the 7,000 people that left Chicago were a diversity of African Americans, from the Brooks Brothers suited guy working at the Mercantile, whose family is 3 generations deep in the black middle class neighborhoods, such as Chatham or Morgan Park, to the working class stiff from Marquette Park who takes the El to and from work, and is concerned about the prevalence of gangbangers shooting up the streets and alleys of the neighborhood, to the working-class poor (or dope dealer) man/woman from Cabrini Green (of course, there are dope dealers out in the tony suburbs of Lake County as well, but that's another topic for another day). Being African American myself, and having family here from Marquette Park (my uncle lost his job with a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs in 2005), and conversing with others around the country, I can safely guess that the typical person moving outside of Chicago into neighboring states is one of the latter 2 demographics, and not the middle-class/upper middle-class AA, since most middle-class AAs from Chicago would probably gravitate towards areas with a strong black middle-class presence---think Atlanta, DC, Texas, or the Carolinas.
Having talked with people working in the school system in Iowa City, it's definitely the second group of people who are a majority of those moving into the community. Many people are coming for social services and welfare, which doesn't have anywhere near the level of competition as it does in Chicago. Middle class black people who have the money to move away are much more likely to move out to suburban places around Chicago with decent schools and low crime or to large cities down south as opposed to randomly going "Hey kids, lets go to Iowa".
The degree of open section 8 housing and social services in Iowa are what's initially appealing to those first rounds of people making the move. My roommate teaches at a school on the southeast side of Iowa City (she taught on the west side of Chicago for 5 years), and what really aggrivates her is the total lack of community association or interaction between those blacks moving into the southeast side and the rest of the city in general. She says it's almost like a closed off area down there. The people who moved from Chicago don't tend to have any interest at all in Iowa City, the University, the general area. The rest of the city just doesn't know what to think of them. It's a standoff on each side.
Of course that's just one group though, the one that people are talking about. There are thousands of other people moving in who have decent jobs, good kids and just want a new life for their families.
Right- I understand exactly what you are saying. Again- from what I hear from people who have lived here is that "they" first started getting bused over to work; however, they did not necessarily continue working; this was their way out of Chicago, but no matter how long they actually worked, they still stayed living here.
Did you ever think that the Native Americans may have felt the same about the white settlers? LOL
Last edited by Squeaky2012; 08-22-2011 at 02:04 PM..
^ I totally agree. Divesity is coming, and actually Iowa City put forth a pretty decent level of community involvement and interaction during 2010 with areas on the southeast side of Iowa City. I think 2008-2009 were the low point, and people were starting to get very concerned. There was a mini "riot" during 2009 with dozens of people involved, lots of arrests, police injuries. A few shootings, a pretty big spate of robberies and beatings around town with the whole "the suspects are described as being african american, approximately 5'10" to 6'1" tall, medium build, 180-200 pounds and last seen wearing blue hoodies" and a murder.
Things have quieted down a LOT though. There has been police and school involvement, and something like community open houses to gather residents concerns that live in the area, getting them on the news and out in the open - as opposed to just talking to white people about why THEY'RE upset. It helped that the news stations started going to the black residents and asking them what they thought about the crimes and their neighborhoods, issues, etc. instead of just talking to some white couple. It helped the new residents feel like they were part of the community and someone cared enough to follow up with them, and it made the white community see that it's just real people like them living down there - with the same concerns.
The largest cities in Iowa are now home to around 80,000 black residents, up by tens of thousands in the past 10 years.
Growth in AA population 2000 to 2010:
Cedar Rapids: +69%
Iowa City: +96%
Davenport: +21%
Dubuque: +225%
Waterloo: +14%
Sioux City: +17%
Ames: +50%
Des Moines: +46%
Interestingly the places who already had the largest black communities per capita, Waterloo and Davenport, actually saw the lowest amount of growth during the 2000's.
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