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I've lived in the Humboldt Park neighborhood for 8 years now. There is not one thing that any of you suburbanites or cyber-slummers could ever tell me about living in Chicago. The characterization of having to "dodge bullets" in the "shooting gallery" of Chicago is ludicrous. My biggest gripe about living here is...the litter.
A distinction that the Chicago-bashers refuse to make is that most of the victims of violent crime are themselves perpetrators of violent crime, as in "involved in gang activity". A vast majority of that gang activity occurs within specific areas. Does that mean that I don't think that's a problem? Of course it doesn't. I for one think, even if the problems are confined to certain areas, that they still need to be addressed aggressively by the city (which I feel, they've failed to do)
Not living in fear, however, does not mean you are living in denial when, in most neighborhoods, your chances of being a victim of crime/violence are negligible. While I'm sure my neighborhood would cause most of you suburbanites to wet your pants, you might be better served not making generalizations about matters that you have no actual knowledge or perspective on.
There will always be people that are ready to declare martial law after a couple of flash mobs, but thankfully, the rest of us are keeping things in perspective. I enjoy the many benefits of living in Chicago, a majority of which is a safe and vibrant city. Beyond employing your standard street-smarts and precautions that would be applicable in any city, I am not consumed with worry about my personal safety. I acknowledge that there are troubled neighborhoods in Chicago, so I also try to do my part as a member of the community to improve the conditions in those areas of the city that need it. But hey, call me crazy, I guess I'm more interested in actually solving problems than griping about them on the internet, and part of actually solving problems is actually having a realistic view of them.
Chicago actually could thrive with people like you and that philosophy.
But your only 1 in a pool of 2.7M people. Chicago could thrive and succeed like new York as a city. But now they are raising taxes again. You can NOT tax yourself into prosperity and Chicago's going to find out real quickly when the bill for the pension mess comes due that people wont take it much longer.
If you think losing 200,000 people is bad. imagine if taxes jump 25-50%.
Page 28 is 90% posts from butkus 51! Can someone please shut this guy up? It's no wonder he has over 500 posts and only 74 in reputation points. What a blabbering idiot, he's almost as bad as BRG.
Chicago actually could thrive with people like you and that philosophy.
But your only 1 in a pool of 2.7M people. Chicago could thrive and succeed like new York as a city. But now they are raising taxes again. You can NOT tax yourself into prosperity and Chicago's going to find out real quickly when the bill for the pension mess comes due that people wont take it much longer.
If you think losing 200,000 people is bad. imagine if taxes jump 25-50%.
Tell me more about how tax cuts for the rich creates jobs.
Cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Birmingham, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Boston have all lost population in the last several decades, especially as more and more people move into the suburbs.
The real measure of whether or not a city is doomed is if its metro is shrinking, or the flight of all the wealthy and educated people from the city happens, much like has happened in cities like Jackson, Memphis, and Detroit. Chicago's economy is much more diverse, and this is not happening. Chicago has actually recorded population growth since 2010.
So how many times have you been shot at in the mean streets of Chicago that you seem to be so afraid of?
I grew up in Little Village and he's right. It's nonstop. For a world class city in a first world country to have a 3rd world murder rate is messed up. There were gunshots, fights, rammings and everything else that goes along with it in my neighborhood every day it's no joke.
Page 28 is 90% posts from butkus 51! Can someone please shut this guy up? It's no wonder he has over 500 posts and only 74 in reputation points. What a blabbering idiot, he's almost as bad as BRG.
These 2 should get together but oh wait BRG won't go to Chicago and Butkus won't leave DG.
Calm down op. I live in Chicago and love it. Are there issues...duh! But there are plenty of positives. Why do you think Boeing left Seattle and went to Chicago (and not Dallas). Why do you think Motorola, McDonalds, Aon, Groupon, UAL, etc. are headquartered here?
It sounds like your rant is a vitriolic hatred of the Democrats and Obama. Yes, Chicago is ruled by entrenched Democrats the same way that much of the south is ruled by entrenched Republicans. A little diversity would be nice and maybe one day it will happen. But as long as the current Republican Party is ruled by its wing nuts it's going to be a long time before that happens here or in most major cities.
Remember though, we are the land of Lincoln (and even Reagan too). Some pretty prominent Republicans.
I grew up in Little Village and he's right. It's nonstop.For a world class city in a first world country to have a 3rd world murder rate is messed up.
Chicago doesn't even rank in the top 50 of cities by homicide rate in the world; however, places like Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore and Saint Louis all do:
Cities that *did* make it ahead of Chicago for their homicide rates include Philadelphia, Kansas City, Atlanta, Miami and even our nation's capital, D.C.!
How Chicago ended the 2012 year compared to other cities' rates can be seen here:
I will also note that there have currently been 79 homicides for 2013 in Chicago, giving the city an estimated homicide rate of ~2.9 per 100,000 thus far. Compare that to some nearby cities such as Milwaukee (16 homicides so far or ~2.7 per 100,000) and Indianapolis (38 homicides so far or ~4.6 per 100,000) and it paints a very interesting picture. I'm certainly not trying to brush off murders, because every single one is bad, but let's be real: given an apples-to-apples comparison, it's clear that Chicago's homicide rate is not abnormally high compared to many other large cities in the U.S.
Last edited by Maintainschaos; 04-10-2013 at 05:08 PM..
Calm down op. I live in Chicago and love it. Are there issues...duh! But there are plenty of positives. Why do you think Boeing left Seattle and went to Chicago (and not Dallas). Why do you think Motorola, McDonalds, Aon, Groupon, UAL, etc. are headquartered here?
It sounds like your rant is a vitriolic hatred of the Democrats and Obama. Yes, Chicago is ruled by entrenched Democrats the same way that much of the south is ruled by entrenched Republicans. A little diversity would be nice and maybe one day it will happen. But as long as the current Republican Party is ruled by its wing nuts it's going to be a long time before that happens here or in most major cities.
Remember though, we are the land of Lincoln (and even Reagan too). Some pretty prominent Republicans.
The corrupt politicians are just something you get used to - like the winters. Il seems to attract corruption. The governors are always getting arrested, Dem or Repub. The mayors and aldermen, like Vrydoliak are smarter. Your house might flood in the Spring, you may get eaten up by mosquitoes on your backyard deck, your puffy down coat might not keep you warm in the winter, you might be digging down at times to get to your car, it could take you a couple of hours to commute to your job, but if you're young and make a decent buck, there's lots going on, and you really don't mind the weather that much - and it sure beats WI.
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