Stickney area?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by deeman7

There is 'Gang violence' Brookfield and Berwyn too.

Originally Posted by BRU67

I'm unaware of any gang violence in Stickney but who knows these days right? Do bear in mind though that people in the near suburbs define "gang" violence and activity much more broadly than city dwellers do. An empty Popeye's box and two liter bottle of grape Nehi on the front lawn will be taken as signs of imminent decline there, whereas the new residents of Logan Square will react to gun shots down the block by turning up the TV. Somewhere in the middle lies the balance!

Originally Posted by brashjays

I've never heard anything nice about Stickney. A friend who grew up there has seen gang violence in person, not to mention the "Stinkney, ****ney" jokes that come with the unfortunate sewage situation. As others have suggested, renting north or west in Berwyn or Brookfield gives you affordable options and perhaps a more savory area.

The comment by deeman is laughable -- the police forces of Berwyn and Brookfield likely do some kind of "community meetings" where they stress the importance of filing police reports when a lawnmower is stolen or a "gang tag" is done by some sad wannabe in the alley, but there are no gang members stupid enough to actually try to set up things like a permanent "drug selling operation" in areas where the police and courts would come down like a ton of bricks on them. The kids from Stickney that go to Morton West are indistinguishable from kids in Berwyn. Kids from Brookfield attend either Lyons Township or Riverside-Brookfield High and they are not going to throw away their lives on gangs when their classmates are working hard to get into good colleges.

BRU67 is correct that home owners in traditional working class areas have absolutely no tolerance for people that do not respect the community standards of tidyness. I literally have seen older grandma types in Berwyn washing their concrete stairs with a bucket of soapy water and scrub brush. That sort of devotion to "keeping up appearances" is part of an old world ethic that mostly is a good thing.

I don't doubt that there have been gang members that cross over the border with Chicago or Cicero who end up getting involved in crime in Stickney but it is also very unlikely that a town where many folks do depend on employment with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (which is responsible for treating sewage for Chicago and many surrounding communities) would risk such activity hurting the much more reliable income & pensions they are entitled to. That sort of "don't mess around here" mindset is key factor in why city workers enjoy the quiet of Garfield Ridge or Jefferson Park...

The relative reach of "unpleasant odors", which are really more like that scent of warm soil than anything that you'd associate with a latrine or port-a-potty, from the treatment plant and associated sludge fields is driven by prevailing winds and for the most part those blow from WEST to EAST so that does not impact the residential areas. Of course when the winds come from the SOUTH that can push the odors toward the residential area, though that is not so common and often occurs where there is a rain storm which would mitigate things...

[ToriaT]

I doubt if there is any real gang violence in Stickney and Berwyn. There are crimes for sure here and there, and there have been shootings (rare) but mostly its found the indivduals were only visitors to the area. There is some garage tagging, car theft break ins and garage break ins. Those can be found in many suburban areas.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by chet everett

BRU67 is correct that home owners in traditional working class areas have absolutely no tolerance for people that do not respect the community standards of tidyness. I literally have seen older grandma types in Berwyn washing their concrete stairs with a bucket of soapy water and scrub brush. That sort of devotion to "keeping up appearances" is part of an old world ethic that mostly is a good thing...

It also has its dark side. What happens when people constantly overreact to things is you create an overall sense that things are getting worse, and that creates a self fulfilling prophecy. It can cause people to move, or at least make a decision that this isn't a place they want to stay long term. Cicero's demographics changed very quickly in the 1980s, and Berwyn's changed in the 1990s and 2000s. Sure, some of that had to do with the aging population, but not all of it. And Berwyn, at least, experiences constant turnover, where young educated couples move in for the location and housing stock and then get out when their kids hit school age (certainly by high school and often well before). That has prevented meaningful improvement of the public school system, which is critical to a suburb. Chicago neighborhoods can get away with having crappy schools. Suburbs can't for whatever reasons.

I'm certainly not saying those communities went into the toilet. I think Berwyn is truly better than it was 15 years ago (by most measures), and Cicero isn't even remotely as bad as people make it out to be. But a lot of turn over tends to keep values depressed and prevents true community improvement from taking root. There has to be tolerance without too much tolerance, if that makes any sense. Maybe with the Millennial and "Gen Z" we'll get that. Time will tell!

[ToriaT]

I agree with BRU. I'm not from the area and I bought a two flat there in Berwyn a few years ago. Sure its not like where I live out in DuPage county but its not the ghetto either. It reminds me a little of where I grew up. I would not parade around the streets at night but its not as bad as some make it. Cicero is the same. I'd feel safer there than in most places in the city. It turns out that people call the police at the drop of a hat in Berwyn. And they come and quickly. They have a very strong police force. You won't find that in Chicago. I've gone to a few places in Cicero and its not the place people make it out to be. I'm not saying I want to live there but its not that bad.