Police Step Up Patrols After Lakefront, Downtown Mob Attacks

[Alacran]

Yeah there's a couple shootings in avondale every year.
Like last year when that mom pushin a stroller got shot around halloween on belmont

[chikid]

Well maybe I am out of touch with Avondale? I live in the northeastern part of the neighborhood. I live by Roscoe and Elston and nothing ever happens around there. So maybe I just assumed incorrectly based on my experiences of where I live in Avondale?

I guess I have always felt that part of Avondale had more in common and was more like Irving Park and North Center than it is with the rest of Avondale. I will admit I don't really venture west of the Kennedy in Avondale unless I am going to Best Buy.

[chikid]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

There have been pretty consistent (although infrequent, maybe a few a year) gang shootings in Avondale, the area around Small Bar, and just a few weeks back there was homicide just south of Belmont & California.

Yes, I heard about that incident on Belmont and California.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by chikid

Well maybe I am out of touch with Avondale? I live in the northeastern part of the neighborhood. I live by Roscoe and Elston and nothing ever happens around there. So maybe I just assumed incorrectly based on my experiences of where I live in Avondale?

I guess I have always felt that part of Avondale had more in common and was more like Irving Park and North Center than it is with the rest of Avondale. I will admit I don't really venture west of the Kennedy in Avondale unless I am going to Best Buy.

It's safe IMO, but my standards are definitely urban and were formed in that freewheelin' turbulent decade known as the 80s (apologies to Homer Simpson).

What Avondale has due to the expressway, river and diagonal streets like Milwaukee & Elston is a lot of weird residential pockets that are cul de sacs for practical purposes. Very minimal street traffic means the hoodlum element feels safe to do what they will.

The funny thing is, if the neighborhood ever goes the way of Bucktown or Wicker, these areas will end up being prized by the newly arriving families who don't like a lot of traffic due to safety/kid concerns.

It's like the thing with the basketball courts. Someone 10 years from now trying to get something like that installed will be tearing their hair out when they learn they used to be there but were removed for safety reasons. People have really short memories for this stuff.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by jdiddy

When you look at the actual murder rates and crime rates across all cities in the US, turns out concealed carry does little. Chicago's murder rate was in the same neighborhood as Tulsa, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Cincinatti, Philly, and Nashville in '09.

Still, I'm not opposed to concealed carry for responsible, sane, law-abiding citizens if it makes them feel safer. Just stop pretending like its any kind of a solution to gun violence.

CC does nothing because most homicides are suspect-victim related, so you are correct in that it isn't a solution to gun violence. People focus on homicides like the vast majority are stranger related. CC does however give truly innocent people a fighting chance. We have seen an explosion of these incidents of unrelated victims getting viciously attacked. What is nice about CC is that it at least gives law abiding people the ability to carry a product that has a proven track record of stopping humans via injury.

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Just in the past 24 hours, and it's distrubing that the articles are clearly trying to make it about race.....:

That is because it is about race. Unless there are zero, zilch black people who live/visit these areas, then why are the victims constantly white? There is a decent enough % of black people who are so bitter, they constantly bash white people in the home. Racism is a two way street. There is plenty of "We are victims, it's the white folks fault!" nonsense being spewed from the adults that it isn't shocking these black mobs of young kids are targeting white people: Denver, Iowa State Fair, Kansas City, Philadelphia. There are plenty of news reports on these incidents. Funny how not one black person is found who claims to be a victim. It is all people from different races, except black. Most are Caucasian.

[j_cat]

Originally Posted by Haley Wood

Okay, I haven't had anything to say about this since I don't live there, but I have been following the threads related to it. At first, I thought it was just the media getting frisky about one story, but now it's looking like there's more to it. Now that I've read this Flash mob victim: (which doesn't mention race at all either), I'm a little more concerned. If I relocate to Chicago, I definitely want to live in-city, and I'm definitely not going to be packing heat (although bear mace might be an option for me), and I sure hope that Rahm and the CPD can find some constructive ways to deal with what could be a real problem for Chicago on many levels.

Don't freak out. Crime happens, this has yet to be statistically meaningful, and if it does become so, there's no reason to think it will be constrained within city limits. Or constrained within a particular city, for that matter.

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

jeesh, could you at least replace "depravity" with, I dunno, "poverty"?

I can't even fathom what black Chicagoans must think of these message boards some times...

I recognize that it is pretty awkward sometimes, and so I try to avoid some of the more dramatic discussions, but all I'm going to say is that "poverty" can be a bit of a cop-out. Look closely at the stats, and you'll find that not everyone reacts the same way to being penniless. What we're looking at in cities like Chicago is a very particular culture of violence, not just poverty, and that culture has a way of perpetuating itself.

[Haley Wood]

Originally Posted by j_cat

Don't freak out.

Oh, I'm not. It's going to take a lot to talk me out of my current crush on Chicago with restaurant delivery and dog food delivery and sailing right near downtown! But I did get an email today from a friend asking "Are you sure you want to move to Chicago?!" with new crime updates. I just replied that it's a city, so there's going to be some issues, but of all the cities, it's the best fit for me right now, and I'm sure as heck not going to live in some place just to be safe. I mean, I might be safe in North Platte, NE or Longview, WA, but I sure as hell can't "live" there

[j_cat]

Originally Posted by Haley Wood

I mean, I might be safe in North Platte, NE or Longview, WA, but I sure as hell can't "live" there

lol, I actually have a soft spot for small towns, but I know what you mean