What is going on in Uptown???? (Sheridan: section 8, 2013, to live)

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by rgb123

I guess so. But I was just watching a special on CNN about how many murders there has been in chicago this year compared to other places...something does seem "off" they also showed the same video on CNN that I saw on here. It didn't click with me really that the newscaster guy said Uptown until later on, then I came here and saw the same video. He might have filmed the special last year...not sure but it was recent. It aired on CNN last night.

I have never known uptown to be the safest place, per se. But the amount of murders quoted in the OP is disturbing for any area, but that one area too. Why the spike?

I guess I'd have to see the segment. It's confusing though because Uptown has around 65,000 people, and has only seen 1 murder in the past year.

The city itself has seen a roughly 10-15% drop in murders this year, and is about in the middle as far as large city homicide rate.

[avamoore]

Originally Posted by Drover

Man, 25, fatally shot in Uptown - Chicago Tribune

There had only been three murders in Uptown in the last two years, and now all of a sudden three murders in three separate incidents in one week, two of them on the same block. You'd think that would be indicative of a drug turf war, but after reading the headlines it appears to be more random than that. Quite frightening.

I am to turn 50 in January 2010. I was both born and raised in Uptown. It was a ghetto when I was a child and I always heard it would be "gentrified" within 10 years. Well it's been a lot longer than that now and while it seems to be TRYING to turn itself around, my educated opinion is it will never be a good place to live. Too many scumbags still reside there and the low cost housing (915 w. wilson is one example) will ensure the neighborhood remains crappy. If you believe it will change for the better and want to live there, the best of luck to you but those murders are just the "reported" ones and nothing "new" at all. I still live close enough to know what was going on and is still going on there. But hey, look at the bright side. Sheridan road used to be a haven for working hookers, day and night. They seem to have disappeared and it only took 20 whole years to accomplish it too

[iwynns]

bottom line: uptown will not change. gangs have a history there and will remain there for at least another couple of decades. while hope is great, the truth is you need to suck it up or move out.

[Lookout Kid]

Most of you are completely ignoring the fact that there are truly only a few trouble spots left in Uptown, and that huge swaths of the neighborhood are safe, low-crime areas (Buena Park, Margate Park, Sheridan Park, and Andersonville Terrace, for instance). The neighborhood has improved on it's edges, and the edges are closing in on the middle.

Chicago60614 is on to something when he points out Uptown's relatively low murder rate. Uptown is prone to occasional flair-ups of violence, but is usually pretty quiet except for bums fighting with one another.

[Banx]

Originally Posted by Venom

Dude, there's a bunch of people who protest in bad neighborhoods.
The only reason these get attention is cus' they're yuppies.

exactly, i love how when the muggings were taking place in lincoln park the news anchor said "the police have stepped up" there and are on "high alert". how bout all the muggings that have been taking place here in humboldt park? or in garfield or lawndale? i guess it doesn't matter, there's no money over here, why care, why give those neighborhoods any attention? oh and let's not forget the gang shootings, the vehicle arsons, the crazy drug addicts, the homeless, even the littering and everything else happening over here, where alot of good people are also victims. just cause there is not alot of money around, or money trying to come in, it doesn't matter.

In terms of uptown, I don't understand why yuppies (or anybody) with alot of money would move there in the rougher areas, and then complain. someone brought up a black person moving into white neighborhood as an arguement, sure guess that makes sense, but at least in those times there were benefits to living in an upscale white neighborhoods, like better amenities and lifestyle. im talking about nowadays tho, what is the benefit if u have money, moving into rough parts of a neighborhood like uptown, that's dirtier, more dangerous and weird (all those mental patients there), as oppossed if u were to live in buena park or lakeview or even lincoln park instead? Why would u do that, and then complain about it? I'm not even trying to be offensive, it just really makes absolute 0 sense to me whatsoever. All it does is make the poorer people from the area angry n cause the prices everywhere to go up, which then is sparking more hate related crime. I've seen it here in humbolt park. I understand about wanting ur neighborhood to be safer i guess then, when u do that for whatever reason, but protesting like a bunch of hippies isn't goin to do nothin but make u look like whiners. if u want a neighborhood to change donate money to charities, contribute to a youth team sponsorship, do something for the children that involves eduction or anything to actually benefit the people living there as well as urselves, be creative. sitting around and whining and forcing people to either get rich or ditch isn't going to do anything. do something that'll make the neighborhood safer, and ur neighbors happy, instead of creating even stronger barriers that already exist in this city, do something to create a sense of community. it may sound like a dream, but the direction people are going in as of now is doing nothing.

[oakparkdude]

If you feel like the police and politicians aren't adequately addressing crime issues in your neighborhood, why wouldn't you protest? Should you just accept sub-par government as the norm? The only way the status quo changes is if people force it to change. If people in Lawndale or Garfield Park protested and put pressure on the government, maybe they'd see change too.

[jdiddy]

I don't see why its controversial that people who live in Uptown would like to make Uptown a better place to live. Yet apparently it is.

Strange.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by jdiddy

I don't see why its controversial that people who live in Uptown would like to make Uptown a better place to live. Yet apparently it is.

Strange.

Its a characteristic of the middle class ethic to constantly strive to improve their lot. I do acknowledge that its easier for middle class folk to agitate for improvement compared to poorer and less politically powerful working class. Nonetheless, its not impossible for even the poor and politically disenfranchised to successfully advocate for change.

[scarletneon]

Originally Posted by jdiddy

I don't see why its controversial that people who live in Uptown would like to make Uptown a better place to live. Yet apparently it is.

Strange.

No kidding.

And I don't understand why people automatically think that poorer people actually "like" to have thuglets running the streets.

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by Banx

these protesters who've been given the uptown alderman crap recently are idiots. they knew what they were getting into when they moved from their quiet areas outside of the city to uptown. i love how alot of morons think that just because a neighborhood is on the northside it must be safe, upscale, and lincoln park-esque. they need a big reality check. if they tried to pull these little protests out in humbolt park, they'd be laughed... or just stomped out. At the people who move here know what they're getting into and don't complain. It's really not even that bad in uptown compared to ALOT of other areas so they should probably just stop whining and grow a pair, or just move out. that riot or mob rush that happpened recently probably wasn't directed at yuppies but at other gang bangers, so if u don't want to be on the other end of that, don't get involved and stick ur neck where it doesn't belong... that simple. it always amuses me how these people move into these bad neighborhoods cause it's cheap and then complain about how scared they are and how dirty and unsafe it is. If you don't like baggy pants, 22 inch rims, fade haircuts, or rap music, and cry at the sight of gangbangers on a corner, don't move into the area, and if you do, don't whine about it. I don't understand what is so complicated about that. If you do move, just blend in, and you won't have any problems. donating to charities to help a neighborhood is one thing, but complaining and trying to forcibly change it is another. These moaners in uptown who are all "shocked" and surprised" by the so-called "crime" should just move to lakeview, no one's forcing them to stay.

What a jackass.