Degree of danger facing a white visitor to the Southside and Westside? (Chicago: renting, crimes)

[michaelwest]

I will be arriving in Chicago this July for a five month stay. I am a white male researcher with the gang prevention unit at the University of Sydney in Australia. As part of my research I plan to extensively visit the Southside and Westside whilst in Chicago, primarily focusing my studies on West Garfield Park and Austin in the west and the Englewood, West Englewood, Gage Park region in the south. I am well aware that there is a very high level of gang violence in these areas.

What risk though will I actually face while visiting these neighbourhoods?

I've spent time in similar problematic neighbourhoods in LA (South central, compton, watts, etc), which despite their reputation are obviously still normal suburbs where people carry out their day to day lives, albeit in the presence of higher than average levels of crime.

I will spend the initial weeks getting the lay of the land by driving through the region (day and night), but then hope to spend time walking around during the day later on. Is there a considerable risk of being mugged in the daytime? As a white person am I likely to be heckled? How (to the best of your knowledge) would people hanging around in the street react if I approached them in a friendly manner? Will my Australian accent have any positive/negative effect?

Cheers,
Mike

[Lookout Kid]

It will probably be about the same level of risk that you would face in L.A.--just spread over a larger portion of the city.

If you are in a group of people interacting or in some institution like a school, the risk will be low. I'd worry more about burglary of a parked car, or danger when you are actually outside of a car walking from place to place alone. Most of the residents of these tougher neighborhoods are decent people, but there are certainly predatory individuals looking for easy victims.

I've done several work-related projects in tougher parts of the city, but I'm usually in and out pretty quickly and only around for a short stay. Heckling is certainly not common, and if anything your accent will probably help you seem outside of the normal racial tensions that exist. The only time I've been called a racial slur in Chicago was on the North Side in Uptown, and the dude was basically a homeless addict so it didn't phase me much.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by michaelwest

I will be arriving in Chicago this July for a five month stay. I am a white male researcher with the gang prevention unit at the University of Sydney in Australia. As part of my research I plan to extensively visit the Southside and Westside whilst in Chicago, primarily focusing my studies on West Garfield Park and Austin in the west and the Englewood, West Englewood, Gage Park region in the south. I am well aware that there is a very high level of gang violence in these areas.

What risk though will I actually face while visiting these neighbourhoods?

I've spent time in similar problematic neighbourhoods in LA (South central, compton, watts, etc), which despite their reputation are obviously still normal suburbs where people carry out their day to day lives, albeit in the presence of higher than average levels of crime.

I will spend the initial weeks getting the lay of the land by driving through the region (day and night), but then hope to spend time walking around during the day later on. Is there a considerable risk of being mugged in the daytime? As a white person am I likely to be heckled? How (to the best of your knowledge) would people hanging around in the street react if I approached them in a friendly manner? Will my Australian accent have any positive/negative effect?

Cheers,
Mike

In general, wear plain, neutral colors, don't wear anything fancy or carry anything that looks valuable, and you'll get plenty of stares, but are unlikely to have any serious problems. People on the street are likely to be somewhat suspicious of you at first because they won't know what your intentions are (are you a suburbanite looking to score some drugs? are you a cop? are you just a lost white boy? are you a white guy who's looking to buy cheap property and try to flip it as an investment? are you a ghetto tourist? some might even get around to wondering if you are from the University of Chicago or Depaul or UIC sociology departments?). Whites who don't appear to be affiliated and are in gang areas are often treated with deference because gangs make a lot of money off of suburban whites who can (and do) drive into the neighborhoods to buy drugs, so it's in the gangs' interest for those white people to keep coming. Only the worst-off addicts would come to an area known to be actually dangerous for white people. Plus, for better or worse, it's often assumed that police will respond with much more force if a white person is attacked in a black neighborhood. I don't know if that's true or not, but many people - both black and white - operate under that assumption.

Austin and Gage Park are the most functional of the places you've listed. They are (mostly) working neighborhoods that just have bad reputations and some gang problems.

West Garfield Park and Englewood have more in common with Detroit than they do with LA. You'll observe very serious infrastructure and social decline, many, many vacant lots. Once they figure out you're just a researcher, you may observe open drug markets. You will undoubtedly observe signs of a drug marketplace (watchers, runners, etc) even if they put transactions on hold while they figure out who you are.

That said, there is still increased risk of being mugged or assaulted as compared to a non-gang area - I'm not saying it's perfectly safe for you - but approach people with respect. Be honest with them. Politely but firmly hold your ground if it becomes necessary. Don't run unless it's a physical imperative. Know how to sweet-talk your way out of an accidental insult with people who may be operating with a violently aggressive version of what the Chinese call "face". If you can do those things, you'll be fine.

Your Australian accent will be a novelty. It'll be neutral. You will be mistaken for British by many people. Those who like it, may be so distracted by it that you'll have a hard time getting any useful info from them. Few will be offended by it, unless someone has a particularly big anti-immigrant chip on their shoulder. But it being a distraction from your desired topics of conversation will probably be the bigger issue.

[jonnynonos]

I would try to find a resident of those neighborhoods to try take you around.

The odds of people walking up and causing trouble are not very good. At the same time the consequences of finding yourself in a situation you suddenly realize you would give nearly anything to get out of could be very bad.

And while not very good, yes, there is a chance.

That being said I would imagine telling people you're a prof and want to talk to them would go a long way to diffusing any situation.

[Attrill]

Since you're affiliated with the gang prevention unit at the University of Sydney in Australia you should reach out to your counterparts at Northwestern, University of Chicago, or other schools in Chicago. Community based groups would also be a good resource.

If you're walking around during the day I think you'd just be regarded as an oddity. I've spent some time in rough areas doing construction work, and also doing some tutoring when I was in college. Almost all of the time people assumed I was a tradesworker, social worker, or sometimes thought I was looking to buy drugs. The last was the worst, a couple times people were pissed off at me for not buying drugs, but I was never seriously threatened.

[cubssoxfan]

Just bring this "mate" with you and you should be fine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01NHcTM5IA4

[chet everett]

I too have driven through parts of Chicago that are well known for high levels of violence because of my work location -- it saved timed compared to commute via crowded expressways. During the daytime the lack of any sort of "normal" commercial establishment and very poor public transit options makes the presence of non-minorities pretty conspicuous. Odds are any white person in likely to be assumed to be associated with "official government business" during daylight / business hours. Not sure this will work to your advantage. In fact I suspect any sane college professor with ties to Chicago would recommend against any of their grad students undertaking such a first hand exploration like this -- probably makes more sense to try to work with CPD and just review footage from their extensive network of remote cameras at this point in time...

It is hard to say how much actual danger one would be in but it seems foolhardy to attempt this sort of thing without having some kind of well planned out local "support network". Top of my list would be a BIG OLD CLUNKY NON-SMART PHONE so that you can rely on that to get assistance. Even a crazed crack head / wanna be tough guy middle schooler is not going to bother trying to punch somebody in the back of the head to grab something that is so outdated even Wal~Mart would not sell it. Similarly some disposable type old fashioned preloaded "party camera" is the only kind of camera I would carry as anything that looks digital / expensive is going to attract the wrong attention. I would think on of the first thing you will need to do is have some local friends so that if you get disoriented / have vehicle trouble you can count on them as you probably cannot rely on Chicago Police to respond to those kinds of requests. I would also strongly suggest renting a nondescript older vehicle instead anything that looks too new / valuable. I suspect that if you were to approach any officials of CPD they would strongly dissuade you from spending time in any of the known hotspots after dark. This is not a video game. If you somehow end up in the wrong place with some idiots firing weapons at each other by yourself you will likely not be magically rescued but will likely become an statistical addition to the death toll in this city...
Daytime "muggings" are pretty uncommon but that may be a function of how rare it is for "outsiders" to head into the worst part of Chicago. Incidence of cell phone theft, car theft / vandalism and other minor properties crimes is quite high in the worst parts of Chicago and it would foolish to expect one's self, likely carrying valuable electronic gear, would not be at high risk of becoming a target.

Chicago's worst neighborhoods are increasingly NONFUNCTIONAL. Even many former immigrant owned liquor stores and such simply have decided the considerable risks of violence are not worth the modest income potential. Actual drug addicts that are so bad off that they would consider heading to the worst of the worst likely do not have an automobile to get them there. Depopulation is leaving only those without any alternatives whatsoever in the worst stretches. Homeless people are being pressed into service to sell produce as a means of supplanting the bleak prospects of purchasing any food...

[emathias]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

I would try to find a resident of those neighborhoods to try take you around.
...

This is good advice, too.

[Chicago_Josh]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Just bring this "mate" with you and you should be fine

Is That a Knife - YouTube

Lol

[marothisu]

I have been to Gage Park and Englewood (and East Garfield Park) and didn't have a problem - although I would say that in Englewood, I didn't see a ton. Gage Park is actually about 5% white. I would agree that if you can find a resident to take you around, that's better and try and wear neutral colors and nothing fancy.

Is it possible you could be the target of a crime? Absolutely. Is it possible you could go through there without (a) being targeted and (b) seeing a single crime? Absolutely. It depends on your "luck" perhaps like any area really, IMO.