Fun things to do in Chicago with friend from Japan (Springfield: top hotels, hotels)

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Standard111

Given there many times more murders in Chicago annually than deaths from car accidents, I find this statement absurd.

Your car is a heck of a lot safer place than many streets in the city. Try most of the South and West Sides.

You're absolutely right, I should qualify that statement:

If you visit Chicago and are a gang member or immerse yourself in the drug trade, then you run a higher risk of becoming a victim of homicide than the average tourist. If, however, like the vast majority of tourists, you avoid conflict with gang members and the drug markets, you run a very low risk of physical harm, and in fact have a statistically higher risk of injury or death during you transit by automobile to and from Chicago.

I was going under the assumption that the OP wasn't a drug dealer, drug buyer, or a gang member. But perhaps I should not automatically assume that.

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Standard111

Given there many times more murders in Chicago annually than deaths from car accidents, I find this statement absurd.

Your car is a heck of a lot safer place than many streets in the city. Try most of the South and West Sides.

As others have said, homicides in Chicago are concentrated in very specific areas that no tourist is going to be visiting. It's also important to note that if you aren't male, between the ages of 15 and 25, and African American or Hispanic, then your odds of being a homicide victim are incredibly low (in most years about 90-95% of homicide victims fit those demographics).

Another thing to remember about traffic deaths is that Chicago has far fewer deaths per capita than the rest of the state. Mostly because Chicago residents drive far fewer miles than the state average, and average speeds on city streets are much lower.

[glass_of_merlot]

Go eat sushi at Marianos.

[Midwest Revival]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Bluegrassfever:

This Chicago crime hysteria in the national media is turning grown adults in to boogeyman-fearing wusses. Spend a day walking around the only areas of Chicago that tourists even consider visiting, and you'll really feel silly about the title of your post.

Then again, I managed to live and work within the city limits of Chicago for well over a decade without getting mugged or shot. So you should be fine leaving your cheesy River North hotel to go to the damn Giordano's with all of the other tourists from Iowa City.

So....You wouldn't want a tourist visiting the Garfield Park Conservatory or the Pullman area just because its high crime?

You guys always complain about how divided the city is then your discourage tourist from visiting all parts of the city. Let them see the ugly truth that Chicago is not all glass skyscrapers and fancy cafes..

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by Midwest Revival

So....You wouldn't want a tourist visiting the Garfield Park Conservatory or the Pullman area just because its high crime?

You guys always complain about how divided the city is then your discourage tourist from visiting all parts of the city. Let them see the ugly truth that Chicago is not all glass skyscrapers and fancy cafes..

No, I would not recommend the Garfield Park Conservatory to this bedwetter. Others, sure.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by Midwest Revival

So....You wouldn't want a tourist visiting the Garfield Park Conservatory or the Pullman area just because its high crime?

You guys always complain about how divided the city is then your discourage tourist from visiting all parts of the city. Let them see the ugly truth that Chicago is not all glass skyscrapers and fancy cafes..

What's wrong with Garfield Park Conservatory? I take visitors there all the time, they love it. It's so beautiful in there.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Midwest Revival

So....You wouldn't want a tourist visiting the Garfield Park Conservatory or the Pullman area just because its high crime?

You guys always complain about how divided the city is then your discourage tourist from visiting all parts of the city. Let them see the ugly truth that Chicago is not all glass skyscrapers and fancy cafes..

Both are great - but you're out of your mind if you think 99.5% of tourists want to go to a high crime area (Garfield Park Conservatory is an example of an exception, of course). Very very few tourists do that just to see what it's like on the streets of a bad neighborhood. Most tourists, no matter what city around the world it is, want to experience an area where they don't have to worry about much crime even if they want to experience a place popular with the locals.

I don't think you get the point of tourism if you think that sending someone to Englewood for the hell of it is something that almost any tourist would want to do.

[sfcambridge]

Well, men grabbed my A$$ much more often in Tokyo than in Chicago. I am serious. It happened to me multiple times on the subway/escalators leaving the subway in Tokyo. Those Japanese businessmen... I would turn around and they would be staring off into the distance, whistling....

So I'd say it's more dangerous for a woman in Tokyo. No strangers have ever grabbed my A$$ in Chicago.

[jwaiter]

Women in Chicago would file an assault charge!

[tcannon2007]

Originally Posted by Blue Grass Fever

I just don't want to go to Chicago and leave in a body-bag is all!

I think Chicago is more dangerous than Detroit and Flint, Michigan combined! (Maybe "stats" will prove this to cynically-minded people?)

I do appreciate everyone's two cents on the matter. Please keep tips and pointers coming.

Thanks.....

The media overhypes the violence here. You'll be fine. Welcome to the Windy City