which neighborhoods or zip codes must be avoided in Chicago at all cost? (Arlington Heights: buy, school)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Sometimes it drives me crazy that people in this city think crime can't travel.

When my roommate was mugged in Lakeview, the muggers didn't say "Thanks!" and then walk into their Belmont apartment. They got into a car that was waiting in an alley and drove away.

This city has streets and cars and trains and buses. You'd be an idiot to (pardon the phrase) sh** where you eat. Want to rob some people? Don't do it where you live! Jump in your buddy's Camry, drive to a neighborhood you can't afford, and rough up some upper-middle class recent UofM grad with a 70k-a-year investment firm job who 'never thought it could happen in their neighborhood'. You'll get better loot and you're probably less likely to get a whole crapload of resistance.

Seems logical to me.

The problem with this logic is that muggings are MUCH more common in "bad" neighborhoods like Austin, Englewood, East Garfield Park, etc. So people are definitely "doing their business" where they eat.

Yes, people get mugged in Lincoln Park and Lakeview. But people get mugged a lot more in Englewood, Austin, and the like.

[dragoro]

In a way he is right. True crime is commited by all races. And there's good and bad in all races. But overwhelmingly most of it is done by blacks. Whether its because of social issues or econimal issues or other issues, its the truth. Your much safer walking through a hispanic nieghborhood then a black nieghborhood. And no I'm no racist. I think browneyedgirl will attest to that.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

Right or wrong, this experience has made me very cautious of large groups of black people.

What if those black people were wearing business suits and doctor's coats?

The truth is that you are afraid of black people who look and dress a certain way. So why not say that instead? Not every African American is a thug. In fact, most African American teenagers who look like thugs aren't even thugs. They're just caving into peer pressure and trying to look cool to their friends in an urban environment.

[dragoro]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

What if those black people were wearing business suits and doctor's coats?

The truth is that you are afraid of black people who look and dress a certain way. So why not say that instead? Not every African American is a thug. In fact, most African American teenagers who look like thugs aren't even thugs. They're just caving into peer pressure and trying to look cool to their friends in an urban environment.

If they choose to dress like thugs they should expect to be treated that way. That's their own fualt.

[skyeINIL]

Originally Posted by dragoro

In a way he is right. True crime is commited by all races. And there's good and bad in all races. But overwhelmingly most of it is done by blacks. Whether its because of social issues or econimal issues or other issues, its the truth. Your much safer walking through a hispanic nieghborhood then a black nieghborhood. And no I'm no racist. I think browneyedgirl will attest to that.

No, he is not right. If you're comparing black neighborhoods with high crime (there is a difference between a black neighborhood with high crime and simply a black neighborhood; they don't always go hand in hand) and hispanic neighborhoods with high crime, then my chances of being a victim of a violent crime are about equal. I wouldn't feel any safer walking through Pilsen than I would Englewood.

[skyeINIL]

Originally Posted by dragoro

If they choose to dress like thugs they should expect to be treated that way. That's their own fualt.

In a way, I agree. I can't stand that sports jersey, baggy pants, corn row look on black men. It has nothing to do with their race, it's just a personal preference. Even when I was single and dated black men, I wouldn't even give that type the time of day. I didn't have the time or inclination to figure out if they were a thug or a real man.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by dragoro

In a way he is right. True crime is commited by all races. And there's good and bad in all races. But overwhelmingly most of it is done by blacks. Whether its because of social issues or econimal issues or other issues, its the truth. Your much safer walking through a hispanic nieghborhood then a black nieghborhood. And no I'm no racist. I think browneyedgirl will attest to that.

Sometimes. Not always. I'd walk Bronzeville top to bottom 10 times before I walked through Little Village once. That place is NASTY.

[Humboldt1]

Can someone please post the murder stats in Chicago again?

From memory:

Of murders committed

76% black
4% white
18% hispanic

Of those murdered

74% black
6% white
20% hispanic

People tend to murder their own, though blacks statistically account for a very slightly higher amount of murders committed.

I would love to see overall crime statistics if anyone has them for Chicago broken down.

Yes, the 4 guys that mugged me (1998) were black. One (5'9, 140lbs), hit me 8 times in the forehead, giving me a slight concussion, knocking my glasses off my face. He stole my CD player and didn't ask for any money (I had just withdrawn $200 from an ATM), while his 3 friends watched.

Fortunately as a 6'2, 185lb guy (I was a rower, so pretty strong too), I didn't fight back. I was mostly in shock. Good thing I didn't because as he was leaving I saw the silver shimmer of a 9mm handgun in his pocket. After he hit me and knocked my glasses off, I complained I couldn't see. He actually took the time to point to where my glasses had landed. I always felt this was kinda funny.

This happened at the border of St. Louis and Clayton (Wash U), next to a McDonald's at 8:30pm on a Monday night. It was on a busy street, similar to Fullerton in the middle of the street where they attacked me after asking for "bus fare to get back to their crib", starting at 50 cents to 5 dollars and then hey take his CD player. I filed a police report, got them in a lineup and everything but they got let go on a technicality. Two of the people who robbed me were identical twins and the police were not sure which one actually did it.

What infuriated me most was that no one on the busy street which suddenly became deserted once I was in the street. I actually saw a number of cars turn a couple of blocks prior to where I was getting attacked. This made me more angry with the potential good samaritans who did nothing to help than the actual people attacking me.

For those that don't know. St. Louis is mostly poor and black, while the suburbs have money and are mostly white and very segregated. I was in an area that appeared safe and wasn't. Right or wrong, I was the rich white kid from wash u in a neighborhood that didn't want to help me.

[Humboldt1]

I prefer Bronzeville to Little Village any day. I have issues with ghetto blacks, not blacks as a whole. Anyone who acts or looks like a ghetto black will have people assume they are and will be treated as such.

Buppies (black yuppies), like those in Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Kenwood, Oak Park are just fine. I have a number of buppie friends who won't give ghetto blacks the time of day. My handyman (black) when he refers to black people in a derogatory way and simply calls them "negroes".

I just hate poverty and all that it breeds. I feel for poor blacks, realizing they have a lot of issues to overcome but at some point a person has to take responsibility for themselves. Hanging out on street corners with corn rows and gold teeth acting like you are in a rap video is not going to allow blacks to advance their race.

I also have issues with hispanics who look and act like thugs. I have noticed this is more prevalent among puerto ricans than mexicans but I suspect this will change with more 2nd generation Mexicans. First generation Mexicans are too busy working to get by to be involved in this crap (some are obviously), but for the most part they are out there working construction and waiting on tables doing jobs most Americans have chosen not to do.

[aragx6]

Actually St. Louis city (according to City-Data) is 51.2% black, 42.9% white, 2% Hispanic.

Also many of St. Louis' suburbs have black people in them- shows a lack of knowledge about the area.

And Wash U is in U City, not Clayton, and if you were at the McDonald's I think you were (Clayton and Big Bend) then you were actually closer to Richmond Heights than anything else, which is a perfectly safe area- you just hit some bad luck.