What has happened to Chicago? (Burnham, Phoenix: houses, neighborhood, to buy)

[atler8]

Originally Posted by Robert9

See that is exactly what I mean. We used to have pride and think big. Now we think small and have no pride.
Everything we were once known for is gone. very sad

Oh please!

[Robert9]

Originally Posted by atler8

Oh please!

yes its sad that Chicago has become what it has

[Paul Andre Betancourt]

There are things that I really love about Chicago including its skyline, the lake, two airports and public transportation. But, the things that I despise about Chicago override the good.

Chicago is extremely racist. I don't care that the Mayor is a Black woman. I don't care that she is gay. Chicago is racist, and it's well documented.

My own personal experiences:
- Can't count how many times I legally crossed the street at a stop sign and random racists tried to run over me;
- Waiters are notoriously racist;;
- Boystown and its racist gays are infamous. Nothing beats racist gays claiming that they are discriminated against;
- People are nice to you dependent upon race;
- The taxes are too high;
- The city is corrupt;
- City employees are bankrupting the budget with overtime pay and pensions. How is your annual base salary $105,000 but you earned $215,000? And, your pension will be based on the $215,000!
- It's cold.

Chicago is falling off, and it's well deserved.

[Master Jay]

I try to stay away from labels. But, I am Hispanic. I indeed speak in Spanish, in public with my children ( sometimes in earshot of people who possibly don't speak Spanish) OR with people who predominately speak/choose to speak Spanish.
I have spent many times in Edison Park, Chinatown, Little Village, Little Italy, etc. (all sides of town, different ethnic-majority neighborhoods). I have NEVER felt the victim of racist attitudes. Not once! I guess I'm.... lucky? All I can say is: I treat everyone with respect, and up until now have always been treated with respect. It is unfortunate for those who have not had the same experience.

[personone]

Originally Posted by ChiGuy2.5

LOL What?! Per capita is the ONLY way to compare cities. How could you possible use the total number of crimes to consider Chicago "dangerous". Chicago is not nearly as dangerous as people make it out to be. It's a massive city. On any average day it would take me an hour to drive from end to end.

The other thing about total numbers, fair or not, is that they make headlines. Baltimore, Memphis, etc. since they are much smaller will not have the same high level of total numbers. The media headlines don't advertise "per capita;" the general public doesn't always understand that. They will just show the raw total numbers. Because Baltimore, Memphis, etc. are so much smaller, they won't have those wild total numbers that make headlines.

Every weekend in the summer, Chicago has staggering total numbers of shootings/murders that make headlines. NYC, LA, Houston- cities with equally large (much larger in the case of NYC/LA) populations do not have the same high total numbers- which is why Chicago will continue to make negative headlines and be perceived as "dangerous."

So even with per-capita being the more "fair" way to evaluate crime; the media will continue to use TOTAL numbers, and Chicago's negative reputation with crime will continue to be perpetuated until it lowers its TOTAL violent crimes numbers.

[atler8]

Originally Posted by Robert9

yes its sad that Chicago has become what it has

I don't mean to be rude but your "everything we were once known for is gone" remark is comparable to basic hyperbole and overlooks everything that is right about Chicago!
A basic problem common to the notion of the, "All is lost!", mindset is that nothing really stays the same over the course of our lives and our standards & perspectives for comparably viewing things change over time as we age. Thus, when we go looking for everything we thought was best and wonderful that we knew of as children or as young people, we find that they have changed and aren't as we once saw them. Sadly, too often there is a reaction to then bemoan how terrible things are as compared to years ago. I'm guilty of doing so myself!
A detail often overlooked when current crime in Chicago is described as the "end of the world", is that of perspective. When I lived in DuPage county in the mid 1970's, the City of Chicago typically had 800-900 murders per year. Over the course of time, that record-breaking pace declined sharply. The same thing will play out with crime again and is perhaps already doing so.
Please don't take my word for it though. Go research the old crime stats for yourself.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Robert9

yes its sad that Chicago has become what it has

Why is Boston doing much better than Chicago? Why is Madison,WI doing better? Why is Denver,Co doing much better than Chicago? It sounds like this is mainly a Chicago problem.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Paul Andre Betancourt

There are things that I really love about Chicago including its skyline, the lake, two airports and public transportation. But, the things that I despise about Chicago override the good.

Chicago is extremely racist. I don't care that the Mayor is a Black woman. I don't care that she is gay. Chicago is racist, and it's well documented.

My own personal experiences:
- Can't count how many times I legally crossed the street at a stop sign and random racists tried to run over me;
- Waiters are notoriously racist;;
- Boystown and its racist gays are infamous. Nothing beats racist gays claiming that they are discriminated against;
- People are nice to you dependent upon race;
- The taxes are too high;
- The city is corrupt;
- City employees are bankrupting the budget with overtime pay and pensions. How is your annual base salary $105,000 but you earned $215,000? And, your pension will be based on the $215,000!
- It's cold.

Chicago is falling off, and it's well deserved.

Chicago was always a racist city. It was also a very ethnically divided city. It was like this from day one. Alot of American cities have racism, period.

[CCrest182]

Originally Posted by personone

The other thing about total numbers, fair or not, is that they make headlines. Baltimore, Memphis, etc. since they are much smaller will not have the same high level of total numbers. The media headlines don't advertise "per capita;" the general public doesn't always understand that. They will just show the raw total numbers. Because Baltimore, Memphis, etc. are so much smaller, they won't have those wild total numbers that make headlines.

Every weekend in the summer, Chicago has staggering total numbers of shootings/murders that make headlines. NYC, LA, Houston- cities with equally large (much larger in the case of NYC/LA) populations do not have the same high total numbers- which is why Chicago will continue to make negative headlines and be perceived as "dangerous."

So even with per-capita being the more "fair" way to evaluate crime; the media will continue to use TOTAL numbers, and Chicago's negative reputation with crime will continue to be perpetuated until it lowers its TOTAL violent crimes numbers.

Some news sources... namely *Fox News*, use Chicago crime to tout their agenda because it fits their "liberalism/Democrat city bad" narrative. Chicago has also been a hotbed for the "gun control" debate, as it has been the city with the strictest gun laws, yet crime still happens. It's why you don't hear the same thing about other, more Republican parts of the country.

I don't really care what the media says. I know what it's like here, and I know the bad crime is for the most part only constrained to some very specific areas, that I would never end up being in anyways. I have never, in my decades living here, been to Englewood, and have no plans to go there. People can be ignorant about crime all they want, that's up to them.

[CCrest182]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Chicago was always a racist city. It was also a very ethnically divided city. It was like this from day one. Alot of American cities have racism, period.

This is somewhat true, and partially false. There are indeed multiple neighborhoods in Chicago that are legitimately diverse, where mixed races couples ARE a thing, and not homogenous. Not every part of the city is Wrigleyville.