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Stay out of the drug trade/gangs and your chances of being victimized in any of these or other cities goes down to insignificant. Also, Philadelphia's crime is very concentrated in a few select areas that you'd never go to unless you were specifically looking for trouble.
I lived in Milwaukee and Chicago, and never knew anyone impacted by crime. You know where not to go...and the rest of these two cities make them beautiful places to live.
Everyone knows about the high murder totals on the ground and that shouldn't be downplayed. Its very bad for HUGE portions of the city. Its just that Chicago is so big that tourists and even residents can happily spend their lives in the "good parts of town" without ever having to face the reality that about 40% of the residents deal with on a daily basis.
Its more than just street crime. Remember, Chicago is THE transportation hub of North America. As such it is THE north american hub of narcotics distribution. Which means organized crime has its fingers in every aspect of Chicago, and therefore Illinois, politics.
Chicago has a long history of organized crime and it continues today.
St. Louis' story is much different than Chicago.
I love St. Louis with all my heart, but the stats don't lie.
1.) Huge portions of North St. Louis are completely bombed out. There are almost no eyes on the ground so it is very easy to get away with crime up there. Its very common to hear about people from E. St. Louis or North County being killed in North City. Those that you have beef with will wait for a time when they know you will be in North City and then ambush you because they can get away with it. Usually drug/gang related. Occasionally this stuff spills over kills innocent people.
2.) Petty crime is common in St. Louis. I'd say in the majority of the city you are susceptible to petty property crimes I.e. car break ins. I don't think this is unique for St. Louis.
3.) As with many cities in the eastern half of the country killings are almost exclusively black on black
4.) St. Louis has a particular feeling of lawlessness just generally you don't really feel in most other cities. It often feels like anything goes as long as it isn't murder.
Everyone knows about the high murder totals on the ground and that shouldn't be downplayed. Its very bad for HUGE portions of the city. Its just that Chicago is so big that tourists and even residents can happily spend their lives in the "good parts of town" without ever having to face the reality that about 40% of the residents deal with on a daily basis.
Its more than just street crime. Remember, Chicago is THE transportation hub of North America. As such it is THE north american hub of narcotics distribution. Which means organized crime has its fingers in every aspect of Chicago, and therefore Illinois, politics.
Chicago has a long history of organized crime and it continues today.
St. Louis' story is much different than Chicago.
I love St. Louis with all my heart, but the stats don't lie.
1.) Huge portions of North St. Louis are completely bombed out. There are almost no eyes on the ground so it is very easy to get away with crime up there. Its very common to hear about people from E. St. Louis or North County being killed in North City. Those that you have beef with will wait for a time when they know you will be in North City and then ambush you because they can get away with it. Usually drug/gang related. Occasionally this stuff spills over kills innocent people.
2.) Petty crime is common in St. Louis. I'd say in the majority of the city you are susceptible to petty property crimes I.e. car break ins. I don't think this is unique for St. Louis.
3.) As with many cities in the eastern half of the country killings are almost exclusively black on black
4.) St. Louis has a particular feeling of lawlessness just generally you don't really feel in most other cities. It often feels like anything goes as long as it isn't murder.
Honestly, who doesn't know Chicago and its Al Capone era. But Capone was a born and bred New Yorker and sent to Chicago to make his niche there. That he did. Then the mafia saw Vegas and sunny Cali to its liking. Through all its notorious eras .... Chicago still continued to be a premier city of the country. Early White Ethnic gangs were all part of its history too that the Depression and then WW2 had lessened.
The Gangs of today are ruthless but very segregated in there turf neighborhoods tat visitors never see and most locals live lives never going there. I never did when I lived there.
This gang shooting of Black on Back crime ..... remains that. They do not seek out White Chicagoans and areas of this very segregated city. No one is going to brush it under the rug. It made National headlines and commonly known. But with the rising tourism Chicago has been receiving at 55-million last year and a record expected this year. It isn't scaring away visitors as the city gets GREAT word of mouth feedback .... when they go home.
Chicago has the lowest violent crime rate of the cities listed. Louisville is lower, but the crime rates posted are for the consolidated, more metro like jurisdiction.
Other cities with higher rates: Oakland, Kansas City, Cleveland, Indianapolis, DC, Atlanta and Buffalo.
Lived in Memphis from 1998-2015. Is it as bad as they say? Not unless you are out really late, or in a neighborhood you shouldn't be in. Like most cities, its crime is mostly in certain areas, and anyone who lives there know those areas, and when/how to avoid them. My husband spent the better part of 4 years making deliveries and doing repairs in the worst neighborhoods in the city, and never encountered issues (except for the below). In fact, he said the people in those neighborhoods were usually amazing. This was always during the day though.
That being said, I never witnessed a crime, or had one committed to me in the whole time I was there. My husband got in the middle of a carjacking attempt one time though, but this was in a notoriously bad area of the city after dark, down close to the airport, after he had left work late one night. We spent many nights on Beale Street, South Main, and Midtown without ever feeling unsafe.
So no, I really don't think it is as bad as it seems, at least for the average person who doesn't spend time in bad neighborhoods or around bad people. Most of the crime seems centered around drugs, "beefs", and stupid stuff like that, in the not so great neighborhoods.
I haven't lived there in a few years though, and some of the people I know back there, including my parents, have said it is getting worse (the Memphis Chamber of Commerce President/CEO was shot coming out of a restaurant downtown last week). So who knows.
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