Is Gary safe enough? (Indianapolis, Marion: renting, insuring, assessors)
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I'm not sure which is more ridiculous. An educated adult with resources choosing to remain in Gary, or actually bragging about it.
Either way, you win. Congratulations.
,
Some people actually LOVE their city and want to make it better.
I work in the community and so does my entire family. That's what we do. We strive to make where we're at a better place instead of running away like ******* and crying and complaining like other people.
Like I said, I've got friends, family, and a safe existence in this place. Just because YOU are an idiot, who doesn't live here, yet judges on false information given to you by other misinformed people, doesn't mean that we all have to be that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana
How would I know? Well for one, common sense: although Gary is not as populous as it used to be, it still has 80,000+ in population...hard to believe that given the high crime rate, that the MAJORITY of crimes are committed by Illinois folks...Sure, there may be fools that move from Chicago to Gary and commit crimes (and don't change plates)...There are also tons of people in Munster and Saint John with Illinois plates but does that mean most of the crime is caused by them? Or is it because most of those with the out of state plates are professionals that recently moved here?...Regardless, I am confident that what you propose is NOT the norm.......also, you can check public records...if 50% or more of the crimes are committed by Illinois folks, then you are right...but I know you are wrong because if 50% or more of the crimes were committed by people from Illinois, then this statistic would definitely have been national news by now...and it's not...I get you love your city...but let's be realistic here...
You're a bright man, but not that bright.
You see people who are actually FROM Gary, born and raised have been leaving since the '70s.
People have been moving here FROM Illinois since the early '90s. A lot of those people are officially GARY residents now. I have a ton of neighbors who are FROM Chicago, yet have lived here for 15 years and they and their children are considered Gary residents.
They still bring their big city values and mentality with them, even if they've been here a while. Miller especially is full of people who officially LIVE in Indiana, but commute to Chicago everyday by South Shore or who live in between Gary and Chicago. It's only 20 minutes away, you know.
Also, we have people from Hurricane Katrina still here all these years later. You know how I know? Because I live here man and I actually talk to people.
Like I said, everyday I see people in my neighborhood and around Gary that I don't know and all the people I grew up with have left.
The city is full of people who were not born here. Who were not raised here, but who choose to maintain residence here because it's cheaper to live here and commute back to Chicago than it is to live there.
And also, when Cabrini Green and Robert Taylor and those other projects closed up, where do you think those people ran to?
Quote:
Originally Posted by msamhunter
I've said it several times since being on this forum and I'll say it again. Gary isn't Indianapolis or Cincy or any other city where people try to make a name for themselves. In Gary it's very simple, you don't bother them, they won't bother you. You stay out of their business and they will stay out of yours. Problem, too many nosy people. Other than that, there are plenty of neighborhoods in Gary where you don't see crime, people keep their yards up and parents are parents. Like any other place, those neighborhoods never get talked about because it's bad for ratings. I originally grew up in 2 minute walk from Wirt, never a victim of a crime. I've also lived in Morningside in Glen Park and never a victim of a crime. My grandmother used to live in Small farms. The apartment complex was quiet. The surrounding neighborhood was quiet, houses are still well kept, right around banneker (one of the best elementary schools in the state btw). My mother and sisters still live off of 11th avenue on the west side and they don't get crime in their neighborhood.
Gary is just like any other midsize to large city, it has crime. It has good neighborhoods and bad ones. You are not going to get shot at on every corner or mugged. If you stay out of the drug trade in Gary, you can lead a very quiet life believe it or not.
Exactly, that's what I'm trying to tell these people who DON'T live here.
Gary is nowhere near what other big cities are. Gary violence is mostly drug on drug crime. It's rarely random crime. I've never said it doesn't happen, but it's not likely.
Gary people are generally not out ravaging and raping like Capt. Dan is trying to convince the world of. This isn't L.A.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana
Funny...I am Black and I have NEVER had any serious problem walking around at night in Munster, Highland, Schererville AKA "The White Areas"...Maybe because I wasn't walking in the middle of the street and I was not being creepy looking into cars and such? Have cops slowed down to see who was walking? Yes, but it was 3:00 a.m.! They do that for Whites too! But if I am walking in Gary, I am more likely to be approached by some crackheads who may or may not present a danger or some gang members who are looking for an easy target to mug.
And also, you do realize that Crown Point (even without the Lake County Jail population) has the largest Black population south of Rt. 30 BY FAR and a larger Black population than Munster and Highland? So maybe Crown Point isn't the best example. There are obviously Black families who live there and are comfortable just as most towns in NWI now. It's really no longer about race like it indeed used to be...it is more about class if anything.
Really?
You might want to tell those Black families who had crosses burned on their lawns in Crown Point a few years ago that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by J Awesome
As a semi-frequent visitor to Gary (when I was working, the Housing Authority was one of our clients), I had 3 rules to dealing with the city:
1.) Don't start s***
2.) Don't go down the side streets
3.) Don't show fear
Gary is a very shady city, but honestly from all my experiences, it's a place that's looks scarier than it is (Well, marginally. The most terrifying places I've ever had to go is a tie between the west side of Chicago and Detroit. Much, much more terrifying). Most of the murders are just the residents killing each other, and the people walking up and down the streets just mind their own business. The most notable experience I've had there is a conversation with a guy outside the Housing Authority about a passing woman's posterior. Not so scary.
However, some of those neighborhoods look like someone carpet bombed the city. Some city beautification wouldn't kill them. Plus it's criminal to have let that beautiful Methodist church fall into ruin.
Again. This is what I've always tried to tell people.
Don't mess with nobody, nobody messes with you.
That's how it's been my ENTIRE life here. That's why I've NEVER been a victim of crime ONCE in the over 20 years I've been here.
When I hear about random crime, my radar perks up, because I immediately start thinking about the out of towners from Chicago or Katrina, who have escaped up here.
Last edited by ShadowCaver; 06-25-2011 at 12:14 AM..
You might want to tell those Black families who had crosses burned on their lawns in Crown Point a few years ago that.
Sounds like something out of Mississippi 50 years ago. But this isn't really something that happens anymore anywhere in this day age. Link, please? Or was this a rumor you heard or maybe even something you made up?
EDIT: Actually I googled "Cross burning Crown Point, Indiana" and I did find an incident that happened in Hammond in 1996. It happen in racially mixed Hammond not Crown Point and the act was committed by a 15 year old and a 16 year old - a pretty twisted practical joke if you ask me.
"But Diane Gamblin said Monday she looks at the incident as a childish prank not as a racial incident. "I'm surprised this thing is as big as it is," Gamblin said. Gamblin has lived in the neighborhood her whole life and said there has never been any trouble." Read more: Two Hammond teen-agers charged with cross burning
But seriously though, anyone who fears cross burnings is disconnected from the modern world. They don't even say the n-word anymore. They just say "black people" or even "African American" and use terms like "ghetto" and "secton 8" to describe upper middle class areas. Everything is in euphemisms and nothing is out in the open like a good old fashioned cross burning.. It was a simpler time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lake County IN
When I hear about random crime, my radar perks up, because I immediately start thinking about the out of towners from Chicago or Katrina, who have escaped up here.
Gary had a higher crime rate than New Orleans before Katrina. Gary has a higher crime rate than most neighborhoods in Chicago. Seems silly to me to blame Gary's problems on transplants..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lake County IN
Don't mess with nobody, nobody messes with you.
Why is Mr. Nobody gonna mess with me if I'm not messing with Mr. Nobody? I think it's a better idea to mess with nobody than to not mess with nobody. I'm sorry but I couldn't resist..
I agree though. Don’t start nothing, won’t be nothing.
Urza beat me to it...now, there actually has been a couple racial incidents in Crown Point, but these were over 10 almost 15 years ago...this crap can happen anywhere...but I also have to say...just because one mind their own business in Gary does not mean that stupid crap doesn't happen (and it seems to happen too often in Gary)
A 13 year old SHOULD be able to be out playing basketball at 8 p.m. without worrying about being shot. I certainly was out and about around here without any worries...and since "nobody will bother you if you don't bother them" in Gary, the same principle should hold true right?
Not convincing enough? I have more incidents to post.
Sounds like something out of Mississippi 50 years ago. But this isn't really something that happens anymore anywhere in this day age. Link, please? Or was this a rumor you heard or maybe even something you made up?
EDIT: Actually I googled "Cross burning Crown Point, Indiana" and I did find an incident that happened in Hammond in 1996. It happen in racially mixed Hammond not Crown Point and the act was committed by a 15 year old and a 16 year old - a pretty twisted practical joke if you ask me.
"But Diane Gamblin said Monday she looks at the incident as a childish prank not as a racial incident. "I'm surprised this thing is as big as it is," Gamblin said. Gamblin has lived in the neighborhood her whole life and said there has never been any trouble." Read more: Two Hammond teen-agers charged with cross burning
But seriously though, anyone who fears cross burnings is disconnected from the modern world. They don't even say the n-word anymore. They just say "black people" or even "African American" and use terms like "ghetto" and "secton 8" to describe upper middle class areas. Everything is in euphemisms and nothing is out in the open like a good old fashioned cross burning.. It was a simpler time.
Gary had a higher crime rate than New Orleans before Katrina. Gary has a higher crime rate than most neighborhoods in Chicago. Seems silly to me to blame Gary's problems on transplants..
Why is Mr. Nobody gonna mess with me if I'm not messing with Mr. Nobody? I think it's a better idea to mess with nobody than to not mess with nobody. I'm sorry but I couldn't resist..
I agree though. Don’t start nothing, won’t be nothing.
This post is based on the assumption that the criminal mind thinks logically. It doesnt!
This post is based on the assumption that the criminal mind thinks logically. It doesnt!
You are right that I have a grip on reality and haven't let fear overtake my common sense. But yeah, criminals are people like you and me. Criminals aren't even necessarily "criminals" (in that crime is a lifestyle for them.) There is the criminally insane but they tend to get caught pretty easily. Your use of the term "criminal mind" makes me eyes roll a little bit.. Criminals have the same cerebral cortex you and I have. Crime is a product of deviation from society's rules and customs - not a product of a warped mind.
I know I myself have thought to myself, "Man, if I robbed a bank and got away with it, all my problems would solved." Sometimes when I see a Lexus pass by, I fantasize about jacking it. I even have written short stories and poems in the first person perspective of someone committing crimes. I guess I have a criminal mind, huh? And BTW, in case you were wondering. I'm a community college dropout but my IQ is three deviations above average and I own a couple hundred books.
Anyway, your post is vague. Which part of my post are you objecting to?
Sounds like something out of Mississippi 50 years ago. But this isn't really something that happens anymore anywhere in this day age. Link, please? Or was this a rumor you heard or maybe even something you made up?
EDIT: Actually I googled "Cross burning Crown Point, Indiana" and I did find an incident that happened in Hammond in 1996. It happen in racially mixed Hammond not Crown Point and the act was committed by a 15 year old and a 16 year old - a pretty twisted practical joke if you ask me.
"But Diane Gamblin said Monday she looks at the incident as a childish prank not as a racial incident. "I'm surprised this thing is as big as it is," Gamblin said. Gamblin has lived in the neighborhood her whole life and said there has never been any trouble." Read more: Two Hammond teen-agers charged with cross burning
But seriously though, anyone who fears cross burnings is disconnected from the modern world. They don't even say the n-word anymore. They just say "black people" or even "African American" and use terms like "ghetto" and "secton 8" to describe upper middle class areas. Everything is in euphemisms and nothing is out in the open like a good old fashioned cross burning.. It was a simpler time.
Gary had a higher crime rate than New Orleans before Katrina. Gary has a higher crime rate than most neighborhoods in Chicago. Seems silly to me to blame Gary's problems on transplants..
Why is Mr. Nobody gonna mess with me if I'm not messing with Mr. Nobody? I think it's a better idea to mess with nobody than to not mess with nobody. I'm sorry but I couldn't resist..
I agree though. Don’t start nothing, won’t be nothing.
No, I didn't mess it up.
I can't find the link, but there were Black families in Crown Point about 10 years ago or so who were the victims of hate crimes.
It was in the Post Tribune.
You're not going to find every incident on the internet, even in these times. Hell, I tried to find an article about an event I was involved in last year, that I know was in the paper, because my family who lives in E.C. told me it was in the Hammond Times, and I couldn't find IT online and this was 2010.
Second of all, I have family that lives in Munster, and racially mixed cousins.
They get called a hell of a lot worst than "African American" or "ghetto" and they grew up there and haven't stepped foot in a ghetto in their entire lives.
You're the one disconnected from reality.
You are the one who doesn't live here, yet wants to tell me, who's lived here most of his life, is in Gary right now, typing this on a computer in Gary what Gary is like.
And what does Gary having a higher crime rate than New Orleans and Chicago have to do with people from Chicago not committing a lot of those crimes?
Chicago purged their ghettos and those people came here. That's a fact. I didn't make it up.
Second of all, Chicago is a HUGE city full of very nice neighborhoods and rich people, Gary does not have the business district or high-priced neighborhoods that Chicago does to level out the crime rates.
New Orleans is also a big city. Gary has NONE of the business districts or money centers that those cities do. Gary is a small city with only about 80,000 people in it at this point. So, a small group of people can make a difference, especially when there's nothing to balance it out.
If you lived here you'd know that the Gary gangs are CHICAGO gangs.
What are the Gangster Disciples? Vice Lords? Black P. Stone Rangers?
They are Chicago gangs, NOT Gary gangs. They come here, set up shop, and recruit us, not the other way around.
I would argue that Gary would be a totally different city if it were not so close in proximity to Chicago.
How do I know?
I live here, work here, and talk to the people here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana
Urza beat me to it...now, there actually has been a couple racial incidents in Crown Point, but these were over 10 almost 15 years ago...this crap can happen anywhere...but I also have to say...just because one mind their own business in Gary does not mean that stupid crap doesn't happen (and it seems to happen too often in Gary)
A 13 year old SHOULD be able to be out playing basketball at 8 p.m. without worrying about being shot. I certainly was out and about around here without any worries...and since "nobody will bother you if you don't bother them" in Gary, the same principle should hold true right?
Not convincing enough? I have more incidents to post.
And so what you can pull out a random incident in the paper. I can pull out a million incidents like that that happen in Chicago everyday. Look up Derrion Albert, an honor student that got beat to death by a mob in Chicago.
When is the last time you heard about that happening in Gary?
You have mobs robbing, raping, and killing all over that city right now. So much that when I went to the Taste of Chicago this year, I had to get patted down and inspected like I was going to see the damned president.
Your "data" is no match for life experience. Come here, talk to the people, and learn the difference.
The only people talking crap are the people who don't live here or used to live here and don't live here now.
The only other guy who actually hangs out in Gary said that Gary looks scarier than it actually is.
Either come here and experience life for yourself, or keep your opinions to yourself.
In the end Gary is home for a lot of people, even those who had to move away to make a better life for themselves and their families, it's Gary and when out in the world and you run into one, you show love. Problem is, the city has some major hurdles to tackle esp. with property taxes, crime and jobs. If you can change the mentality which is right now defeated, you will make progress. It doesn't take a lot to clean up the neighborhood, mow the lawn, help your neighbors if they are unable to. You see that in Miller, SunnySide, Parts of the West Side, Small Farms and part of Glen Park. Compare that with the East Side, Midtown and Aetna and you will see the difference in crime between those that care and those that don't especially Miller and Aetna. If the city showed some pride, I think they would get more business because its potential is off the charts, just need the people to do their small part.
I can't find the link, but there were Black families in Crown Point about 10 years ago or so who were the victims of hate crimes.
It was in the Post Tribune.
You're not going to find every incident on the internet, even in these times. Hell, I tried to find an article about an event I was involved in last year, that I know was in the paper, because my family who lives in E.C. told me it was in the Hammond Times, and I couldn't find IT online and this was 2010.
Second of all, I have family that lives in Munster, and racially mixed cousins.
They get called a hell of a lot worst than "African American" or "ghetto" and they grew up there and haven't stepped foot in a ghetto in their entire lives.
You're the one disconnected from reality.
You are the one who doesn't live here, yet wants to tell me, who's lived here most of his life, is in Gary right now, typing this on a computer in Gary what Gary is like.
And what does Gary having a higher crime rate than New Orleans and Chicago have to do with people from Chicago not committing a lot of those crimes?
Chicago purged their ghettos and those people came here. That's a fact. I didn't make it up.
Second of all, Chicago is a HUGE city full of very nice neighborhoods and rich people, Gary does not have the business district or high-priced neighborhoods that Chicago does to level out the crime rates.
New Orleans is also a big city. Gary has NONE of the business districts or money centers that those cities do. Gary is a small city with only about 80,000 people in it at this point. So, a small group of people can make a difference, especially when there's nothing to balance it out.
If you lived here you'd know that the Gary gangs are CHICAGO gangs.
What are the Gangster Disciples? Vice Lords? Black P. Stone Rangers?
They are Chicago gangs, NOT Gary gangs. They come here, set up shop, and recruit us, not the other way around.
I would argue that Gary would be a totally different city if it were not so close in proximity to Chicago.
How do I know?
I live here, work here, and talk to the people here.
And so what you can pull out a random incident in the paper. I can pull out a million incidents like that that happen in Chicago everyday. Look up Derrion Albert, an honor student that got beat to death by a mob in Chicago.
When is the last time you heard about that happening in Gary?
You have mobs robbing, raping, and killing all over that city right now. So much that when I went to the Taste of Chicago this year, I had to get patted down and inspected like I was going to see the damned president.
Your "data" is no match for life experience. Come here, talk to the people, and learn the difference.
The only people talking crap are the people who don't live here or used to live here and don't live here now.
The only other guy who actually hangs out in Gary said that Gary looks scarier than it actually is.
Either come here and experience life for yourself, or keep your opinions to yourself.
I'm not sure you have a true grasp of what things were like when us old fogies left Gary. A city we helped build. There were far more reasons to leave than to stay.Insurance companies would no longer insure stores property or money because they were being robbed and broken into so often. Women were being raped IN CHURCHES! Small children were murdered in restaurant bathrooms.My 11 year old brother among them. Teachers were being assaulted. You couldnt ride the city bus downtown anymore without being robbed or your female companion being sexually assaulted.Even the Goldblatts Santa got beat up so bad he never fully recovered. If you arent safe in church. If even Santa cant do his thing in safety. If your life and property are seemingly always in danger, why should you stay? How many times can a parent tell thier children that violence isnt the solution to any problem and hard work will get them what they want in life when all the kids see is thier friends and neighbors being assaulted and thier bikes,Christmas gifts and playful childhoods being stolen by someone too lazy to earn thier own. I dont think you have ANY clue just how bad it got before we chose to leave. How many times would you have to be hit over the head with a 2x4 before you decided that maybe you shouldnt be standing in front of the guy weilding the board?
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I think it's a better idea to mess with nobody than to not mess with nobody. 
I'm sorry but I couldn't resist.. 
