2022 Chicago population 2.6 million, homicides 630. Compared to my city, population 1.6 million, homicides 26. Yeah Chicago sounds awesome.
Homicides in Chicago are a problem in particular neighborhoods and communities. Many of these neighborhoods and communities are disadvantaged socially and economically and have been for decades. It could probably be considered intergenerational trauma.
Basically, the rate is higher than other large cities, but it’s generally contained in specific communities.
Yeah, Chicago has a problem in that area but we aren’t the worst in the nation. Yet political figures and media outlets love to make it seem like Chicago is a Mad Max style apocalyptic wasteland.
Most of the murders are related to gang activity which is not an easy problem to solve.
St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans, Cleveland, Atlanta, Memphis, Kansas City, and a number of other cities are all doing worse than Chicago right now. Some far worse.
But I can’t remember a politician threatening to send in the National Guard to clean up Baltimore. Washington DC isn’t doing so hot either for that matter, yet I don’t hear our congress people squawking about that - the city that they are directly responsible for.
Chicagoans are tired of it. We’ve got out problems but the entire country thinks that those problems are far worse than they are thanks to irresponsible journalism and politicians with an agenda.
As a Chicago native who left for college, I can’t count the number of “where you from” “ohhhhh don’t you mean…Chi-raq???” 🤔
I’m like, "no… I mean the place with awesome public transportation, where I walked to school and back daily because it was easy to not get lost when your ‘blocks’ are actually block shaped, and where I wasn’t afraid to walk around at night because even in poor neighborhoods there’s so many lights it can feel brighter than the day. You know? The place where I’ve literally never heard a gun go off outside of New years eve?
I’m sure they’ve gone off, but I ain’t personally heard any. No I didn’t grow up in fucking chi-raq. I’m from Chicago."
“BUT are you ACTUALLY from chicago?!?”
“Yes? If you mailed me a letter, that’s the city you’d write on the envelope”
I noticed when there’s a shooting in NYC, media outlets may report the story like “Shooting in Bensonhurst neighborhood…”
If there was a shooting in the West Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, theyll report it like “Shooting in Chicago…”
This kind of language make Chicago, and other cities who are victimized by this, sound more dangerous than they are.
WGN, our local news here in Chicago, does in fact report by neighborhood. Not sure where this information is coming from but shit is quite literally as bad as the media portrays it if not worse.
Drive by armed robberies are so frequent now that our police have been instructed to not engage. Car thefts are also skyrocketing. Pops works in security and at least twice a week a dealership gets 10-12 cars stolen, sometimes in broad daylight and once even with police on the scene investigating from the night prior.
I don’t want to dissuade people from the area as Chicago is a beautiful city, but in the state it’s fallen into I can’t recommend moving unless you know what you’re getting into.
When I moved to Chicago, I didn’t even know where Illinois was! All I new was what the media told me about it being a cesspool riddled with crime.
After living here awhile I would recommend living in Near North. Super safe, clean, and affordable with lots of amenities. Last winter was very mild and this summer had been mild too.
The city is suing Hyundai and Kia for using substandard security. It’s their fault, not the city.
https://abc7chicago.com/hyundai-kia-lawsuit-chicago-car-theft/13697074/
Homicides are down 8% this year, violent crime is down 13%, and carjackings are down 26% from last year.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/shootings-homicides-carjackings-down-chicago-this-year/
I’m moving to Chicago later this year. Please continue this tradition so I can get a cheap rent.
local news outlets have a surprising amount of control over real estate value.
Are there any communities you’d recommend? Looking for somewhere reasonably safe with good internet and walkability at a reasonable price. If you know of a neighborhood where violence has been blown way out of proportion, that sounds like a golden opportunity.
Sorry, not actually from Chicago, I’m from Cleveland but this post came through my feed so I thought I could help shine a little light on things for people who weren’t aware
Alright, thanks! That still adds an interesting new considering to housing searches, although it might be a bit of a risky move. Public perception can sometimes create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Listen to conservatives talk about Chicago, and it’ll be some combination of the Wild West, the front line of a war, and a third-world country.
Literally any city
