[Clemenza]

I lived in this nabe briefly (summer of 1998), and have walked under this viaduct several times. Despite the gentrification, you still had problems back then with the hookers and junkies, especially along North Avenue (things got even worse as you went west toward Humboldt Park). Most of the muggings and burglaries were by desperate junkies.

We have a real problem in our cities with young women who think that nothing can stop them, and don't realize how truly vulnerable they are to the elements.

[cherry]

"We have a real problem in our cities with young women"

ah.....two women get beaten unconscious walking home and THEIR the problem?

jail them.....

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

We have a real problem in our cities with young women who think that nothing can stop them, and don't realize how truly vulnerable they are to the elements.

That's exactly right. I work with a few 20-something young ladies who do not realize the danger of staying out all night at bars and nightclubs and then walking home alone in the wee hours of the morning. They think they are completely safe, that is until something bad really happens.

[TNdandelion]

I don't think it's just women with this problem. There was a story not long ago about a man riding his bicycle in Chicago who was attacked with either a brick or pipe or something. He was a reporter and did a story about his "Why me?" experience.

Certainly there are laws on the books that suggest that it should be perfectly acceptable for anyone to walk down a street a 3a.m. or ride their bicycle in any neighborhood in this country, but that's no guarantee of safety. There's no substitution for common sense.