Posted on 01/02/2014 7:03:48 AM PST by Borges
As in any big city, it all depends on which neighborhood you're talking about. You've got to know your neighborhoods. In Chicago, there are still a number of neighborhoods that are relatively crime-free. Not as many as there used to be, but there are still some.
The neighborhood I grew up in (Northtown/West Rogers Park/West Ridge), all the years I was growing up, we had zero crime. I mean, literally, zero. None. Perfectly safe. Great neighbors, most of them Jewish. Now that same neighborhood is largely Indian/Pakistani. And there is some crime now in the area. Not much, but some.
Chicago is my favorite American city. Except for January and February of course. Downtown is quite safe IMO.
This. ^
As a native Chicagoan, I never considered that carpetbagger Ubama a true Chicagoan.
I love that song. One of my favorites. Brings back a lot of memories.
“Everything looks great when you photoshop the hell out of it. So to speak.”
You don’t have to photoshop Chicago for it to look great. It is a grand and great city all on its own. A beautiful city, with a stunning lakefront, where the Lake Michigan waters glisten in the sun during the summer months and the sailboats waft to and fro. It is a city with a wonderful historical past, and nooks and crannies galore to explore (as long as you don’t veer off into a bad neighborhood). The natives know where to go and where not to go. Like in any major city throughout the world, you have to be aware of your surroundings. That notwithstanding, Chicago is a feast for the eyes and senses.
You can eat yourself silly in the city, where ethnic neighborhoods, each with their own cuisine, abound. There are festivals galore, both local and citywide. Old neighborhood churches of great beauty all over the place. Outstanding museums, excellent universities, quaint bookstores, a gold coast where the rich and famous and the very ordinary parade down the avenues, bags overflowing with purchases from stores large and small, but unique. People are midwestern friendly, not like in New York whose inhabitants sport an east coast attitude. The weather sucks in the winter, but you can’t have everything. And even winter has its own beauty when the grand boulevards and smaller side streets are coated in snow.
Chicago ain’t no Detroit, and never will be. Too strong a tax base, too diverse of a population, too many wealthy neighborhoods, too vibrant a downtown area, too cosmopolitan, too great to ever end up in the dumpster. Chicago gets a bad name because of crime that flares up in certain primarily south side neighborhoods during the hot summer months (mostly gang warfare). The other reason it gets a bad name is because of the Obama connection. How unfortunate that the city has to be smeared unnecessarily because of Obama and his Chicago cronies, a thugacracy born out of the city’s Democratic machine. You can say what you want, but when the city was ruled by the Daley’s, both the old man and then his son, the city basically worked. Now with Emanuel, and his Obama connected cronies like David Axelrod, not so much. Be careful to paint Chicago with a broad brush because of the taint of Obama. Chicago is a grand old city, and will outlast even Obama and his regime.
I love this city of broad shoulders, born as a capitalist’s dream, built by blue collar sweat and energy, further developed and beautified by titans of industry at the turn of the century. It is the home of great sports teams such as the Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks, has perhaps some of the greatest architecture of any city in the U.S., has been a politician’s playground throughout the years, a city riddled with great character actors of history, wonderful theater, outstanding hospitals and research centers, and is right up there as one of the world’s most fascinating and beautiful cities. What’s not to like? Oh, that’s right, Obama.
Stunning it is. Lake Michigan shines diamonds.
Any city would look good a quarter mile up, from the John Hancock bldg.?, and especially under inches of snow.
flaglady47, you have stated it beautifully. I agree with everything you said. I love my hometown, always will. Warts and all, Chicago has so much going for it.
Well said.
Very well said.
Great town, Chicago.
Chicago is like a clean, miniature New York, except the corruption is worse. The political machine in control goes all the way back into the 1800s.
All the self righteous arrogance in the world won’t be able to save Chicago from the freight train barreling down the tracks. Nearly 100 billion dollars in debt and the piper is sniffing around for payment.
I’m 100% rural but personally I’d prefer Detroit to virtually all other American cities for the personal freedoms alone. I can eat what I want, drink as big a soda as I want, smoke, drink and carry a gun, all in public. Even the state prohibitions against smoking in businesses are mostly ignored by all but the most upscale places. Its got a real Edgar Friendly attitude that conservatives love if they spend any real time there.
Its an interesting feeling to stand on the curb talking to a citizen with an AR-15 slung over his shoulder and know that the cops slowed down to check me out because I was the white guy rather than going into a panic over the gun.
Are you speaking from experience???
With that much color correction you can make dog poo look good. Nice pics though.
I'm 28 miles from the heart of the city. We've gotten a foot of snow since New Years eve. The city side streets are going to be a quagmire.
The thing is those pics aren’t far from how the city actually looks.
In 2013 Indy’s murder rate was about 17/100,000 compared to Chicago’s 15/100,000. Something I was shocked to learn after moving here from Chicago. It’s still a much nicer city!
“When Chicago isn’t dumping sewage into it.”
Man, are you a downer. One of those glass half empty types. Lake Michigan has some of the purist drinking water of any major metropolitan area. There is no dumping of raw untreated sewage into the lake (unless illegally done, and the lake is patrolled for such infractions) and there hasn’t been any for years. I drink Lake Michigan water daily (live in a Chicago suburb). The water is great. You just don’t have even a clue what you are talking about. You want to smear the city and so you will, even though you are talking out of your *ss.
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