The south side of Chicago is a miserable place and certainly the scariest place that I ever stumbled into.
My brother-in-law lived on the south side in a crappy apartment (it was cheap, he was going to grad school)--we went to visit him in summer of '07 and I heard a few gunshots and screams... We drove around the area during the day, and it was scary then.... I can't imagine at night. He had his brand new flat screen television stolen right out of his apartment. He's not the brightest bulb...... having the company deliver it and carry it in a huge box with "HDTV" printed on it in the south side of Chicago is the makings of bad things to come....
I live in a Chicago suburb, and I can see why the city is miserable. The city has a high violent crime rate, many high city sales taxes, and many politicians (almost all Democrats) who are being investigated by the U.S. attorney, for accepting bribes.