I live in Hyde Park for 9 years. Crime, crime, crime.
Union Station, Navy Pier, Sears Tower, Greek Town, downtown, Michigan Avenue going north are all safe. DO NOT GO SOUTH OF THE DOWNTOWN. If you do, do NOT take Garfield Blvd from the Museum of Science and Industry (safe) over to Midway Airport area. Uber dangerous.
Most of the murders take place on the south side, particularly the Prairie District. There are bad pockets out west and up north too, but the southside is murder/robbery capital.
But I digress. Brazil (whether Sao Paolo, the Federal District or Rio) is terribly crime infested. There WILL be robberies and murders of tourists.
So why not the US? I don’t think it is a repudiation of Bush or Obama. I think that Brazil is where the Euro- and Asian-elites would like to party. Chicago? C’mon. Unless Obama promised massive prostitution (like Brazil), he didn’t have a chance.
Rio can be a party town.
Maybe Obummer should have offered them Daytona Beach.