Chicago associates: Where do people live? How much do you pay in rent? Forum

[nixy]

Sheltered child, there is no crime wave. It’s police propaganda to push back efforts to limit spending on cops. Also, you look ridiculous being scared of the idea of shoplifting.

What a way to spend your life, going to the effort to write posts like this. You're why the internet is terrible.

At least Dcc doesn't hide behind anon for his hot takes.

Doesn't mean he's not terrible.

Terrible, but not a coward.

[Anonymous User]

Sheltered child, there is no crime wave. It’s police propaganda to push back efforts to limit spending on cops. Also, you look ridiculous being scared of the idea of shoplifting.

What a way to spend your life, going to the effort to write posts like this. You're why the internet is terrible.

At least Dcc doesn't hide behind anon for his hot takes.

These aren't hot takes. The person suggesting concerns about crime were being driven by a political agenda deservedly got shot down (probably bad word choice heh). All the objective stats are pointing out that violent crime, including rape, car jackings, shootings, and murder, are on the upswing in the city core in a bad way. It adds to the reasons to not waste your time with River North, the Loop or Streeterville. People denying that are opposed to reality and giving out bad information, this isn't a matter of interpretation. I'm sitting in River North right now; I've seen how things have changed over the past two years. Plenty of us are staying anon because we don't want people to be able to geographically locate us based on our user name which they'd obviously be able to do from our participating in a Chicago thread.

[nixy]

there's nothing wrong with using anon to disagree about Chicago, there's no reason to use anon to write only "What a way to spend your life, going to the effort to write posts like this. You're why the internet is terrible."

[Anonymous User]

There's nothing wrong with using anon, period. Why does it matter if I link my comment to a username or not? This is infantile "debate me bro" stuff.

(edit, I'm a different anon fwiw. But I've been doxxed on other platforms so yeah ima be anon whenever I can)

[Anonymous User]

there's nothing wrong with using anon to disagree about Chicago, there's no reason to use anon to write only "What a way to spend your life, going to the effort to write posts like this. You're why the internet is terrible."

Yeah I don't disagree with that that's a fair point. The problem w/ TLS format is that it's better to just ignore things like that because otherwise threads easily get derailed as we're seeing happening here. When I see something that's off-topic I generally try not to engage w/ it because it can crap up threads so quickly. Making an exception w/ this because you made a fair counterpoint and seem reasonable. But even still, we're now 10 posts deep on Chicago crime when the OP was just asking for some basic housing recs.

[Anonymous User]

Sheltered child, there is no crime wave. It’s police propaganda to push back efforts to limit spending on cops. Also, you look ridiculous being scared of the idea of shoplifting.

What a way to spend your life, going to the effort to write posts like this. You're why the internet is terrible.

At least Dcc doesn't hide behind anon for his hot takes.

Doesn't mean he's not terrible.

Terrible, but not a coward.

How does posting under a pseudonym make somebody brave? What even is the difference from being anon?

[Anonymous User]

there's nothing wrong with using anon to disagree about Chicago, there's no reason to use anon to write only "What a way to spend your life, going to the effort to write posts like this. You're why the internet is terrible."

OK. Point stands, dcc's take was idiotic.

[Anonymous User]

I think the important takeaway for OP is that crime in downtown Chicago, although on the upswing, is comparable per capita to the downtown of other large cities that people are moving to in droves (i.e., Phoenix). As long as you're generally careful and keep out of certain areas that are notorious for wanton violence (none of the neighborhoods we've been seriously discussing), it is extremely unlikely that you will be a victim of crime.

[Anonymous User]

River North and the Loop for sure have gotten more dangerous, statistically, but it’s still not terrible. Just don’t go out in the tourist areas by yourself past 1 am. Lincoln Park has a huge uptick in carjackings, so it’s not just downtown.

If you live west of Orleans, River North is cute and residential. It is overall soulless and I will not deny that, but that specific area is not touristy and has two dog parks. If you want a loft, that’s the place to be. West Loop can be a nightmare of the commute when it’s cold/rainy.

Anything off the brown line will be the most convenient for Kirkland. Even native Chicagoans live in River North as juniors. Just don’t do the Loop proper.

[Anonymous User]

How's the commute from LP to SIdley? Anyone live in Old Town?

[Anonymous User]

I think the important takeaway for OP is that crime in downtown Chicago, although on the upswing, is comparable per capita to the downtown of other large cities that people are moving to in droves (i.e., Phoenix). As long as you're generally careful and keep out of certain areas that are notorious for wanton violence (none of the neighborhoods we've been seriously discussing), it is extremely unlikely that you will be a victim of crime.

This is not an accurate take, I'm sorry. Chicago's downtown is facing significantly more violent crime in the past two years than fucking Phoenix of all places. There was a shooting literally a couple blocks away from Kirkland's office in Chicago outside a club on I believe Hubbard. Did you read the linked Sun Times article? Things are deteriorating downtown. No one is saying it's Fallujah but the casual hand-waving of "Chicago is doing fine, just like Phoenix or Portland, nothing to see here" is not tracking what is happening.

OP, no one is saying that you're going to be dodging bullets (mostly ....) living in River North. Like any major American city, it's still relatively safe, people will be at Chicago Cut doing business deals until the end of time, we promise. But the trend isn't moving in the right direction and a lot more violent crime is happening in these core neighborhoods than there's been in decades.

[Sackboy]

River North and the Loop for sure have gotten more dangerous, statistically, but it’s still not terrible. Just don’t go out in the tourist areas by yourself past 1 am. Lincoln Park has a huge uptick in carjackings, so it’s not just downtown.

This was my whole point. Yeah, things have gotten worse. Still, things aren't bad, unless you're some snowflake suburbanite. For a city, it's fine. Not ideal, but fine.

[bajablast]

River North and the Loop for sure have gotten more dangerous, statistically, but it’s still not terrible. Just don’t go out in the tourist areas by yourself past 1 am. Lincoln Park has a huge uptick in carjackings, so it’s not just downtown.

This was my whole point. Yeah, things have gotten worse. Still, things aren't bad, unless you're some snowflake suburbanite. For a city, it's fine. Not ideal, but fine.

People getting killed is fine?

[Anonymous User]

I think the important takeaway for OP is that crime in downtown Chicago, although on the upswing, is comparable per capita to the downtown of other large cities that people are moving to in droves (i.e., Phoenix). As long as you're generally careful and keep out of certain areas that are notorious for wanton violence (none of the neighborhoods we've been seriously discussing), it is extremely unlikely that you will be a victim of crime.

This is not an accurate take, I'm sorry. Chicago's downtown is facing significantly more violent crime in the past two years than fucking Phoenix of all places. There was a shooting literally a couple blocks away from Kirkland's office in Chicago outside a club on I believe Hubbard. Did you read the linked Sun Times article? Things are deteriorating downtown. No one is saying it's Fallujah but the casual hand-waving of "Chicago is doing fine, just like Phoenix or Portland, nothing to see here" is not tracking what is happening.

OP, no one is saying that you're going to be dodging bullets (mostly ....) living in River North. Like any major American city, it's still relatively safe, people will be at Chicago Cut doing business deals until the end of time, we promise. But the trend isn't moving in the right direction and a lot more violent crime is happening in these core neighborhoods than there's been in decades.

Do you have any actual experience living in "fucking Phoenix of all places"? I lived in downtown Phoenix for five years and now live in Chicago. The Phoenix downtown area is half high rises and half homeless encampments operating out of bombed-out buildings, with syringes littering the areas in between. My next door neighbor turned out to be an active meth lab. The downtown was, until recently, infamously too dangerous to walk around alone at night. It is still unusual to go more than a few nights without hearing nearby gunshots or, less frequently, random explosions.

My point was: I still loved living in downtown Phoenix! You take the marginal risk of danger along with the benefits of living in a (relatively) cool city. It's not casual hand-waving to say that unless you are literally in Fallujah, if you are careful and keep out of especially dangerous areas, it is extremely unlikely you will be a victim of crime.

[Sackboy]

River North and the Loop for sure have gotten more dangerous, statistically, but it’s still not terrible. Just don’t go out in the tourist areas by yourself past 1 am. Lincoln Park has a huge uptick in carjackings, so it’s not just downtown.

This was my whole point. Yeah, things have gotten worse. Still, things aren't bad, unless you're some snowflake suburbanite. For a city, it's fine. Not ideal, but fine.

People getting killed is fine?

Handwring some more. If you actually open the crime maps, shootings in the Loop aren't much, if any, noticeably higher. The vast majority of the increase is in River North and the Near South Side. The Loop is fine.

[bajablast]

River North and the Loop for sure have gotten more dangerous, statistically, but it’s still not terrible. Just don’t go out in the tourist areas by yourself past 1 am. Lincoln Park has a huge uptick in carjackings, so it’s not just downtown.

This was my whole point. Yeah, things have gotten worse. Still, things aren't bad, unless you're some snowflake suburbanite. For a city, it's fine. Not ideal, but fine.

People getting killed is fine?

Handwring some more. If you actually open the crime maps, shootings in the Loop aren't much, if any, noticeably higher. The vast majority of the increase is in River North and the Near South Side. The Loop is fine.

I'm not handwringing bruh, but you're certainly okay with accepting violent crime. People like you are the reason why the south and west sides have become violent and made large parts of it impossible for normal people to live in the first place - your complacency disgusts me.

[Anonymous User]

River North and the Loop for sure have gotten more dangerous, statistically, but it’s still not terrible. Just don’t go out in the tourist areas by yourself past 1 am. Lincoln Park has a huge uptick in carjackings, so it’s not just downtown.

This was my whole point. Yeah, things have gotten worse. Still, things aren't bad, unless you're some snowflake suburbanite. For a city, it's fine. Not ideal, but fine.

People getting killed is fine?

Handwring some more. If you actually open the crime maps, shootings in the Loop aren't much, if any, noticeably higher. The vast majority of the increase is in River North and the Near South Side. The Loop is fine.

I'm not handwringing bruh, but you're certainly okay with accepting violent crime. People like you are the reason why the south and west sides have become violent and made large parts of it impossible for normal people to live in the first place - your complacency disgusts me.

Also a massive increase in the amount of carjackings. Know two people that have been intended victims. I've been here for years and it was never this bad.

[Sackboy]

Handwring some more. If you actually open the crime maps, shootings in the Loop aren't much, if any, noticeably higher. The vast majority of the increase is in River North and the Near South Side. The Loop is fine.

I'm not handwringing bruh, but you're certainly okay with accepting violent crime. People like you are the reason why the south and west sides have become violent and made large parts of it impossible for normal people to live in the first place - your complacency disgusts me.

Yes, it's certainly my lack of catastrophization on an online legal board that is why the south and west sides have suffered from violent crime, not redlining, a complete lack of economic mobility, political disenfranchisement, and a whole host of other systemic issues. You got me, bro. You got me.

[nixy]

I'm not handwringing bruh, but you're certainly okay with accepting violent crime. People like you are the reason why the south and west sides have become violent and made large parts of it impossible for normal people to live in the first place - your complacency disgusts me.

Wait, what now? What exactly should Sackboy be doing that would actually make those parts of Chicago safer?

In any case, the article was interesting because it’s clear that statistically crime is going up and that it’s shifting into areas it hasn’t been as prevalent, but other than breathlessly describing a couple of random incidents, suggests more that crime continues to be concentrated in specific areas and among specific groups. Seems pretty consistent with the idea that your average biglaw associate isn’t at materially greater risk as long as they pay attention.

Which has nothing to do with whether the crime is a problem in the abstract because of course it is.

[Anonymous User]

I'm not handwringing bruh, but you're certainly okay with accepting violent crime. People like you are the reason why the south and west sides have become violent and made large parts of it impossible for normal people to live in the first place - your complacency disgusts me.

Wait, what now? What exactly should Sackboy be doing that would actually make those parts of Chicago safer?

In any case, the article was interesting because it’s clear that statistically crime is going up and that it’s shifting into areas it hasn’t been as prevalent, but other than breathlessly describing a couple of random incidents, suggests more that crime continues to be concentrated in specific areas and among specific groups. Seems pretty consistent with the idea that your average biglaw associate isn’t at materially greater risk as long as they pay attention.

Which has nothing to do with whether the crime is a problem in the abstract because of course it is.

This is a bad take. Maybe 1/3 of the big law folks I know live in the bucktown wicker park Logan square Ukrainian village areas. Car jacking are up like 700% there. It’s simply false that there is nothing to worry about. These neighborhoods were generally safe pre pandemic and now they aren’t.

The rise in crime is real and victim blaming isn’t going to solve the problem.

[Anonymous User]

As this conversation is ongoing, I just got an e-mail from the University of Chicago regarding the recent murder of one of its students.

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/11/10 ... ong-zheng/

[Sackboy]

As this conversation is ongoing, I just got an e-mail from the University of Chicago regarding the recent murder of one of its students.

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/11/10 ... ong-zheng/

Not remotely surprising. Hyde Park is next to some of the most dangerous areas in Chicago, and UChicago notoriously needs to maintain the largest college police force in the country to deal with it (or at least engage in sufficient security theater).

[Anonymous User]

As this conversation is ongoing, I just got an e-mail from the University of Chicago regarding the recent murder of one of its students.

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/11/10 ... ong-zheng/

Not remotely surprising. Hyde Park is next to some of the most dangerous areas in Chicago, and UChicago notoriously needs to maintain the largest college police force in the country to deal with it (or at least engage in sufficient security theater).

Wow, thanks for that info about my alma mater, appreciate it. Despite that, it's highly atypical to have a student murdered, particularly in broad daylight! Also, if you knew the locale, you'd understand that where Zheng was when this happened is right in the center of campus and is historically considered very safe, at least before things started going to shit two years ago -- he wasn't on 63rd street at midnight.

I find some of the behavior and comments in this thread really risible. The crime situation in Chicago is deteriorating. Advising people, particularly out of towners, that effectively "nothing much is happening" is wrong. It's also historically myopic. There's nothing inevitable about cities being safe or unsafe places and those currents can change. Chicago (and many other urban areas) in the 70s and 80s were pretty shitty places. There's nothing to say we can't see a backslide into that again, especially one accelerated by the attitude of people who bury their head in the sand.

[nixy]

I'm not handwringing bruh, but you're certainly okay with accepting violent crime. People like you are the reason why the south and west sides have become violent and made large parts of it impossible for normal people to live in the first place - your complacency disgusts me.

Wait, what now? What exactly should Sackboy be doing that would actually make those parts of Chicago safer?

In any case, the article was interesting because it’s clear that statistically crime is going up and that it’s shifting into areas it hasn’t been as prevalent, but other than breathlessly describing a couple of random incidents, suggests more that crime continues to be concentrated in specific areas and among specific groups. Seems pretty consistent with the idea that your average biglaw associate isn’t at materially greater risk as long as they pay attention.

Which has nothing to do with whether the crime is a problem in the abstract because of course it is.

This is a bad take. Maybe 1/3 of the big law folks I know live in the bucktown wicker park Logan square Ukrainian village areas. Car jacking are up like 700% there. It’s simply false that there is nothing to worry about. These neighborhoods were generally safe pre pandemic and now they aren’t.

The rise in crime is real and victim blaming isn’t going to solve the problem.

Yeah, I apologize for implying it was the victim's faults. That wasn't what I intended, but it's how it came out so I'm sorry for that. I find media coverage of this kind of thing interesting (and often very bad) so that's what I was responding to and didn't think enough about how I worded it.

[Anonymous User]

As this conversation is ongoing, I just got an e-mail from the University of Chicago regarding the recent murder of one of its students.

https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/11/10 ... ong-zheng/

I live in the city, and my wife grew up here. I know that area (or at least just south of it) and would have thought it would be totally safe to walk through, especially at 2 in the afternoon. I was just near there a couple weeks ago.

A big problem that Chicago has is white people who live on the north side acting like crime isn't a problem, or that it's isolated to certain areas and certain people. Even if that's true (and it may not be anymore), it's still horrifying that this is how some people have to live.

After seeing the carjackings and the robberies downtown, and the murders in broad daylight, it's totally clear that the police don't have the control that they used to, so murders like this aren't surprising. I've started to question living here. The massive state debt, the pensions, taxes, and violence, not to mention the weather, really do explain why the cost of living is so low. Is all of this worth it so that I have more restaurants close by?