• lntl@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I noticed when there’s a shooting in NYC, media outlets may report the story like “Shooting in Bensonhurst neighborhood…”

    If there was a shooting in the West Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, theyll report it like “Shooting in Chicago…”

    This kind of language make Chicago, and other cities who are victimized by this, sound more dangerous than they are.

    • 3ntranced@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      WGN, our local news here in Chicago, does in fact report by neighborhood. Not sure where this information is coming from but shit is quite literally as bad as the media portrays it if not worse.

      Drive by armed robberies are so frequent now that our police have been instructed to not engage. Car thefts are also skyrocketing. Pops works in security and at least twice a week a dealership gets 10-12 cars stolen, sometimes in broad daylight and once even with police on the scene investigating from the night prior.

      I don’t want to dissuade people from the area as Chicago is a beautiful city, but in the state it’s fallen into I can’t recommend moving unless you know what you’re getting into.

    • trafguy@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      Are there any communities you’d recommend? Looking for somewhere reasonably safe with good internet and walkability at a reasonable price. If you know of a neighborhood where violence has been blown way out of proportion, that sounds like a golden opportunity.

      • Audbol@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Sorry, not actually from Chicago, I’m from Cleveland but this post came through my feed so I thought I could help shine a little light on things for people who weren’t aware

        • trafguy@midwest.social
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          1 year ago

          Alright, thanks! That still adds an interesting new considering to housing searches, although it might be a bit of a risky move. Public perception can sometimes create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

          • Audbol@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Oh. Definitely not, even the websites that report on safety of different areas will have maybe warnings designed to help sure visitors understand why the map reads as skewed as it does but nobody ever cares to read and learn about that and instead tends to assume “all urban areas are crime ridden” and in reality the statical crime danger presented from the safest areas to the “most dangerous” areas is like 10%, if that. I could go into why these perceptions exist but it goes on forever. Look up blockbusting and that will start you off on a pretty good rabbit hole

  • Itsmeshakes@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    2022 Chicago population 2.6 million, homicides 630. Compared to my city, population 1.6 million, homicides 26. Yeah Chicago sounds awesome.

    • JonEFive@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, Chicago has a problem in that area but we aren’t the worst in the nation. Yet political figures and media outlets love to make it seem like Chicago is a Mad Max style apocalyptic wasteland.

      Most of the murders are related to gang activity which is not an easy problem to solve.

      St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans, Cleveland, Atlanta, Memphis, Kansas City, and a number of other cities are all doing worse than Chicago right now. Some far worse.

      But I can’t remember a politician threatening to send in the National Guard to clean up Baltimore. Washington DC isn’t doing so hot either for that matter, yet I don’t hear our congress people squawking about that - the city that they are directly responsible for.

      Chicagoans are tired of it. We’ve got out problems but the entire country thinks that those problems are far worse than they are thanks to irresponsible journalism and politicians with an agenda.

    • lntl@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Homicides in Chicago are a problem in particular neighborhoods and communities. Many of these neighborhoods and communities are disadvantaged socially and economically and have been for decades. It could probably be considered intergenerational trauma.

      Basically, the rate is higher than other large cities, but it’s generally contained in specific communities.