Chicago, Chicago

[The Big Cat]

 

 

Having now recently left Chicago I can say it is as crazy as it looks. People there have become all too numb to the deep segregation, poverty and acceptance of violence. Chicago has a very significant violence issue period.. The mayor standing there saying this unacceptable made a joke of himself. That was a captain obvious statement.

 

Well, you just left, and every day I deal in the politics of solving the issues facing our ward and the city at large. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

I've only been to Chicago once and I loved it. I was at the top of the Tribune Tower and a colleague pointed out where to go and where not to go. I don't know how that area is, but I walked freely for hours at night, alone, and had no problems at all. I may have just been in a nicer area; or I may have just been lucky. But I loved the city.

 

Yeah, it's a great city, with severely bad pockets--most notably the west side. I **** you not, it's a !@#$ing DMZ in some parts over there.

 

There is so much to love about Chicago, but right now we're working to overcome the systemic failures that have simply left parts of it forgotten.

Edited July 9, 2014 by The Big Cat

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

 

Having now recently left Chicago I can say it is as crazy as it looks. People there have become all too numb to the deep segregation, poverty and acceptance of violence. Chicago has a very significant violence issue period.. The mayor standing there saying this unacceptable made a joke of himself. That was a captain obvious statement.

 

Deep segregation? Huh? It is very diverse where I am. The only thing that segregates is money... AND rightly so.

 

 

 

I've only been to Chicago once and I loved it. I was at the top of the Tribune Tower and a colleague pointed out where to go and where not to go. I don't know how that area is, but I walked freely for hours at night, alone, and had no problems at all. I may have just been in a nicer area; or I may have just been lucky. But I loved the city.

 

It's BFLO what it used to be... On steroids and a market center. Two biggest cities on The Lakes used to be BFLO and CHI... It is now TOR and CHI.

[mrags]

As an employee of Chicago's City Council, I feel obligated to jump in here.

 

It aint gangs. It's hyperconcentrated economic and racial segregation. Chicago is a nice city with REALLY bad pockets, one of them is about a quarter mile from my home. The guy who was shot there last weekend was up visiting from the city's south west corner (I live five blocks north of Wrigley).

 

Also, we always have a spike in gun violence the first weekend of the month because it's those Fridays when the unmarked cargo vans with the Alabama plates park in the middle of the streets, open up their back doors and let any passerby help himself to crates upon crates filled with weapons.

 

The problem would be a lot easier to manage if these idiots were shooting each other over something tangible like gang turf or drug corners. Nope. They're just shooting each other (thankfully they're horrible marksman).

 

And let's not pretend like the problem is having a significant impact on innocents, either. A lot of these guys (black, ages 18-22) have no idea who shot them or why.

 

Yeah...right.

 

We've had shootings in our ward this year, some of them fatal. One was because some girls were beefing on facebook. At least two others were drug deals gone bad.

 

Fortunately, we've actually been able to prevent some shootings...because the numbskulls take to Twitter BEFORE they go light up their homey, and we can figure out where they're going to be and when.

 

Anyways, it's crazy, but you have to believe me when I say it's not as crazy as it looks on paper (hard to believe though that may be).

I respect your opinion an have no doubt you may be more informed than many. Maybe me. Maybe anyone else here. You work for the city in some capacity. But I have to completely disagree 100%. It is gangs. Gangs were created back decades ago for alike people to create safety in their areas. The bloods, crips, Latin kings, ms13. Every single gang was formed that way. Those gangs evolved to money making machines. Sore pounded by guns, drugs, prostitution, etc...

 

Those shootings that you say are just "shooting each other" is 100% gang violence. Even if it's not gang on gang, I guarantee at least one side of the shootings are in a gang.

 

The shooting that "the guy was visiting from" is absolutely a gang type situation. These guys don't mess around. Someone comes into their neighborhood that doesn't belong there it doesn't end well.

 

Again, your invilved somehow so I respect your opinion I just disagree with it. It really sounds like gang type actions.

 

Goes back to my original thoughts, gangs in society today are very big. Society in general is stupified at how big they are. They aren't just in the slums of the big cities. They are in the suburbs, and country as well.

 

Chef will let anyone know how his hometown of Alexander has changed over the years. It's no surprise that one of the most notorious jails in the country is right there. The inmates have to get their drugs somehow.

 

When I worked at Willard Shock I was amazed at how many inmates were from places like Elmira, Auburn, Binghamton. There's almost nothing in these areas. Yet the jail was full of inmates that made tens of thousands a week selling drugs. I'll never forgety conversation with one kid that had been busted for the 2nd time. Said he had just a few more years to go to be retired. Was making over $10K a week selling drugs. Had ultisols apartment complexes that his mother bought with his money. Was set up already without ever making another cent in drugs. But sure he'll be back again at some point.

[BuffaloBill]

 

 

Deep segregation? Huh? It is very diverse where I am. The only thing that segregates is money...

 

Look at population charts and longitudinal studies. There are large parts of the city that are and have been for years mired in poverty and highly segregated populations.

 

You are correct that there are large swaths of economic segregation with pockets of extreme poverty in starting in near west, west and continuing in areas of south Chicago. While not universally true North Chicago and the loop is generally better.

[Gugny]

Well, you just left, and every day I deal in the politics of solving the issues facing our ward and the city at large. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

 

 

Yeah, it's a great city, with severely bad pockets--most notably the west side. I **** you not, it's a !@#$ing DMZ in some parts over there.

 

There is so much to love about Chicago, but right now we're working to overcome the systemic failures that have simply left parts of it forgotten.

 

I stayed at the Palmer House on E. Monroe. Whenever I traveled for business, my main objective was to find the most authentic version of the food that city was known for. So, naturally, I ventured out in search of the best and most authentic deep dish pizza I could find. I walked for about 3-4 hours - so I'd say within a 3 mile radius of the hotel. I ended up getting a pizza at the Exchequer Pub, which was about .25 miles from the front door of the hotel. It took about 40 minutes for them to get it out to me, but the Stellas were ice cold and I didn't have a care in the world. The pizza was phenomenal and I loved the pub.

[Beerball]

I stayed at the Palmer House on E. Monroe. Whenever I traveled for business, my main objective was to find the most authentic version of the food that city was known for. So, naturally, I ventured out in search of the best and most authentic deep dish pizza I could find. I walked for about 3-4 hours - so I'd say within a 3 mile radius of the hotel. I ended up getting a pizza at the Exchequer Pub, which was about .25 miles from the front door of the hotel. It took about 40 minutes for them to get it out to me, but the Stellas were ice cold and I didn't have a care in the world. The pizza was phenomenal and I loved the pub.

Yes, it is all about you.

[Gugny]

Yes, it is all about you.

No. It's about your lyrics. You just need to look at them very closely.

[BuffaloBill]

 

 

I stayed at the Palmer House on E. Monroe. Whenever I traveled for business, my main objective was to find the most authentic version of the food that city was known for. So, naturally, I ventured out in search of the best and most authentic deep dish pizza I could find. I walked for about 3-4 hours - so I'd say within a 3 mile radius of the hotel. I ended up getting a pizza at the Exchequer Pub, which was about .25 miles from the front door of the hotel. It took about 40 minutes for them to get it out to me, but the Stellas were ice cold and I didn't have a care in the world. The pizza was phenomenal and I loved the pub.

 

Good place... I used to go there regularly for lunch.

[Beerball]

No. It's about your lyrics. You just need to look at them very closely.

Lyrics are stellar, thank you for asking.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

A major city with gun violence problems? Who'da thunk it?

[Gugny]

Lyrics are stellar, thank you for asking.

You didn't look closely enough ...

[Beerball]

You didn't look closely enough ...

Thanks Rafiki.

[FireChan]

Regressing towards the mean... 3.5 of course.

 

Why wasn't anybody posting in February? The month of February this year, in Chicago saw the lowest murder rate since 1957. It was also 21 degrees below zero. I guess crime in Chicago likes warm weather.

 

I also noticed we are way down in traffic deaths for the state of Illinois. They post it on signs on the expressway. For the whole year in 2013 the state was over 1,000... So far Illinois has just over 400. Maybe the state will make up ground by 12/31! :-O

 

Freeze Chicago and we can save everyone!

[The Big Cat]

I respect your opinion an have no doubt you may be more informed than many. Maybe me. Maybe anyone else here. You work for the city in some capacity. But I have to completely disagree 100%. It is gangs. Gangs were created back decades ago for alike people to create safety in their areas. The bloods, crips, Latin kings, ms13. Every single gang was formed that way. Those gangs evolved to money making machines. Sore pounded by guns, drugs, prostitution, etc...

 

Those shootings that you say are just "shooting each other" is 100% gang violence. Even if it's not gang on gang, I guarantee at least one side of the shootings are in a gang.

 

The shooting that "the guy was visiting from" is absolutely a gang type situation. These guys don't mess around. Someone comes into their neighborhood that doesn't belong there it doesn't end well.

 

Again, your invilved somehow so I respect your opinion I just disagree with it. It really sounds like gang type actions.

 

Goes back to my original thoughts, gangs in society today are very big. Society in general is stupified at how big they are. They aren't just in the slums of the big cities. They are in the suburbs, and country as well.

 

Chef will let anyone know how his hometown of Alexander has changed over the years. It's no surprise that one of the most notorious jails in the country is right there. The inmates have to get their drugs somehow.

 

When I worked at Willard Shock I was amazed at how many inmates were from places like Elmira, Auburn, Binghamton. There's almost nothing in these areas. Yet the jail was full of inmates that made tens of thousands a week selling drugs. I'll never forgety conversation with one kid that had been busted for the 2nd time. Said he had just a few more years to go to be retired. Was making over $10K a week selling drugs. Had ultisols apartment complexes that his mother bought with his money. Was set up already without ever making another cent in drugs. But sure he'll be back again at some point.

 

Yes, the guy who made the 15 urban-mile trek to my neighborhood only to get lit up by another 19 year old was most certainly involved with a "gang" in some capacity.

 

And I'll accept your critique thusly: I was wrong to say it's not "gang-related." You're right, it is. The problem with calling it "gang-related" is that it conjures this image of organized crime, when "gangs" nowadays vary in their scope, their hierarchy, goals, etc. to the extent that when everything is a gang, then nothing is a gang. And more accurately, that's where we are.

 

Does this make sense?

 

I get defensive about topics like this on this board because my prejudice against this board is that it's a lot of middle-aged white armchair experts who talk a lot of **** about things they know nothing about.

 

That's a me problem.

 

I tried to couch the conversation against blaming "gangs" assuming that there wasn't a nuanced understanding that "gangs" in this case are something other than crime syndicates, that the posters here don't understand it's much more complex than that. That was unfair of me.

 

But the notion that our violent crime statistics reflect some citywide wild west-like capone-era brother against brother blood in the streets chaos...that's just false.

Edited July 9, 2014 by The Big Cat

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

I tried to couch the conversation against blaming "gangs" assuming that there wasn't a nuanced understanding that "gangs" in this case are something other than crime syndicates, that the posters here don't understand it's much more complex than that. That was unfair of me.

 

But the notion that our violent crime statistics reflect some citywide wild west-like capone-era brother against brother blood in the streets chaos...that's just false.

 

So your assertion is that gangs AREN'T criminal organizations?

[The Big Cat]

So your assertion is that gangs AREN'T criminal organizations?

 

The ones that Chicago gunmen are affiliated with, in large part, and in the traditional sense, no.

 

In fact, some of the exist to help kids get to school safely.

[mrags]

 

 

Yes, the guy who made the 15 urban-mile trek to my neighborhood only to get lit up by another 19 year old was most certainly involved with a "gang" in some capacity.

 

And I'll accept your critique thusly: I was wrong to say it's not "gang-related." You're right, it is. The problem with calling it "gang-related" is that it conjures this image of organized crime, when "gangs" nowadays vary in their scope, their hierarchy, goals, etc. to the extent that when everything is a gang, then nothing is a gang. And more accurately, that's where we are.

 

Does this make sense?

 

I get defensive about topics like this on this board because my prejudice against this board is that it's a lot of middle-aged white armchair experts who talk a lot of **** about things they know nothing about.

 

That's a me problem.

 

I tried to couch the conversation against blaming "gangs" assuming that there wasn't a nuanced understanding that "gangs" in this case are something other than crime syndicates, that the posters here don't understand it's much more complex than that. That was unfair of me.

 

But the notion that our violent crime statistics reflect some citywide wild west-like capone-era brother against brother blood in the streets chaos...that's just false.

again. I respect your opinion. It's your city. Not mine. You work for the city in some capacity. I don't.

 

But calling me am armchair QB is offensive to me. I work in a place that is covered in gangs. 100% of the population is effected by gangs in prison. I have a little bit of experience with this. The naive public thinks the "gangs" aren't nearly as big as they are, are wrong. They are everywhere. Chances are you work or talk with someone affiliated in some way almost every day and don't know it.

 

Just because gangs aren't what they once were during the Capone and Luciano days doesn't mean they aren't over running the cities. Bloods, Crips, MS13, Latin Kings are everywhere. Many oeoe just don't realize or or what to look for.

[The Big Cat]

again. I respect your opinion. It's your city. Not mine. You work for the city in some capacity. I don't.

 

But calling me am armchair QB is offensive to me. I work in a place that is covered in gangs. 100% of the population is effected by gangs in prison. I have a little bit of experience with this. The naive public thinks the "gangs" aren't nearly as big as they are, are wrong. They are everywhere. Chances are you work or talk with someone affiliated in some way almost every day and don't know it.

 

Just because gangs aren't what they once were during the Capone and Luciano days doesn't mean they aren't over running the cities. Bloods, Crips, MS13, Latin Kings are everywhere. Many oeoe just don't realize or or what to look for.

 

I wasn't referring specifically to you. This conversation (like most about violence in Chicago) seemed poised to spiral quickly into "see Obama's crony Emanuel can't keep blood out of the streets even with their second-amendment-violating gun laws!!!!!!!11!!"

[mrags]

 

 

I wasn't referring specifically to you. This conversation (like most about violence in Chicago) seemed poised to spiral quickly into "see Obama's crony Emanuel can't keep blood out of the streets even with their second-amendment-violating gun laws!!!!!!!11!!"

oh. Ok. Were still cool then. Let's stay friends. Lol

[Gugny]

Glad to see all is well between Big Cat and Mr. ags.