Quote:
Originally Posted by pip
That's what I hear when I go home within the US. I don't even bother to explain anymore - well there are safe parts etc. Unfortunately the reality is even the safe areas the chances of being a victim of a robbery or something are higher than other top tier American cities. The crime stats while certainly not the worst in the US on a per capita basis are shocking nonetheless especially compared with other developed countries.
So what is the draw here? Other cities have museums, have river walks, have architecture, storied pasts. But how many of the top tourist destinations have crime like Chicago even in the 'safe areas'?
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Who are you hearing this from? Septuagenarians with the Drudge Report as their home page? "Shocking"? This is simply untrue and no one with a lick of sense would write it. Why would you write it if you have no idea? Shame on you.
New Orleans and Minneapolis have a higher violent crime rates than Chicago, Houston and D.C. right now--which are all about the same--to say nothing of Indianapolis, which is considerably higher. Is anyone afraid to take in a Pacers game in Indy? Are you? Is it too dangerous to take your family to the Spaghetti Warehouse in Minneapolis?
The "safe" part of Chicago has a violent crime rate similar to Toronto. The violent crime rate in Chicago today is similar to San Francisco's 10 years ago. Did San Francisco have a reputation for being a crime-ridden hell hole in 2008? And five or six years ago, D.C. had a higher murder rate than Chicago.
And if you look at property crimes--by far the most common crimes visitors experience--many more cities have a worse rate than Chicago, even Orlando and Miami.