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Chicago Crime Rates: Why This Classy Old City is Getting a Bad Rap
Reputations aren’t always justified and in a recent poll, American citizens who were asked to name the most dangerous city in their country gave Chicago the dubious honor of topping the list.
The windy city is perceived to be more dangerous than places like NYC and only just over 30% of those polled thought that it was fairly safe. According to Chicago Security Mag, this classy old city is definitely getting a bad rap, as crime has fallen dramatically in Chicago over the last three years.
A promising trend
Crime across the U.S has fallen over the last couple of decades and the Chicago Tribune has been tracking the crime rates for over 12 years.
What they found is that property crime has fallen by a massive 40% and lawlessness has steadily worked its way down from a peak in 2001. Violent crimes have halved during the 12 year study period and property crimes also match that positive trend, with a similar 40% decrease in reported figures since records were first collated for the survey, nearly 13 years ago.
Chicago is like any other big city, it is never going to be completely free of crime, but when you see the progress made in crime reduction, you can see that people’s perceptions of the windy city and how dangerous it is, might be a little outdated.
Why people love Chicago
It is worth taking a time out from talking about crime statistics, to reflect on some of the reasons why people love Chicago.
It is actually a bit of a cultural haven with many tourist attractions, plenty of museums, some inspiring nature centers and a rich and diverse nightlife to entertain you.
The average temperature in Chicago during July is a very acceptable 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and the winters can be cold, but then you have a lot of outdoor activities to attend like snow days in February where there are themed events going on.
The Navy Pier transforms into a Winter Wonderfest as we enter December and Lincoln Zoo holds its annual Zoolights Extravaganza with free entry for everyone, so the cold months are just as much fun as the summer months in Chicago.
Staying safe
Every major city in the world has its good and bad parts and a bit of local knowledge can go a long way to helping you stay safe when you visit.
As we have already pointed out, Chicago is not actually as dangerous or as bad a place to visit as some people think. For example, the windy city ranks down at 27th place among American cities when you look at violent crimes per 100,000 people.
It is fair to say that violent crime does not permeate Chicago, but as with any other city you visit, there are certain areas where problems are concentrated. If you stay in the main tourist areas when you visit, this will help you to avoid any potential problems.
Tourist areas
Relatively low violent crime figures are to be seen in most parts of the city, especially in the areas where tourists are most likely to be.
The Loop and North Michigan Avenue areas are a good example of parts of the city where there is a lower than average number of incidents reported. Most of the north side of the city is considered to be safe and this includes the Lake Michigan beaches and surrounding localities.
If you bear in mind the fact that safer neighborhoods outnumber the more violent areas by some margin, a fact that is supported by the data which confirms over 50% of neighborhoods reported fewer than 60 incidents in a whole year, you get a clear picture that the public perception of Chicago as a dangerous place is now an unfair assumption.
When you consider that Chicago is famed for bootleg crime and characters like John Dillinger in its past history, you could probably understand why some people could think that the city is more dangerous than it actually is in reality.
You can’t change the past but when you consider evidence that clearly demonstrates that overall, crimes are down by some way in Chicago compared to a decade ago, reality is clearly different to perception.
The more people who visit the city of Chicago and have a good and safe experience, the more chance there is in the future of people offering a different opinion about the windy city.
