So there was a shooting in my neighborhood
Last Monday, there was a shooting within walking distance of my apartment building.
The details are a bit fuzzy, but it seems to have been an argument, and two people got shot. One of them died. And while the story at the link says that it "appears to be gang-related" but I've grown skeptical of that phrase. Media outlets seem all too ready to assume shootings are gang-related if they involve a group of African-Americans. I think it's more likely that it was some kind of personal argument that escalated.
We'll see.
Of course, the shooting raises the inevitable question - does it make me feel less safe? And the answer is - no, not really.
I've said this before (mostly on Twitter) and I'll say it again. There's no such thing as a 100% safe neighborhood. Just a few weeks ago, a guy got shot in the largely middle-class Lincoln Square neighborhood because of a drug deal gone wrong. Even in fairly peaceful Northwest Side neighborhoods, shootings occasionally happen. Even in Hyde Park, which sank a great deal of resources into safety, occasionally has shootings. Even in the Gold Coast, one of Chicago's wealthiest neighborhoods, shootings have occasionally happen.
There are many reason why a person might pick up a gun. There are many reasons why he or she may decide to shoot another person. And those reasons are not exclusive to any neighborhood. Or group of neighborhoods.
One shooting isn't enough to make a neighborhood more or less dangerous. It's about frequency.
According to RedEye's Homicide Tracker, my neighborhood had 19 homicides since 2007. Five of them happened within walking distance of my building. Rogers Park, which is immediately to the north of me, had 29. Uptown, where my brother lives, had 25. West Ridge - until recently, my go-to neighborhood for Russian books and other media - had 21.
To residents of Gold Coast and Streeterville, which had the combined total of two shooting during the same period, the numbers might seem a bit high. But to me, 19, or even 29 shootings over the span of six years is something I can live with.
Which is what it ultimately comes down to. As I said earlier, no matter where you move in Chicago, there's always going to be a possibility that you might bet shot. It's about what kind of odds you're comfortable with.
I researched the neighborhood before I moved in. I knew what I was getting into. And while I wish the shooting didn't happen, it didn't change the way I feel about the neighborhood.
I just hope it doesn't worry my mom too much.
The details are a bit fuzzy, but it seems to have been an argument, and two people got shot. One of them died. And while the story at the link says that it "appears to be gang-related" but I've grown skeptical of that phrase. Media outlets seem all too ready to assume shootings are gang-related if they involve a group of African-Americans. I think it's more likely that it was some kind of personal argument that escalated.
We'll see.
Of course, the shooting raises the inevitable question - does it make me feel less safe? And the answer is - no, not really.
I've said this before (mostly on Twitter) and I'll say it again. There's no such thing as a 100% safe neighborhood. Just a few weeks ago, a guy got shot in the largely middle-class Lincoln Square neighborhood because of a drug deal gone wrong. Even in fairly peaceful Northwest Side neighborhoods, shootings occasionally happen. Even in Hyde Park, which sank a great deal of resources into safety, occasionally has shootings. Even in the Gold Coast, one of Chicago's wealthiest neighborhoods, shootings have occasionally happen.
There are many reason why a person might pick up a gun. There are many reasons why he or she may decide to shoot another person. And those reasons are not exclusive to any neighborhood. Or group of neighborhoods.
One shooting isn't enough to make a neighborhood more or less dangerous. It's about frequency.
According to RedEye's Homicide Tracker, my neighborhood had 19 homicides since 2007. Five of them happened within walking distance of my building. Rogers Park, which is immediately to the north of me, had 29. Uptown, where my brother lives, had 25. West Ridge - until recently, my go-to neighborhood for Russian books and other media - had 21.
To residents of Gold Coast and Streeterville, which had the combined total of two shooting during the same period, the numbers might seem a bit high. But to me, 19, or even 29 shootings over the span of six years is something I can live with.
Which is what it ultimately comes down to. As I said earlier, no matter where you move in Chicago, there's always going to be a possibility that you might bet shot. It's about what kind of odds you're comfortable with.
I researched the neighborhood before I moved in. I knew what I was getting into. And while I wish the shooting didn't happen, it didn't change the way I feel about the neighborhood.
I just hope it doesn't worry my mom too much.