You are also not getting the hard core gang members that much either. I lived at Scotland Yard on Broadway (4247 to be exact) in the early eighties and I am very familiar with the area. I handled renovations of buildings on Sunnyside, and over on Sheridan. Got my properties from Uptown Bank's REO lists. The GD's main heads are now in Harvey and they are setting up shop. They are looking to step up stuff in your area though. I saw several guys checking out the area. They are doing the "survey of the area" thing. The young guys are checking the traffic pattern. And you don't need to be a rocket scientists to see it either. It's not bad yet, just wait till about January. And you actually are getting the better bunches of residents too. I was in your area this past weekend (I was a member of the model train club at the recreation center and I visited to see how they were doing). The problem comes in that the residents take in their friends and associates. If you guys want to stop the slide you need to get on the police ~ NOW!
I also remember reading in the newspaper a few months back that gangs are even starting to move into some west suburbs, and even north suburbs like Wilmette! One of the last places I would ever expect gang activity. Although it seems as though Evanston, which is just south of Wilmette, is getting worse. There have been 2 incidents involving shootings on Dodge Ave just this month. I think, for the most part, south Evanston and very north Chicago (Lincolnwood, Devon ave area) are not places where you want to get lost. What is the history of this area?
Having lived up there my entire life, and having been a GOP Congressional candidate in the district that all the afore mentioned areas reside, I know it like the back of my hand. Evanston has had a substantial black population since the 1960's. Evanston blacks have enjoyed stable neighborhoods on the most part and the Evanston Police department is VERY pro-active in containing public displays of gang affiliation. There has been an increasing problem along Howard street (the Chicago-Evanston border) with gangs and street crime. Rogers Park east of Western has failed to attract much in the way of gentrification. The alderman in the 49th ward, Joe Moore, sees poor blacks as his voting bloc and has resisted attempts to "clean up" the neighborhood. Lincolnwood was traditionally predominately Jewish (the same demographic as Skokie) but is now becoming equally heavy Asian. Devon Avenue in Chicago (which west of the river forms the southern border of chicago and LW) is predominately Indian-Paki with orthodox Jews in pockets. More Indians live in West Rogers Park than any other place in America. LW is VERY low crime! Basically the areas one need be wary on the NS are those with a large percentage of multi-unit housing. Ironically in the past dozen years Mexicans have displaced many blacks in Rogers Park. Clark street between Devon and Touhy has few non Latino businesses anymore. Given that Uptown (46th Ward), Edgewater (48th Ward), Rogers Park (49-50), Evanston and Lincolnwood are probably a 30% combined black, latino, Asian and immigrant Eastern European, the area is relatively safe. As canyonman suggests, with such a volatile, diverse demographic, vigilance is always the key.
being from chicago (now in nyc) I can say that i have visibly noted that there has been a shift of the section 8 folks to the far west burbs. I grew up all of my life (until a couple yrs ago) in aurora. Daley has sent the CHA folks out to: Aurora Naperville/Lisle Bolingbrook Batavia Geneva Elgin Montgomery Sugar Grove (not as much, SG is *VERY* strict and very country) Aurora's new police chief has taken steps to crack down on the new criminal element in aurora, and things appear to be getting better. The suburban Fox River belt of communities has begun cracking down on these people like never before, forcing many of them to go nearer to Chicago again. That's what you get when you have the citizens of these communities begin putting pressure on the politicians to do something about the problem. They pushed them out west, and now the suburban communities are waking up, and beginning to push them right back. Of course, once you push the inner city Chicagoians out of Aurora, there's a illegal mexican border family eager to move in, which opens a whole new can of worms!
Very cool!! You lived virtually across the street from St. Mary of the Lake. Yes, the early 80's were quite challenging in that area. I remember in about 1981 sitting in the living room of a friend who lived on Buena just east of Clarendon. We heard a bang-bang from the street below and my friend(a CBOT trader) immediately recognized the sound as gunfire. We nervously crouched beside the window and saw a guy steady himself on the trunk of my car and shoot at another man who was running in zigzag evasive fashion down the street!! Intense! My only real reaction was the relief that he shot from behind my car rather than at it's direction. The T-Bird across the street had two nice bullet holes in it.