Ah, sweet home, Chicago. A city that when referred to causes a vast mixture of responses filled with praise and concern. Those from Chicago typically fall under the spectrum of praise, citing its beautiful skyline, diverse and vibrant culture, and incredible culinary scene (um, definitely pizza). A city that breeds talented and intelligent people, including but not limited to: Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, Oprah Winfrey, The Obamas, and Harrison Ford. However, many hear of Chicago and automatically think of the Windy City (yes, it is extremely windy but that is not how it is originated) or more recently, Chiraq. People from Chicago hear this and love to defend their city and say "oh, it's not that bad". But you know what? It is and it's only getting worse.
Chicago is an enormous city divided up into over 200 neighborhoods, each known for its specific culture, attractions, or demographics. The downtown area of the city is clean, bustling, and full of life. However, if you stray to neighborhoods further towards the outskirts of city limits, you face hardships such as crime and poverty. Crime in numbers so devastating that feds have granted the Chicago Police Department $2 million to help combat this grave situation. What is this situation like? Chicago has racked up 500 homicides as of Labor Day. This number of fatalities is more than the cities of New York and Los Angeles combined. Gang-related violence is very much so to blame, engulfing entire communities with fear and anger which results in citizens having to use violence and weapons to maintain "safety and security". Many of the fatalities include people being in these unsafe neighborhoods at the wrong time, or are the unintended targets of driveway shootings.
Earlier this year, as a result of dead weapons being in the hands of the wrong people, there were multiple occurrences in which drivers on the expressway were shot in their automobiles. This random violence is a reoccurring pattern that will only stop with heavier police interaction and greater punishment, keeping criminals off Chicago's streets. Chicagoans mourn the loss of not only the innocent victims but the entire neighborhoods that have fallen victim of gang-related activity that has people fighting for their lives on a day-to-day basis. Useless violence has no purpose in this city, this country, or this world.
Another grave issue that not only Chicago faces is homelessness. In environmental circumstances such as Chicago's, living on the streets is dangerous and extremely unpredictable--from blistering heat to sub-zero temperatures. Homelessness is an issue that is growing in Chicago and is becoming crucial to bring to the public's attention. An estimated 125,848 people are homeless, 20,205 of which are Chicago Public School students. Any corner you look at in this city you can usually identify one or multiple people who are living on the streets, often ignored or scoffed at in passing. Unfortunately, this sometimes creates sanitary issues on the streets or drives the homeless citizens to become mentally unstable creating an unsafe environment for those passing by. High prices (always increasing) and high temptation within the city often lead to this unfortunate lifestyle. Although there are homeless shelters, they are always at full capacity and it is difficult to shelter the rapidly increasing homeless population.
My heart goes out to those suffering and I hope thing head in a positive direction soon.
A city full of magnificent and beautiful life can also be easily plagues by hardships and crime, often overlooked by popular culture media. As there are pros you must always examine the cons. In Chicago's case, a rapidly increasing dangerous environment that needs to be urgently brought to the public's and media's attention. So to those who want to tell others that Chicago isn't as bad as people make it out to be: please, inform the public of what it is really like so we can move in a forward direction to make this city the thriving and stunning city it once was.
