Yellow tape is up, anyone know what's happening?

My wife attepmted to go there today and it was "closed for a special event" don't know if that was a cover, but what aould be going on on a Wed morn?

This town is starting to scare me. I have never lived near so much crime and violence in my life while paying so much for the privilege. Murder (Otto's), multiple banks robberies, B+E's, thief, meth lab(?),homeless begging etc etc etc. And people bad mouth NJ!

What is B+E?

You got your breaking....and you got your entering.

C'mon, Shore Thing...seriously? This crap happens everywhere. Now, I ain't no homer when it comes to GE...I see her pimples and wrinkles and crumbling facades...but there is no crime in GE. Drugs aside, and a lot of kids do drugs everywhere, my guess is Du Page county has one of the lower crime rates in the country. Even lower than most counties in New Jersey.

Still, you need to be vigilant. Just watch your self, and your stuff!

OK Clam, life if indeed changing and no community is immune but all I know is my friends and family who live in high end communities in NJ and VA are shocked when I tell them about the crimes we have experienced here in the last 8 years. We all have drug issues of course, but I have to say, the bank robberies freak me out.

So many communities cover up crime so people won't know...for exactly the reasons you state, ShoreThing. I understand how you feel but if anyone thinks they live in a safe, protected cocoon, they are living in la-la land. Everyone needs to use street smarts although certainly, I am MUCH more comfortable and safe in GE than many other towns and especially Chicago. Chicago is a very safe city, as cities go but stuff happens.

As for the bank robberies...why does that freak you out so much? Do you spend a lot of time in them? I barely set foot in one, ever.

quote:

Originally posted by Shore Thing:
OK Clam, life if indeed changing and no community is immune but all I know is my friends and family who live in high end communities in NJ and VA are shocked when I tell them about the crimes we have experienced here in the last 8 years. We all have drug issues of course, but I have to say, the bank robberies freak me out.

Shore Thing, you have to admit though, in this crime ridden town in Illinois, you have to be happy that you are paying alot less for insurance than your New Jersey and Virginia friends....

I'm someone who really loathes relying on 'hearsay' for such things as crime rates, etc... I'm much better with hard figures.

Looking at citydata.com for 2005, it looks as if one of the wealthiest towns in New Jersey (New Jersey, for all of the 'ribbing' it gets, it one of the wealthiest states in the Nation, mostly due to its proximity to NYC), Somerville, which is County Seat for the wealthiest county in New Jersey, Somerset, doesn't have the rosiest crime figures. Take a look at the crime data for this town of only 12,400 folks:

Somerville, NJ

You will note that the crime index in 2005 for this small berg was 152.2 and was a WHOPPING 353.9 in 2004 (HIGHER than the national average of 325.2).

Now take a look at Glen Ellyn, which is more than twice the size of Somerville, NJ:

Glen Ellyn, IL

You will note that our 2005 crime index is 138.1, and the numbers are very consistent year-to-year with very few 'spikes.' In fact, our crime index in 2000 was a VERY LOW 95.4

Shore Thing, I can understand it when you have friends that are in shock of our Midwestern crimes, but the figures do not lie. Maybe it would be best to forward this type of information to these folks so that they can be shocked about their own statistics and not just about what is chatted about on a very unscientific message board. We are in a very GOOD area of this country and should be PROUD of these crime figures, which are some of the best in the country, not the worst.

I said just that above...but nobody listens to me. Nooooooo. Then you come waltzing in with your fancy charts and figures...and suddenly nobody remembers my name.

Well, if you want to throw out individual data points, here is one that goes the other way. When I moved here from New Jersey 10 years ago, Glen Ellyn reminded me of Westfield, NJ. Westfield is a bedroom community with a similar population, somewhat similar housing stock, and a similar distance from The Big City. Westfield's crime index in 2005 was 65.0, according to the city-data.com site, compared to Glen Ellyn's 138.1. Westfield's high over the period was about 77.

I think it all depends on one's local experience.

let me get this straight, are there REALLY some folks here who are pining for NJ?

[shudder]

Parts of NJ are quite lovely....

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:
Parts of NJ are quite lovely....

Which exit would that be?

Isn't the 'Jersey shore suppose to be nice? And I forget this all the time but what state is Westchester County in? Isn't that the most expensive county?

Read it and weep....

From the 2000 cencus. 100 highest-income counties in the United States per capita...Illinois has 2....Lake and Du Page. New Jersey has......9. Nine.

Old stereotypes die hard. New Jersey has some of the most beautiful areas I have seen...and parts of Illinois could fill in for the Jersey everyone seems to have in their minds thanks to Hollywood.



Brought to you by the New Jersey Convention and Visitors Bureau

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:

From the 2000 cencus. 100 highest-income counties in the United States per capita...Illinois has 2....Lake and Du Page. New Jersey has......9. Nine.

more proof that money isn't everything.

My wife and I almost moved to NJ permanently last year. After doing pretty extensive research and travelling around we came to the conclusion that NJ has much more physical beauty and the suburbs are of a higher quality.

Property taxes are another matter. On a 800K home, which is similar to a 500K home in GE, taxes will run you between 20 and 30K. Hardly chump change.

At the end of the day we valued family and quality of life, all of which we found in lovely GE.

One other factoid, about 50% of Goldman Sachs NY lives in north Jersey. That should say something.

quote:

Originally posted by t.a. superette:

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:

From the 2000 cencus. 100 highest-income counties in the United States per capita...Illinois has 2....Lake and Du Page. New Jersey has......9. Nine.

more proof that money isn't everything.

Is too...