Yikes! What have I started? I love Chicagoland (that nickname always makes me laugh). It is one of the nicest city we have lived near and we have moved a lot (keeping one step ahead of the law ). I think the people are great and far superior in friendliness to many east coast states. We ran as fast as we could from the Boston area. However, my comments were made with just my gut, no hard stats. I should have known better with this group. These are the crimes I remember in the last 8 years in "my hood".

Murder-Otto's
Murder-McDonald's-Wheaton
Dead guy-Ackerman Park
2 teen gang members killing another teen gang member in Addison
Armed robbery Texas BBQ-Lombard
Torching of a friends house and church in Wheaton.
Witnessed police surround a suspect with guns drawn at the Pizza Hut on Roosevelt Rd
At least 3 bank robberies- Granted, we do have quite a few to rob!
2 house robberies, 1 house vandalism, my daughter's bike stolen from the garage-all on a street of 14 houses.
Fake AT+T workers
My daughter's wallet was stolen at a West football game. It was found a year later in some creeps car with many other wallets.
And of course the mandatory sex crimes.
I'm sure I am forgetting some, that happens when you get old, but I still do think it has been a lot of serious crime close to home. It's a good thing we're "packing"-and I don't mean moving again .

You can tack on a house burglary last night near Park and Highview.

Bitterboy--more details please.

All I know right now is that a single family residence near Park and Highview was broken into last evening while the homeowners were away. I understand that many items of value were stolen. Nobody hurt. Let's see if this one hits the paper.

Shore thing,

you forgot the pipe bomb on spaulding ct & Montclair and the "sucide" at the suspected drug house on Duane St.
and my sons electric scooter was stolen from our front yard in the day two weeks ago.

just to level-set this thread, which has taken a nosedive into an all-the-bad-crap-in-GE (and nearby communities) list, i'd like to give some historical insight and ask a few questions.

except for the bank robberies -- which i admit are pretty spooky, but, like amy mentioned, who goes to the bank anymore? -- all that other stuff on the list went on 30 years ago in GE. meaning, if you thought you lived in and/or were moving to Shangri-La, you probably should have checked a few things out first.

murders? we had 'em. some were unsolved disappearances of HS girls. . . scary, nasty stuff. suicides? plenty. head-to-head w/ a fast-moving freight was a typical way out. arson? anyone remember the burning of the student union in, what, '71/'72? bikes stolen? that's a laugher, when HAVEN'T bikes been stolen. . . here or ANYWHERE? i'm not sure what a "mandatory" sex crime is so i have nothing to compare it to. i would guess, though, that sex crimes happened here shrouded in the deepest of family secrets just as we've learned they did across the US in the first half of the last century.

drugs? oh no, there were NEVER any drugs in GE. the kids were squeaky clean. that stuff only happened in other towns. guns and knives at otto's? i remember 'em there back in the late '70s (i'm sure they were there long before that). some very nasty fights.

but, really, for the near 50 years i've been here, most of the folks i've know were more than aware they lived within one the country's largest and most dangerous metropolitan areas. and with that knowledge came logical countermeasures in child-rearing and safety precautions. granted, my wife's dad and my mom grew up in GE when doors were left open, but, man, after the riots of the 60's, (and crime of the early '70's i just described) i can't say i knew too many folks who felt they lived in mayberry.

isn't it inevitable that, given our organic connection to the chicago metro area, crime will increase in GE? do we think we're immune to the world around us? are the crime per capita percentages today that far off from 30 years ago? we'll probably never know statistically (they probably soften crimes stats then, too), but anecdotally, they sure seem pretty close to me -- minus the bank robberies.

so i guess i'm just wondering, why the running list of bad stuff? is it to make us feel bad/afraid? is it to wake up the cops to do something about the crime? what is it for?

now let's talk about GE's real crime story: stray cats (oops, wrong thread).

Thank you for that reminder that the generation gap we complained of when we were young is a never ending cycle.

As we grow older, we forget that we lived in Bucktown, Lake View, Rogers Park and other places where real crime happens. The crime in Glen Ellyn is nothing compared to what you don't find out about crime in the city. Punks? We had them. Pedophiles? Yes, they were there. Suicides? Of course. We were too busy to pay attention when we were younger, but now we fear for our children's safety. To their detriment in a lot of cases.

I think we have confused our need for information to protect our kids, with our need to be voyeurs. Should we really care about injecting ourselves into the pain of someone's suicide? Do you really have to know? I respect the police, but I know they know things that, if shared, would cause irrational fear. Then, you can move out to the hinterlands, where your kids can build meth labs instead of drink beer like you did.

Speaking of the hinterlands, does anyone remember the movie "Straw Dogs?"

On a lighter note, we lived in a village outside of Cincinnati which was truly a Mayberry type community. It was only 1.2 sq miles with a population of 2,200. Every town has its warts. This village was known for A-list cocaine parties, spouse swapping and a lot of divorce and remarrying the guy/girl down the street. It was truly something to watch. We were happy to move on as an intact family.

quote:

Originally posted by ronkas:


Speaking of the hinterlands, does anyone remember the movie "Straw Dogs?"

aye, laddie. i do. . . .

and deliverance too.

Er ... what kind of money would someone expect to find at the library?

A bunch of nickels and dimes?

*sigh*