4 ms·

Former Chicagoan here. Grew up there, lived there most of my adult life, raised kids there, and finally, thankfully, moved to another state three years ago. It'

Former Chicagoan here. Grew up there, lived there most of my adult life, raised kids there, and finally, thankfully, moved to another state three years ago. It's easy to pile on, but one of the main things that did it for me was sorta this realization that Chicago is more or less hopeless. There's no willingness to even discuss Chicago's problems honestly, let alone do something about them. The culture there is just too far gone - it's depressing. Was I worried that violent crime was going to imminently find its way to my doorstep? No, not really. But with three kids in Chicago Public Schools (no more dysfunctional, shameful organization exists in this country than CPS) I turned to my wife one day and said, "You know, we don't have to live like this." So we left.

bradleyjg 3y ago
Read the comments on this post. No one here wants to hear it. People in Europe, SV, god-knows-where have all kinds of facts and figures they just spent two minutes googling that prove there’s nothing to see here and Chicago is fine.
- one_level_deep 3y ago
  I live in Chicago and have no idea what you are talking about. The local newspapers and tv are constantly talking about these issues. Crime and CPS were by far the primary discussions in the recent election. Who and where are these people refusing to talk about them?
- djfobbz 3y ago
  Love your comment. Being from the Midwest, I'm in complete disbelief reading some of these comments. They seem to be completely out of touch with reality!
- commandlinefan 3y ago
  There's a comment upstream that says "this person's opinions are similar to those of Fox News and the NY Post, so it should be ignored". That doesn't bode well for the actual people who have to live in Chicago.
  - one_level_deep 3y ago
    Or maybe we can see through the national news' political agenda and sensationalism. The people who actually live in Chicago just elected a progressive mayor who ran against a "tough-on-crime" candidate. Maybe those people (the ones living in the city) see things differently than you (someone not living in the city).
    - Izkata 3y ago
      The vote was 49% to 51% when he conceded, and he really shouldn't have - the uncounted mail-in ballots were 3x the gap in the counted votes. Also that race was far far closer than normal with tough-on-crime-vs-progressive usually is around here. Sentiment here is definitely shifting in favor of tough-on-crime.
sylens 3y ago
You replace 'Chicago' with 'Philadelphia' in that comment and it would be no less accurate. Culture and inertia is hard to change
one_level_deep 3y ago
==no more dysfunctional, shameful organization exists in this country than CPS== Are you not familiar with the CPD (Chicago Police Department)? The police probably have more of an impact on the topic at hand (crime and violence) than CPS. They are far more shameful, dysfunctional, and incompetent than CPS. From forced confessions [1] to planting drugs [2] to electing radical leaders [3]. They are on a Federal consent decree because of their ineptitude and violations of civil rights [4]. [1] https://news.wttw.com/2017/09/22/chicago-really-false-confession-capital https://news.wttw.com/2017/09/22/chicago-really-false-confes... [2] https://news.wttw.com/2021/11/04/judge-tosses-5-more-convictions-tied-ex-cpd-detective-ronald-watts https://news.wttw.com/2021/11/04/judge-tosses-5-more-convict... [3] https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/4/21/23036206/fop-fraternal-order-police-catanzara-longer-term-bylaws-change-membership-vote-graham-davis https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/4/21/23036206/fop-fraterna... [4] http://chicagopoliceconsentdecree.org/ http://chicagopoliceconsentdecree.org/
- whatwhaaaaat 3y ago
  Just know that your limited examples are only fooling the fools. You have cried wolf too many times and now no one believes you. Normal people have completely soured on the idea that we can hug our way out of these areas completely overrun with crime.
  - one_level_deep 3y ago
    ==Normal people have completely soured on the idea that we can hug our way out of these areas completely overrun with crime.== Complete strawman, arguing against a policy that nobody has ever proposed. It seems you are the one crying wolf while pointing at everyone else. Limited examples? The consent decree alone comes from decades of datapoints collected by the Federal government. You should read it.
  - HDThoreaun 3y ago
    CPD's incompetence and malice is the reason tough on crime policy is unpopular in Chicago. If voters had even a shred of respect for police here no one would be proposing that we "hug our way out" of the problem. Instead most people are more scared of the police than the criminals.
HDThoreaun 3y ago
CPS has all the best schools in the state. The education they provide poor students is disgraceful, but if you can afford the wealthy brown line neighborhoods your children will receive a good education.
drewbug01 3y ago
I live in Chicago, I’m married to a teacher here, and we’re planning on having kids here soon. There are certainly problems, but the good far outweighs the bad. We discuss Chicago’s problems openly all the time (and certainly randos here on HN seem very excited to discuss it, frequently). What, exactly, do you think the problems and solutions are? Let’s discuss them openly.
imbnwa 3y ago
What neighborhood in Chicago did you grow up in?

bradleyjg 3y ago

Read the comments on this post. No one here wants to hear it. People in Europe, SV, god-knows-where have all kinds of facts and figures they just spent two minutes googling that prove there’s nothing to see here and Chicago is fine.

one_level_deep 3y ago
I live in Chicago and have no idea what you are talking about. The local newspapers and tv are constantly talking about these issues. Crime and CPS were by far the primary discussions in the recent election. Who and where are these people refusing to talk about them?
djfobbz 3y ago
Love your comment. Being from the Midwest, I'm in complete disbelief reading some of these comments. They seem to be completely out of touch with reality!
commandlinefan 3y ago
There's a comment upstream that says "this person's opinions are similar to those of Fox News and the NY Post, so it should be ignored". That doesn't bode well for the actual people who have to live in Chicago.
- one_level_deep 3y ago
  Or maybe we can see through the national news' political agenda and sensationalism. The people who actually live in Chicago just elected a progressive mayor who ran against a "tough-on-crime" candidate. Maybe those people (the ones living in the city) see things differently than you (someone not living in the city).
  - Izkata 3y ago
    The vote was 49% to 51% when he conceded, and he really shouldn't have - the uncounted mail-in ballots were 3x the gap in the counted votes. Also that race was far far closer than normal with tough-on-crime-vs-progressive usually is around here. Sentiment here is definitely shifting in favor of tough-on-crime.

sylens 3y ago

You replace 'Chicago' with 'Philadelphia' in that comment and it would be no less accurate. Culture and inertia is hard to change

one_level_deep 3y ago

==no more dysfunctional, shameful organization exists in this country than CPS== Are you not familiar with the CPD (Chicago Police Department)? The police probably have more of an impact on the topic at hand (crime and violence) than CPS. They are far more shameful, dysfunctional, and incompetent than CPS. From forced confessions [1] to planting drugs [2] to electing radical leaders [3]. They are on a Federal consent decree because of their ineptitude and violations of civil rights [4]. [1] https://news.wttw.com/2017/09/22/chicago-really-false-confession-capital https://news.wttw.com/2017/09/22/chicago-really-false-confes... [2] https://news.wttw.com/2021/11/04/judge-tosses-5-more-convictions-tied-ex-cpd-detective-ronald-watts https://news.wttw.com/2021/11/04/judge-tosses-5-more-convict... [3] https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/4/21/23036206/fop-fraternal-order-police-catanzara-longer-term-bylaws-change-membership-vote-graham-davis https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/4/21/23036206/fop-fraterna... [4] http://chicagopoliceconsentdecree.org/ http://chicagopoliceconsentdecree.org/

whatwhaaaaat 3y ago
Just know that your limited examples are only fooling the fools. You have cried wolf too many times and now no one believes you. Normal people have completely soured on the idea that we can hug our way out of these areas completely overrun with crime.
- one_level_deep 3y ago
  ==Normal people have completely soured on the idea that we can hug our way out of these areas completely overrun with crime.== Complete strawman, arguing against a policy that nobody has ever proposed. It seems you are the one crying wolf while pointing at everyone else. Limited examples? The consent decree alone comes from decades of datapoints collected by the Federal government. You should read it.
- HDThoreaun 3y ago
  CPD's incompetence and malice is the reason tough on crime policy is unpopular in Chicago. If voters had even a shred of respect for police here no one would be proposing that we "hug our way out" of the problem. Instead most people are more scared of the police than the criminals.

HDThoreaun 3y ago

CPS has all the best schools in the state. The education they provide poor students is disgraceful, but if you can afford the wealthy brown line neighborhoods your children will receive a good education.

drewbug01 3y ago

I live in Chicago, I’m married to a teacher here, and we’re planning on having kids here soon. There are certainly problems, but the good far outweighs the bad. We discuss Chicago’s problems openly all the time (and certainly randos here on HN seem very excited to discuss it, frequently). What, exactly, do you think the problems and solutions are? Let’s discuss them openly.

imbnwa 3y ago

What neighborhood in Chicago did you grow up in?