#chicago problems

I just read an article where a location was mentioned in Chicago and went "...whereTF is that?" Like, I would really appreciate if whomst ever buys event spaces stops fucking renaming them because I don't know what you're talking about.

By Monica Davey and Giovanni Russonello, NY Times, May 6, 2016

CHICAGO--The people of Chicago are deeply riven by race, class and neighborhood, distrustful of the police, fearful of the growing rate of violent crime and united chiefly in their disapproval of the mayor’s performance and their conviction that the city is headed down the wrong track.

These are among findings of a new survey by The New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation, which polled residents of a city that has been upended in recent months by revelations of questionable actions by the police, threats of a teachers’ strike, a school funding crisis and an uptick in violence.

The poll finds broad discontent with the police and those charged with overseeing them, particularly among African-Americans. Residents expressed concerns about racial bias in shootings by officers and many show ambivalence about whether calling the police will ease situations or not make a difference.

The sharpest levels of discontent appear among black residents on the South and West Sides. When it comes to hopes for young people, satisfaction with city services and--especially--expectations about interactions with the police, the divide between black and white Chicago is striking.

“It seems like the police can do anything and get away with it,” Enix Daniels, who is 50 and black and lives on the West Side, said in a follow-up interview. “There are no repercussions. If we do something, we have to pay a bond before we get out. If they do something, they get to sit at their desk.”

The survey was conducted as Chicago confronts a daunting array of problems. Six months ago, protesters took to the streets after the release of video showing a white Chicago police officer shooting a black teenager named Laquan McDonald 16 times. The Justice Department began an investigation into the Police Department, the police superintendent was fired and a task force last month issued a scathing report denouncing systemic racism at the department.

These problems and divides are not unique to Chicago. Cleveland, Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo., have all been convulsed after black people died in encounters with police officers, and neighborhood segregation and budget and school problems are common in the nation’s major cities. Here, though, the challenges reached a fever pitch all at once. And the survey shows how difficult it will be to win the trust of a divided city as it confronts some of the most fraught issues facing urban America today.

A survey of 1,123 Chicagoans recently found a majority of every race agreeing that the city has veered off course.

In the survey, 62 percent of residents said they disapproved of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s job performance, and only a quarter approved. Among blacks, his disapproval rating is 70 percent.

Most Chicagoans say they doubt that the mayor cares much about the needs of people like themselves. Among black residents, the feelings are stronger: Only 8 percent believe that Mr. Emanuel cares a lot about people like them, and nearly two-thirds think he cares not much or not at all.

Nearly equal numbers of blacks, whites and Hispanics live in Chicago, a city of about 2.7 million, but they often live on separate sides of town, and, the survey shows, find themselves leading vastly different lives.

By consistent double-digit margins, African Americans and Latinos on the South and West Sides are more likely than North Side whites to be dissatisfied with aspects of their neighborhoods, like the condition of public recreation facilities, services like trash removal, and the availability of public transportation.

“I’ve been living in this neighborhood about 30 years and I really like it--it’s gotten nicer over the years,” said Tammy Snider, 60, who is white and lives on the North Side. “I sometimes take the bus to an aerobics class in an area that’s not that safe, but it’s during the day.”

The split between neighborhoods can feel like a gulf. Only on the North Side do a majority of residents say it is very likely for a typical young person to graduate from high school. On the West Side, just three in 10 think so.

“In the North and Northwest Side it’s clean, you can walk up and down the street without getting stuck up,” said Carl Hill, 62, who is black and lives on the South Side. “Our area is neglected.”

Latinos in Chicago attest to experiencing slightly less discrimination and generally live in less segregated neighborhoods. But they share some of the frustrations felt by African-Americans citywide. Fewer than 20 percent feel very safe in the area where they live.

Few issues define Chicago’s divide more than schools. Most Chicagoans say their neighborhood lacks quality public schools, but the misery is lopsided: On the South Side, 71 percent of African-Americans say so. In 2013, Mr. Emanuel’s administration oversaw the closing of nearly 50 schools, many in black and Latino communities, a move that contributed to a tense re-election fight for the mayor last year.

Nearly half of all parents living with children said they would like to leave Chicago.

Chicagoans are more united in viewing crime and violence as the most pressing issues facing the city. Chicago has long wrestled with guns and gangs, and the splintering of large gangs into smaller, disparate groups has added to the bloodshed that largely plays out on the South and West Sides. As of late April, murders were up 54 percent from last year, and shootings were up by 70 percent.

The homicide rate has slowed in recent weeks, the police say, and gun seizures and murder arrests are increasing.

Some parts of the city’s mostly white North Side seem insulated from these trends. Fewer than one-fifth of residents there say they feel unsafe in their neighborhood, and 64 percent of North Side whites say their area is a good or excellent place to raise children. But south and west of the city’s gleaming Loop skyline, the fallout feels different--immediate and urgent. Nearly half of African-Americans say they have changed their daily routines in recent months in response to crime.