For the second time in a month I’ve heard about a student being held up at gunpoint at the DePaul Lincoln Park campus. (This one was today at 3 PM in the afternoon!) Has campus crime been inching up or is this an aberration? I’m comfortable that my son will end up in an urban environment and needs to be aware. I’m not comfortable that he needs to be on guard when walking to class in the middle of the day.
No responses so I will provide my observations. Background: I’ve been coming to Chicago for decades for work and to visit…probably four to five times per year.
Overall, there is a sense that Chicago is less safe these days from my friends that live there. There is a perception of more random street crime in Lincoln Park, River North, the Loop, etc. Personally, my son and I felt like there were more sketchy people around and the panhandlers are MUCH more aggressive than before but we didn’t feel unsafe. But clearly the City of Chicago has a lot of work to do.