Halsted Street !

[garvey]

nearwestsider - i concede that 5.00 pm may not be totally deserted during daylight savings when it is light out and warm out. however, in the winter, there are very few people outside at that time.

also, i'm assuming that you're a male, like me. part of male privilege is not realizing the fear of harassment (and the harassment itself) that women have to endure walking down ANY street ANYWHERE. areas like the edges of uic's east campus that have very few people and big blank-walled buildings with few windows are pretty scary for many women after dark. i am not saying that uic is the wild west - just that many women would not feel as comfortable walking around uic alone at night as they would in other neighborhoods, particularly in light of several recent sexual assaults in the area.

[NearWestSider]

Originally Posted by garvey

nearwestsider - i concede that 5.00 pm may not be totally deserted during daylight savings when it is light out and warm out. however, in the winter, there are very few people outside at that time.

also, i'm assuming that you're a male, like me. part of male privilege is not realizing the fear of harassment (and the harassment itself) that women have to endure walking down ANY street ANYWHERE. areas like the edges of uic's east campus that have very few people and big blank-walled buildings with few windows are pretty scary for many women after dark. i am not saying that uic is the wild west - just that many women would not feel as comfortable walking around uic alone at night as they would in other neighborhoods, particularly in light of several recent sexual assaults in the area.

It is not even remotely deserted (I counted 93 people tonight), but fine. Stick with the facts, and no problem.

Since it seems that maybe you have never actually *lived* in a tough neighborhood, allow me to enlighten you to a simple fact of inner city life: The fundamental difference between a "good" and a "bad" neighborhood is what the warm weather does to it. If you feel safer in the summer (because you don't fear the people on the street, and there are more of them), you are living in a good neighborhood. If you feel more vulnerable (because the wrong kind of people are on the street), you live in a bad neighborhood. Its *that* simple, and if you go neighborhood by neighborhood through the city, I think you'll see what I mean.

I honestly don't see how anybody could include UV in the category of "bad".

[NearWestSider]

Originally Posted by garvey

i am not saying that uic is the wild west - just that many women would not feel as comfortable walking around uic alone at night as they would in other neighborhoods, particularly in light of several recent sexual assaults in the area.

If you think that sexual assaults don't happen ALL OVER this city, you are delusional. It only takes ONE JERK to get out on parole to launch a minor crime wave, and it happens everywhere.

Every summer we hear about the latest "Lincoln Park Rapist" or "Wicker Park Rapist". Does that mean your girfriend should be quaking in her boots every time she goes shopping? Come on.

You have made it clear that you don't like living in University Village. I'm totally cool with that. You can't afford it anyway, so help yourself to an Everest of sour grapes, and don't let the door slam you in the ass.

Besides, I'm sure you'll find lots to love about that post-adolescent Wisconsin Dells in the City, aka Wicker Park.

Me? The only thing I detest more than posers and phonies are gang bangers and punks. This neighborhood's dork-ish reputation does a superior job of filtering out all of the above.