Four City Neighborhoods Among Nation's 25 Most Dangerous

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jun 23, 2009 4:40PM

A list of the nation's 25 most dangerous neighborhoods based on neighborhood statistics shows Chicago has landed four on the list, the most of all cities listed. The highest ranked Chicago neighborhood - well, more like "sections of larger neighborhoods" - on the list belongs to a part of Washington Park - State St. & Garfield - that comes in at number two overall. As the Sun-Times points out, that particular neighborhood formerly consisted of the well-documented Robert Taylor housing project.

The list was put together by the NeighborhoodScout real estate website, using FBI crime statistics from between 2005 and 2007 to determine crime for every 1,000 residents. The Washington Park ranking included statistics that showed residents had a 25 percent chance of being a victim of crime. The four Chicago neighborhoods on the list were:

• No. 2: State St. & Garfield (Washington Park)
• No. 19: 66th and Yale (Englewood)
• No. 24: 58th and Wallace (Englewood)
• No. 25: 60th and Winchester (Englewood)

Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th, which encompasses the 66th and Yale area) spoke to the Sun-Times about Englewood and its crime, saying, "Englewood is a neighborhood that has had a lot of things happen to it. There are very good people in Englewood, and their houses are often the only ones standing on their block. Public policy decisions made long ago caused us to get where we are today." She added, "We put more money collectively into Englewood than anywhere else, but it's a little here and a little there. We need to go back in there and consolidate resources to solve some of the problems." The Sun-Times has the entire list.