If anyone still believes that Wrigleyville and Boystown residents should “expect” to have as much violent crime and robberies as we have developed over the past couple of years because the decades-old bar strips and century-old stadium are “suddenly” attracting people to the area or because, as the alderman and police commander falsely claim, our neighborhood is just so darned congested, they should read on.
With the city’s release of crime data for August 31, we learned this:
During the month of August, the entire 18th police district, blue on the map to the left, reported 26 robberies.
Wrigleyville and Boystown’s section of the 19th district, colored red, had 26 plus 8 more. 34 robberies.
downtown campuses; Northwestern and Children’s Memorial Hospitals; skyscrapers including The John Hancock Building and Trump Tower; The Merchandise Mart; three miles of the Lakefront Path, including Oak Street Beach and North Avenue Beach; the Gold Coast, Old Town, and about two-thirds of the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
It’s hard to believe that Wrigleyville and Boystown are more congested, have more nightlife, and have more people wandering the streets with expensive stuff than all of THAT. But our alderman and police department say it’s true, so it must be true, right?