Monday, June 1, 2009

Shooting Near Loyola University

A man was shot during an attempted robbery early Monday in the Rogers Park neighborhood near the campus of Loyola University on the North Side. Police said the shooter is in custody.

About 1 a.m. the man and woman were in an alley outside a restaurant at 1215 W. Devon Ave. when a man demanded money from them at gunpoint, according to Rogers Park District police. Source/Read more.

19 comments:

Lianna said...

I am looking to buy a co-op in RP and boy oh boy reading this blog has got me shakey scared. I work two jobs and come home at night by myself. Currently live in Edgewater and we don't seem to have these type of problems. What separates the two districts? is the aldermen? Is it that Edgewater has more condo ownership?

Craig Gernhardt said...

It starts at the top. It's the alderman. Joe Moore is soft on crime.

Al Iverson said...

Lianna, Rogers Park can be one of those block-by-block neighborhoods where certain parts of it are better than others. I don't have a lot of data to know if Joe's really the problem, but Joe probably is at least one of the problems round these parts. Setting aside that, though, read Cecil Adam's recent Straight Dope article on safety in Rogers Park. You might find it insightful.

Anonymous said...

Lianna - There are much safer areas that RP. My wife and I looked in RP, but changed our mind due to the crime... no way!

I live here too said...

Lianna,

I second Al Iverson.
This blogs forte is keeping the Alder Creature on the hot seat. Your Alderperson has been a model of proactive Ward improvement. Joe (NO) Moore has been anything but.

Unfortunately, when we are not in an election cycle the blog deteriorates into a crime scare blog. It is Craig's way of illustrating Ward issues, specifically Joe (NO) Moore's penchant for bullshit, oops, I mean saying "crime is down" when in fact crime is still an issue, though truth be told it is "down" by almost all metrics.

The North Coast said...

Lianna, I believe it's your alderman who has made the difference.

When I moved away from Lakeview 12 years ago, I chose Rogers Park because Edgewater was worse. Look at what nice streets Kenmore and even Winthrop are now, for back in 1997 the area between Foster and Granville along Kenmore and Winthrop was the notorious Winthrop Corridor, a mile and half long drug-and-crime corridor of fearsome repute, with trash all over apartment house lawns and gangs of thugs staking out the street corners.

Now you see small signs of gang presence, but they slink into the shadows if you give them a hard look.

That changed about 10 years ago. Edgewater started improving very quickly,and I believe it's because Mary Ann Smith rides herd on bad landlords- even maintains a site with a list of bad buildings (very few relatively speaking) and goes after their ownership when they produce a disproportionate number of reports.

The two communities resemble each other very much in their demographic makeup, Edgewater having only slightly less poverty and slightly more affluence, yet they behave very differently.

An alderman determined to root out bad landlords and clean up bad buildings, vs. the one we have, who is every slumlord's best buddy, would make all the difference in the world. An alderman determined to clean up Morse and Howard the way Edgewater has cleaned up Bryn Marw and Thorndale and Granville, could have this ward in hand in a couple of years.

Razldazlrr said...

North Coast - good post - Lianna, more specifically - where are you looking to buy? It might depend on the area. I don't care what the crime stats are - after living in Lincoln Park and Lakeview I am definitely more fearful up here. If no dogs with me, I carry pepper spray at all times. I think it also depends what you mean by late and will you be taking the L or driving?

Unknown said...

Oh yes, spoke to Joe the other day at one of his coffee/donuts gatherings. His excuse for the crime is "diversity" and living in an "urban" area. When we tried to nail him on specific crimes that have happened, he wiggled away to another person with the ole "contact the office". He is much more worried about the items that bring him press than his own neighborhood.

Jackie said...

Dear Lianna:

I have actually been living in a RP co-op since 1993. A property called Granville Terrace. And I understand that a few units are available for you to check out, should you choose to do so.

Contact Hallmark and Johnson (6160 N. Cicero, Ste.620, Chicago,IL 60646-4395) 773.545.6160

Hope this helps.
Jackie

Big Daddy said...

I disagree Craig. It does start at the top but the top is not Joe Moore, it's the midget sitting on the 5th floor. HE is the one that sets the tone, HE is the one that controls the CPD, HE is the one that allocates how many Officers are assigned to each district, HE is the one that refuses to hire more Police Officers, HE is the one that stands in the way of beat re-alignment, HE is the one that dictates that certain areas of the city be flooded with Police Officers while allowing other areas such as RP to be virtually abandoned based soley upon political considerations and not crime stats, HE is the one that has reduced the CPD to a mere social sevice agency as opposed to a real Police Department. I know it's fashionable here to blame Joe Moore for everything but your blaming the wrong guy. It all starts at the 5th floor of City Hall. He controls everything. Joe Moore and his cronies are nothing but minnows in the big sea. Until people start to realize where the power is and that they CAN make a change, a REAL change and not the phoney bagoney change that certain other politicians like to harp about, nothing will change. You could put Jesus Christ in as alderman and without the midgets blessing, everything would remain the same!

New to RP said...

I understand what the point of this blog is suppose to be...to keep our alderman's feet to the coals on crime...but I have to say I'm not sure if it serves the purpose it's meant to.

I'm a 30-something single professional female who has recently bought a condo in RP and if I went on nothing but this blog, I would have NEVER moved here. I have to say though that so far...I LOVE it up here!!! This is coming from someone who moved here from East Lakeview! Everyone else that I've talked to in my building also love it up here.

Yes...there are some sketchy characters and you certainly need to be aware of your surroundings but I haven't to this point ever felt unsafe.

I just don't want this blog to ever scare people like Lianna away who might be an asset to this community. We shouldn't be discouraging good people from moving here by using scare-mongering blogs. At least keep it a little balanced and talk about some good aspects of RP too...there actually are some!!!

mcl said...

Thanks and welcome, New to RP! I completely agree with you. What I strongly feel is that we need new Ward leadership, truly concerned with the Ward and it's residents.

And, with that said, I agree with you, TNC, regarding the effective and responsible leadership of Alderman Mary Ann Smith in the 48th Ward. In a matter of 8-10 years, she has 'transformed' her Ward into a place providing real change and highly positive 'quality of life' community for all.

Boy, could we use some of that 'direction' in the 49th!

Craig Gernhardt said...

===if I went on nothing but this blog, I would have NEVER moved here.===

A lot of people do that.

Craig Gernhardt said...

===Yes...there are some sketchy characters---

You bet.

Craig Gernhardt said...

===Yes...there are some sketchy characters===

Sketchy deals too.

The North Coast said...

Big Daddy is right- our core problem is the fat, spendthrift, vanity-obsessed blowhard on the 5th floor at City Hall.

Everything Big Daddy says is true.

However, I can add more to his post, which is that, to begin with, Daley is the sort of guy who confuses cause with effect. He looks at the glittering, glamorous city that is Chicago, and he things, Ahhhh, that's the ticket- I'll just go out and buy more glitz and bling, like the 2016 Olympics and flower planters and lots of trendy overpriced condos downtown, and all THAT will make the city "world class". He doesn't understand that all those things are the effects of wealth, the rewards of wealth, that they do not build wealth.

He's the kind of guy who proves he has "class" by parking a $75,000 BMW in front of a 5-room shotgun house with asphalt siding and a sagging roof on a trash-littered street. The kind of guy who spends $100,000 on his kid's wedding while the furnace is on the blink and the retirement acct is empty. My mother and sis were in town last week, and Mom observed that all the sewers close to my sister's hotel on Huron & Michigan stunk. The sewers and water mains in this town are on the verge of collapse, the police dept is steeply short manpower and money, and all Hizzoner thinks about is the bleeping Olympics- when he isn't plotting another TIF to erase more of the tax base for the next 23 years.

Most of all, our mayor and his cronies have decided to trash the rest of the city to redevelop the downtown and inner-ring neighborhoods to make a nice playground for all the international tourists they hope to draw to events like the 2016 games.

In case you all don't already know it, Rogers Park and West Ridge are the designated dumping grounds, along with the formerly pristine southwest side, formerly known for its upright, clean, hardworking blue collar population, but now another dumping ground for the city's social problems. Same with us. 10 years ago, my boyfriend said, "Laura, Rogers Park is going nowhere because the powers that be have decided it's going to be a dumping ground for the people getting kicked out of Cabrini when it closes,".

Well, the people who love this nabe and care about it and have kept it mostly pleasant, charming, and livable, have put up a great fight against the push from downtown, and we are going to have to fight harder and yell louder.

And while we're working on unseating Moore in the next election, let's get to work and find a good candidate who could possibly show against Daley, because that fat jackass is destroying this city. He is bankrupting this beautiful place for his vanity projects and to line the back pockets of his cronies. Absolutely EVERY essential service- police, transit, water, sewer, has either deteriorated steeply or is costing us much more money-since he entered office. He won't be content till he turns this city into another Detroit or St. Louis from overtaxation and making life miserable for small businesses.

Craig Gernhardt said...

===I'm a 30-something single professional female===

If you ever get laid off, you've got the talent to work at DevCorp or Moore's office.

floss said...

Hello Lianna and welcome,

Come up here some Saturday and talk to people at yard sales.

There is Rogers Park Neighborhood group on Facebook. I have only given it a quick look myself but it might be of some help for you.

Other than the gang activity and alderman inactivity it is a sweet neighborhood. I enjoy life here.

M BIG said...

Anyone else notice that the crime that started this thread was actually committed in Edgewater? It's on my street!

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