Friday, October 09, 2009

Why Chicago Didn't Get the Olympics Bid

Let me start off by giving you this poll:

Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities in America 2008

New Orleans
Camden, NJ
Detroit
St. Louis
Oakland
Flint, Mich.
Gary, Ind.
Birmingham, Ala.
Richmond, Calif.
North Charleston, SC

Clearly, Chicago isn't on the list but, no doubt, it ought to be. Did you know the number of people murdered in Chicago during 2008 was larger than the number of U.S. soldier deaths in Iraq during the same period?

314 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq;
509 people were murdered in Chicago

Who would want to go to a city where their safety would possibly be in jeopardy?

Do you think Mayor Richard Daley has any answers or is he just another baby boomer who has closed his eyes to the real issues that plague his city and our nation?

Is President Barack Obama's eyes also closed?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't understand it either. We picked the town we live in because of its low crime rate. Some people just crave the big city, I guess.

Eileen Williams said...

Wow! This list is an eye-opener for sure! I live quite close to two of the cities on the list, drive through them frequently, and that is frightening to say the least.
What is it with our culture that we lead many parts of the world in violence? I wish we could come up with the answer to that because no one wants to live in fear. The good old Golden Rule needs to be taught like never before.

Susan Adcox said...

I'm not trying to downplay the issue of violence, but I've visited several of the cities on the list and never felt in danger. Lots of people die in car crashes, but we don't let that keep us out of our cars. The key is knowing your way around and staying alert. Chicago is one of my favorite cities to visit. We do, however, need to pass some good gun control legislation to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of people who are too young or too messed up to know how to handle them, or to know that they shouldn't be handling them at all.

Heidi Caswell said...

Susan, gun control doesn't keep guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them. They have no issue with breaking laws, gun control takes guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens while arming the rest.

Knowing your way around and being alert is key, I agree.

Now back to Chicago and Olympics, you need to compare crime rate to the other cities chosen.

My husband was in Korea before the Olympics there. Different world altogether. Many home owners had barbed wire around their homes and armed guards. A way of life. While sleeping his room was broken into, all his jeans, tennis shoes and wallet stolen.

I think it was more political than crime rate. South America hasn't had a chance if I remember right. Still they should have taken a longer look at Chicago.

Kathie M. Thomas said...

Not having been to the US (other than Alaska) I can't really comment, except that on TV a large number of crime shows seem to portray the US in that light. A bit scary.