Originally Posted by chgoeditor

Oddly, a friend who lives in the South Loop recently expressed some safety concerns. I was really surprised, given how that neighborhood has changed in the last 10-15 years, but what she said was that the recent residential developments have become safe little enclaves, but once you step out of them, there's either more crime or more perceived safety issues than you might imagine. I'm not sure how much of that is tied to Chicago's normal warm-weather spike in gun violence, but she did say she feels less safe in the area than when she first moved there. Just one data point...can't vouch for the accuracy of it.