Looking at the "scariest city" thread it definitely leaves the wrong impression - I think to even mention Chicago in the same thread as a Rio or Sao Paulo or most of those other cities is plain ludicrous. It's nowhere near as dangerous, even if you were to wander too far off the beaten path, you would wind up in not so great neighborhoods, but most likely you would be left alone. Anecdotally, I don't know anyone that has ever been a victim of any kind of random violence in Chicago (I've lived here for 30 yrs) or crime worse than a pickpocket, which can happen in any city of the world.

But that being said, normal precautions you would take in any major city of course would apply, such as not flashing cash or leaving purses unzipped in crowds, or wandering too far outside of your comfort zone, which is of course more restricted than for a resident like myself. Like another poster mentioned, it would be very unlikely that any tourists would really wander that far off the beaten path.

Even the red line El late at night (after 10-11pm) I believe to be safe. Now, I don't necessarily think it's always pleasant, even at rush hour, but I don't hesitate to take it. There might be some not so nice odors and some people that aren't quite as clean-cut, but there are always enough people on board that are normal too. The biggest problem with the red line late at night frankly (particularly on weekends) are drunk yuppies leaving bars, but they're hardly threatening.

Cities like Rio make my pulse quicken just walking down the street, particularly alone or with my wife. I feel like there's a significantly greater chance of being a victim of random violence. In Chicago, at worst I worry about being robbed. Most murders in Chicago are still between people that know each other (i.e. crimes of passion) or gang-related (though in those less safe neighborhoods stray bullets can be a problem) but simply doesn't happen much in Chicago.

-Buena Parker living north of Irving Park Rd.

Oh - and I hesitate to post this because sometimes it can look far worse than it really is, but you can try checking out the Chicago Police ICAM which maps reported crimes by intersections over various time periods. Can be a fascinating site! Another place is www.chicagocrime.org that I believe simply repackages the CPD data from ICAM.