Apart from sports, architecture, or food Chicago’s main reputation

A Chicago police officer places numbered markers near shell casings after a shooting

to the rest of the world is one of mass violence. Over the course of one early August weekend this year, there were 66 shootings and 12 fatalities. As of today, there have been 2,693 shootings in the city of Chicago.  Not so long ago I was asked where I was from by a complete stranger on vacation. Upon answering, their response was only “Ah yes, Chicago… Michael Jordan, ‘Bang bang’” as he hit me with finger guns. All major urban centers have a higher level of crime than in their suburbs. Chicago is no exception. But growing up around this city has demonstrated to me there is not an even distribution of crimes. From reading reports and watching the news it is evident there are several main areas throughout different parts of the city that produce most of the violent crime. An easy surface level explanation is this happens due to the large amounts of gang activity in these areas. But why these areas? The increase in frequency and sheer amount of incidents of violent crime have created a major problem for Chicago’s citizens, law enforcement, and city officials alike.