Crime Issue in Garfield Park, Chicago

The theme of our StoryMap is the high-crime neighborhood in Chicago. A neighborhood's crime rate is a significant measure of whether it is a safe and livable residential environment. Even if there are affordable community areas to live in, individuals are hesitant to relocate if a region has a high crime rate. A high crime rate can lead to urban issues like segregation and poverty. Crime concerns have a direct impact on the citizens and businesses of a municipality. To offer examples for detailed analysis of the theme in the city of Chicago, we picked Garfield Park Neighborhood.

Garfield Park Neighborhood is located in western Chicago, roughly 4.5 miles west of the Loop. After the death of US President James Garfield in 1881, it was divided into East and West Garfield Parks. The two areas, which struggled with growth in the late nineteenth century but prospered in the early twentieth, had a massive construction boom, which was followed by significant groups of immigrants from Germany and Ireland. The Great Depression of the 1920s had a tremendous influence on the expansion of both neighborhoods, as unemployment increased dramatically and industrial growth deteriorated significantly. In addition to the growth of suburbanization in the 1950s, white people began to leave and were replaced by black people. Since the 1970s, when black gangs steadily took over the areas with firearms and drugs, the situation has deteriorated. The number of crimes has increased dramatically, creating significant disruption to local inhabitants and the growth of the area.

According to the ESTA report, West Garfield Park is the most hazardous neighborhood in Chicago, while East Garfield Park is also one of the most dangerous neighborhoods due to a high crime rate. They are located on Chicago's west side and provide excellent access to nearby neighborhoods and suburban locations. However, 92 percent of people in both East and West Garfield Park are African-Americans, indicating a lack of diversity. We contend that this segregation is contributed by the past and present high crime rates, and that not just segregation but also a low-quality environment can harm future generations.

In the present day, problems such as gang battles, drug traffickers, and guns smuggling are constantly spreading crime in communities and endangering its citizens. The primary message is to identify the crime in the community and look for alternative plans to lessen the present situation.

This video provides a detailed and comprehensive description of crime in Garfield Park, including a brief discussion of crime history in the area and many incidents of serious crimes, such as mass shootings and murders.

The figure above demonstrates a shocking plummet of 64% of total population from 1960 to 1990 in East Garfield Park, hurting by the ongoing drug wars, segregation and discrimination in the late 1900s, and most out-migrate populations are White.

Gentrification relies on the creation of a white market with racial investment to reshape the landscape, which simply emphasize higher white population, a better community for investment. Regardless of local realities, such as food stores, hospitals, and schools, the presence of colored population often signals disinvestment and abandonment to outside investors. Gentrification is thus determined less by the quantity of homes renovated and more by the social value assigned to the upgraders.

When going through latest news about shootings in Garfield Park, we also noticed that many victims are children and teenagers from age 4 to 14. Bystanders, in most cases, are very likely to get shot by stray bullets, and youngsters usually don't have to awareness to escape from the scene as quick as possible and abilities to defend themselves in such incidents.

A sustainable neighborhood should not only have environment-friendly economic growth, but also healthy economic growth. Therefore, public safety is a huge issue in terms of a sustainable future in East and West Garfield Park Neighborhood, as crimes can heavily disturb the regular production and development process. High crime not only endangers residents, but it also drives critical infrastructure, amenities, and companies out of communities.

Public safety in the community is the most significant part when people decide on their town. The high crime rate is directly related to the safety of the residents and the growth of the county and city. High crime not only threatens the resident but also makes important infrastructures, facilities, and businesses leave the neighborhoods. The high crime rate in a neighborhood can affect the poverty rate and it will harm the sustainability of Cook County and Chicago. Rebuild the neighborhoods will require massive financial assistance from the county or city, and after the rebuild, the residents can be displaced to other neighborhoods. The displacement without support can raise the crime rate in other neighborhoods or counties.

Today, both West and East Garfield park are further away from sustainability due to several urban problems caused or affected by the high crime rate. Since the crime rate is extremely high compared to any other region, the population is decreasing, and the median age is increasing in both neighborhoods. Moreover, the education level is slowly increasing, but it is still very lower than in other community areas. Through this process, these neighborhoods can be abandoned by people and become one of the worst slums in Chicago.

West and East Garfield park will maintain the high crime rate if there are no prevention. The city of Chicago is working to reduce the crime rate to prevent a neighborhood become a slum. Preventing crimes and educating youth properly in a good environment can prevent other urban problems such as poverty and segregation, and the reduction of crimes can bring economic growth to the city. 

We expect to reduce the crime rate in the neighborhoods and keep it healthy for youth through several programs and partnerships with organizations in Chicago like Chicago Citizen for Change (CCC), and Westside Cultural Foundation in Garfield Park. The CCC Program will focus on youth violence to support and aware of how crime can affect one's life. Westside Cultural Foundation will support youth and seniors to promote their education level, and learning the cultural aspects will help the youth to interact with diverse communities. Promoting the desire to learn and live in a diverse can build the neighborhoods and county to become an interacting region that connects suburban areas to the loop. The development of the neighborhoods in Cook county can affect the sustainability of the city by offering more affordable housing for people in Chicago, too.