That's certainly the case for McDonalds Corporate, which has its headquarters in the heavily-patrolled, maximally gentrified West Loop. Nobody who works in McDonalds HQ is worried about crime near their building.
Where crime in Chicago is a real problem is in the south and west sides of the city, where white people don't live. Those areas are playing out a slow motion mechanistic tragedy set in motion a century ago when they were redlined, sliced in half by the Dan Ryan, evacuated by white people, and disinvested. A map of Chicago violent crime is, roughly, a map of redlining.
The city can make no excuses for this. It's an ongoing human tragedy running at a scale that is hard to get your head around. At the same time, it's hard to take the CEO of McDonalds seriously, because the crime problem in Chicago is mostly segregated away from him and people like him (and me).
Can’t take him sincerely. He states his motivation in the article but it’s easily buried in insincere fluff and more than enough victim blaming. It’s clear he wants corporate employees back in the office, and wants to frame crime as the reason for that not meeting his preferred expectations. But crime, which he speaks of the same as overdosing and homelessness “issues” are what he’s addressing, rather than actual reasons people don’t want to work in his corporate offices. And more importantly to me, rather than addressing the real suffering homeless people and addicts are experiencing and real solutions to help them.
> “We have violent crime that’s happening in our restaurants … we’re seeing homelessness issues in our restaurants. We’re having drug overdoses that are happening in our restaurants,” he said. “So we see in our restaurants, every single day, what’s happening in society at large.”
> “It’s more difficult today for me to convince a promising McDonald’s executive to relocate to Chicago from one of our other offices than it was just a few years ago,” he said. “It’s more difficult for me to recruit a new employee to McDonald’s, to join us in Chicago than it was in the past.”
> And when it comes to returning to the office, he said, “one of the things that I hear from our employees [is] … ‘I’m not sure it’s safe to come downtown.’”
> Kempczinski pointed to several high-profile corporate departures from the city, including Boeing, Caterpilllar and Citadel, which all recently announced plans to relocate their headquarters. He said that mayors and governors from other cities and states have reached out to McDonald’s to consider doing the same.
Certainly, violent crime is happening in McDonalds restaurants. There are McDonalds all over the place in the south and west sides of Chicago. I'm sure homelessness is a problem in all their restaurants. Note that he brought that up, because it's a tell: Chicago's crime problem has zero to do with homelessness (that might not be the case in other cities, but it isn't here.)
If you don't have an actual solution for the impacts of redlining in Chicago, you don't have a crime solution. Chicago has tried everything short of that. It's broken up the major gangs; we got a nightmare of tiny little idiot gangs. It's flooded the zone in Englewood and Austin; you can suppress crime for a time, but it just squeezes into other neighborhoods.
Let's grant these are the sole and entire reasons for crime. This historical analysis is entirely and fully correct.
What does it imply, going forward? What is the solution?
The 2005 crime report has homicides at 448. There have been over 500 so far this year with over 3 months left.
-- https://home.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20...
Deindustrialized - the South Side has never really recovered from the Stockyards and the US Steel South Works closing. Even the hospitals are closing or are closed already.
Losing population - The Englewood neighborhood in Chicago, one of the most violent and poorest in the city https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englewood,_Chicago#Demographic... population peaked at almost 100,000 in 1960, now around 25,000.
Hard to think of a solution except to subsidize economic activity in such neighborhoods.
The Obama Presidential Library may have such an effect for Woodlawn, though it's worth noting that it is sited so that it can be reached by car without actually traveling through Woodlawn.
And yes, for the Dan Ryan.
That seems like a very strange assignment of blame.
I agree with this. People are and will be the the way they are, we can't exactly fix that as a whole. What we can make better for sure, is the system. And so, systemic issues should be fixed on the system's level.
We’ve heard enough about the crime in Chicago over the last few years that we’ve agreed to stay away for a while.
I'm not sure why I feel the need to mention this, but without doing a deep dive on the statistics, we hit the tipping point to not return.
At the same time mega public housing projects were built for the same purpose going against the best practices then and now.
It’s not surprising that 2 of the biggest infrastructure projects in Chicago history that were used with the express purpose of isolating and disempowering specific neighborhoods should have the effect of doing just that.
Maybe you should define what redlining means.
[1] https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/diet-cri...
also, just to entertain this notion, fast food is interlinked with poverty and substandard living conditions, too -- most folks tend to think that rather than being the cause of these conditions that fast food is simply the available option.
It's a special kind of privileged to be able to yell "Shut these places down that serve unhealthy food." without first securing healthy food for those in need.
Let's first think about what happens when the only food source available to certain groups gets regulated out of existence.
I'm not saying that they don't hold a level of responsibility -- what I AM saying is that no food is worse than bad food.
Part of the reason healthy foods are more expensive is indirectly due to the junk foods industry, which has caused our supply chains to be tightly optimized around provision of unhealthy foods.
It also likely causes crime. Metabolic syndrome -> psychiatric conditions && debt to pay for insulin && lost productivity --> crime.
What the GP is wrong about is the solution. We're trapped in a bad local optima here. Just immediately shutting down fast food isn't an exhaustive solution, because you suck jobs out of the local areas and it takes time for the supply chains to reoptimize around healthy food. Some kind of gradual systemic change over multiple decades is needed.
1. Shut down McDonalds! 2. But then poor people will starve to death!
I imagine there’s a solution somewhere in the middle. Perhaps McDonalds is taxed higher, banned from advertising. Subsidies are pushed for healthier lifestyles in those neighbourhoods.
Special kind of privileged? I moved from the Bay Area to Vietnam. I've lived and traveled all around SE Asia for many years. I've seen the poorest of the poor, in the most remote places possible. I've eaten the same food. One thing they have going for them is that food is inexpensive and food is available. It is also not fast food.
It is possible to feed people food that isn't crap McDonalds. The concept that it is the only thing available, is completely manufactured. The fact that people give up production of good food, for this crap, because it is cheap and easy, is a big part of the problem.
Some fats are healthy. However, I would not be surprised if the fats found in McDonald's are predominantly unhealthy.
Over consumption of salt is far more harmful to one's health than over consumption of fat in general, as far as I'm concerned.
Rock over London, Rock on Chicago!
1. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicagos-top-cop-break...
2. https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/afghanistan-war
This is the product of adressing housing wrong and modern segregation. They have a lot of well funded cops, that and prosecutors are responsible, the buck stops there.
Gangmembers are older(and less dangerous by themselves) and some have gone through 'banging', others have joined through other means. They used to have the kids do the banging since laws are more lax on minors, and the kids are usually the hot heads who need to prove themselves. Members count the money and are in charge of administration, when organized proper. Im sure there is more to the heirarchy but usually a member wont come at you by themselves. they send the foot soldiers if they have beef with someone. Members are fairly weak, drugged up, care about the money. They come at you with numbers. Bangers are extremely dangerous by themselves.
It's not entirely unexpected that our largest cities get the most attention.
See also: All the talk about Detroit, a very small city.
Miami, FL: https://www.local10.com/news/florida/2022/09/14/watch-allege...
Oklahoma City, OK: https://okcfox.com/amp/news/local/oklahoma-city-police-seek-...
anyway, I don't think they're "weaponizing disinformation" this seems like hyperbole (but I'm not sure if this is satire either)
McDonalds and other companies do wage theft because it's profitable. Having to pay out a couple of times whenever someone raises a fuss is already paid for by all the times someone didn't notice. Unlike violent crime it affects nearly all of us directly and represents a larger monetary value than all burgarlies and larcenies put together.
"The convoluted wording of legalisms grew up around the necessity to hide from ourselves the violence we intend toward each other. Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. You have done violence to him, consumed his energy. Elaborate euphemisms may conceal your intent to kill, but behind any use of power over another the ultimate assumption remains: "I feed on your energy."" - Frank Herbert, Dune Messiah
https://home.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/CompStat-P...
And, for more easily visually parseable statistics on homicides, let’s link to…
…though the commentary there is, let’s just say, less than neutral.
I grew up and went to school in downstate Illinois. Having lived in Chicago for 7 years, and having lived in large cities now for 10 years, I do feel there’s been a shift in perception both in the city and outside. I definitely get nastier vibes from family, and the city does “feel” a bit less safe living here now. (Bit spooky seeing someone drive by at 2am and saw a catalytic convertor right off a car on the street…)
I wish I really knew what this vibe shift (ugh, sorry) meant for the future of the city. I love it here—wouldn’t live anywhere else in the USA. The architecture, the transit, the arts and entertainment, the beautiful lake front…there’s just so much going for it. But perception becomes reality when it comes to things like this. If Chicago becomes truly notorious for crime, there is less investment, and thus less development, and everything comes tumbling down.
(And seriously, I would not move. I live in Uptown, which is, oh, not the safest of neighborhoods. I’ve seen some gnarly crimes and scenes here, but the benefits just so outweigh the potential costs in crime. I am quite willing to gamble a bit of safety so as to not succumb to suburban ennui.)
The reader is left to assume these are emotional benefits, is that accurate?
HOLY SHIT those stats! Great website to put it in perspective.
2,606 people (that we know of) were shot so far in Chicago this year. That's over 10 per day. That's insane. And it's even crazier that it's so hard for anyone to discuss it without the carnival of canards that get bandied about every time. It seems like some people are practically trained to divert away from the actual subject.
Do we need to send international peacekeepers to Chicago? Send in some blue helmets?
> It seems like some people are practically trained to divert away from the actual subject.
That is a succinct description of American politics and "news" media.
Or so says Channel5 youtube channel with an interesting take on one of the drivers of the increased murder rates[0]
TLDW: Drill rap is a very aggressive style from the projects, the same ones Michelle Obama grew up in. A few of it's rappers got really famous and rich because a bunch people seemed to really like it and the atmosphere behind it. This atmosphere is known as Chiraq (pronounced 'Chai-rack', for CHIcago and iRAQ, and the dangerous nature of area). There are many people documenting the Chiraq scene. As many of the Drill rappers produced music to YouTube, the algorithm caught hold. Viewers seemed to watch the more aggressive videos, commentary, and dis-tracks. Rappers saw this and produced even more aggressive and violent content. Quickly, content about murder and the like became top hits. Rappers found that hyper-violence got big views and therefore money and fame. YouTube, in a small way, incentivized the murder rate to rise, or so is alluded to in Channel5's video.
After that they go to a White Sox game and talk about flat-earth and condoms.
This seems like the wrong action to take if they actually want to put any pressure on the government to address this.
Clearly there is a problem, but how the hell do we fix it?! Stop and frisk? All the authoritarian shit New York did in the 70s and 80s? That's not politically feasible AND it's unconditional.
https://qz.com/2077384/why-is-walgreens-really-closing-its-s...
One thing that’s affecting peoples perception of safety is an increase in violent crime in previously safe neighbourhoods such as River North. Folks who felt safe because they could avoid the more violent areas of town are reading about (and witnessing) shootings and car-jackings occurring near where they work and go out to eat at restaurants. That changes calculations away from feeling some semblance of control over the situation towards feeling like violence might randomly happen to me or my family, which increases fear disproportionately compared to the raw statistics.
[1] https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/billionaire-hedge-fund...
In all seriousness I think unlike other local (ex) CEOs, he's committed to staying and seems to be trying to talk about it productively. The others seemed to hide behind crime rates to cover up their hiring issues and ran away.
Still, part of the problem is that they're going to have trouble recruiting because of the perception of crime / safety based on how its reported and he never seems to acknowledge it in any statistically meaningful way; I don't think the areas the HQ is in for example are as bad as some of the other neighborhoods further south or west.
Bit of a shame because it sort of reinforces the bad perception others have, when he could be combating it and trying to address the issues simultaneously.
