Native Chicago people know that most people who grew up on the South Side don’t like going or hanging on the West Side. The same is true for the Black people who are from the West Side. Typically when I meet somebody from the South Side they ask where you stay. When I tell them I’m from the West Side; they respond by saying “I’m not going out there!” When I tell someone from out West to come to the South Side, they usually say “It is wild out there!” A lot of time the reasons are the same from both sides. You will probably hear things like They are rough out there, or they are “ratchet out there. They might say they are petty, shiesty, thirsty, or just plain dirty.
When I heard the last complaint from a young lady who refuses to move to the West Side from the South Side; I decided to do a little research on the topic. Now keep in mind, the lady I’m speaking about currently resides on the East Side which is rough in itself. Now I know the East Side is not technically considered the South Side, but I’m going to include it as the South Side for the sake of argument. I listed the Top Ten worst neighborhoods in Chicago below. The stats are from Chicagoonow.com and are based on the neighborhood with the most murders per 100,000 residents in 2017.
- Roseland (South Side) 94.1 murders
- Austin (West Side) 95.2
- Greater Grand Crossing (South Side) 95.8
- Riverdale (South Side) 98.7
- Washington Park (South Side) 107.6
- Fuller Park (South Side) 118.0
- North Lawndale (West Side) 119.1
- West Garfield Park (West Side) 124.1
- East Garfield Park (West Side) 159.8
- Englewood (South Side) 172
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