President Obama will visit Chicago this week as part of his tour promoting a plan to battle gun violence. In 2011, the state of Illinois recorded 452 murders, 83 percent of which were gun-related.
Last year in 2012, the city of Chicago alone recorded over 500 dead — which was twice as many as New York, and 200 more than Los Angeles. This January, the Windy City had the most homicides since 2002 — 42 people killed.
This week, Marketplace’s Sylvester Monroe reports from Englewood, a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the city. Here’s an economic breakdown of the area:
Population: 30,654
Average income: $11,993 (Chicago’s is $27,148)
Poverty level: 42.2 percent
Unemployment rate: 21.3 percent
Percent without high school diploma: 29.4 percent
Violent crime ranking: From 11/26/12 to 12/26/2012, Englewood ranked 9th of 77 neighborhoods when it comes to homicides, assaults and rapes. Nineteen violent crimes over the time period were on the street or on a sidewalk. One was at a school and one was at a bus stop. There were 17 homicides in 2012.
Property crime rankings: From 11/26/12 to 12/26/2012, Englewood ranked 6th of 77 neighborhoods when it comes to thefts, car thefts and arson.
Quality of life crime rankings: From 11/26/12 to 12/26/2012, Englewood ranked 6th of 77 neighborhoods when it comes to narcotics, vandalism and prostitution crimes.
Other facts: Englewood has one of the highest concentrations of relocated project households that use housing vouchers on the private market; Of Englewood’s 15,210 households, 274 were moved from the projects to Englewood between 1999 and 2010. That’s 1.5 percent of households, one of the highest concentrations in the city.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
