[VIDEO] We've reached No. 1 which is the west side's Austin neighborhood or community area. As Vic Maggio writes in the description for this vid posted March 17, 2018:
The Austin Neighborhood has the largest land area and population out of all the other top ten neighborhoods.
Austin's far Northwestern edge is Galewood, it was once a large Italian neighborhood. North Austin and South Austin Is the largest neighborhood in Austin, North Austin is a smaller area. North Austin and South Austin are very violent areas these two areas account for 90% of all the shootings and crime in Austin.
The Island a square mile in the extreme southwest corner of Austin, which is isolated by the Eisenhower Expressway and Columbus Park.
The racial makeup of the community is 84% Black, 10% Hispanic, and 4% White, the population was at its height in the 1980s at around 140.000, by 2015 the population seen a dramatic decrease to 97.000. Due to poverty, crime and gang violence this neighborhood lost over 40.000 residents over the past 35-years.
This year in the Austin Neighborhood, 461 people have been shot and, 83, have been killed and 384 have been wounded. These stats rank Austin at number 1, on the 2017 list of the most Violent neighborhoods in Chicago
[VIDEO] We're down to the top two most violent neighborhoods or community areas in Chicago using statistics from 2017. #2 is Garfield Park on the west side actually there is two Garfield Parks (East and West) just as there are really two Englewoods (Englewood and West Englewood).
Here's what Vic Maggio writes in his description to this vid posted March 3, 2018
Warning Graphic Content: The Garfield Park neighborhood is home to Garfield park, it is the oldest of the three West Side parks and has one of the most beautiful field houses and has the single largest conservatories in the United States.
Most of the old sandstone buildings scattered throughout the neighborhood have religious markers on them, these are a reminder of the original Jewish history of the area. Garfield Park was also home to the 4,000-seat Marbro Theater which was among the city’s largest.
This video also covers a little history on the Chicago Police Department and touches on the relationship between the residents and the department over the years.
This neighborhood is in a state of disrepair and has quite a few abandoned businesses spread out throughout the area, it looks as though this neighborhood has been ignored and basically forgotten. I have noticed many residents packing up with moving vans and fleeing this depressed crime ravaged neighborhood.
The population of east and west Garfield park was at its height in the 1960s with 100,000 residents, over a 50-year period these two neighborhoods lost nearly 60.000 residents.
This year in the Garfield Park neighborhood, 260, people have been shot and, 36, have been killed and 224, have been wounded. These stats rank Garfield Park at number 2 on the 2017 list of the most Violent neighborhoods in Chicago.
Here's a map of the Garfield Park area, however, I haven't really been able to find a precise Google map of West Garfield Park. As you see the East Garfield Park area is well defined. Though in Maggio's vid you will see a rough outline of West Garfield Park.
[VIDEO] The third most violent of Chicago's 77 neighorhoods err community areas is North Lawndale on Chicago's west side. Here's what Maggio writes about North Lawndale in this video posted to YouTube on February 24, 2018.
The North Lawndale Neighborhood was one of the oldest Jewish communities in Chicago. the neighborhood was home to mega businesses like: International Harvester, Sears, Zenith, Sunbeam, Western Electric. The area was also home to Martin Luther King, Jrs., base for the northern civil rights movement.
The neighborhood has fallen into hard economic times since its heyday of the 1950s. Gangs, guns and drugs have turned this community on its head and has become a very dangerous neighborhood to live in today. The area is full of leveled blocks where businesses and homes once stood, these blocks are reminders of a once economically prosperous neighborhood. Neighborhoods like North Lawndale are under siege and are presently in a struggle for the hearts and souls of the residents.
This is a very sad struggle to witness on a regular basis, it is truly damaging to the heart and soul. I still hold out hope for all of Chicago’s most violent neighborhoods, but in the end, it is up to the residents to make final decision on the future direction of their neighborhood.
UPDATE: This year [2017?] in the North Lawndale neighborhood, 253, people have been shot and, 41, have been killed and 212, have been wounded. These stats rank North Lawndale at number 3 on the 2017 list of the most Violent neighborhoods in Chicago.
[VIDEO] Englewood is the no. 4 most violent of Chicago's neighborhoods. Just think of the hoopla over a Whole Foods Market store coming to the former commercial district of 63rd & Halsted. And then consider what's going on in the rest of the neighborhood outside of that intersection. It might be changing but there are still a lot of issues, and perhaps time will tell if that area will live down the reputation for crime and violence.
Here's what Victor Maggio writes about Englewood which was posted February 17, 2018
The Englewood neighborhood was home to one of the first documented serial killers in American history, H.H.Holmes, and was also home to the second largest shopping district in the city of Chicago, and also home to gang leader Larry Hoover, he is the notorious former leader of the Black Gangster Disciple Nation, a street gang with a long violent history that spread nationwide.
Englewood has been considered one of the top 5 most violent and dangerous neighborhood for almost a decade and has often achieved the number 1 spot many times. The good news is there has been a decrease in the number of shootings this year, the bad news is many of the gang members have fled from this neighborhood to surrounding communities.
The Englewood Neighborhood is ranked number 4 on the list of top ten most violent neighborhoods in Chicago. this year 250 people have been shoot, 49 people have been killed, and 201 have been wounded.
For over a decade I spent many weekends with friends, playing cards and partying in this neighborhood. There are a lot of good people trapped by the never-ending cycle of violence. It is truly a shame how much the area has deteriorated. I believe this neighborhood has been basically forgotten by the powers that be.
[VIDEO] Humboldt Park according to Maggio News posted to YouTube on February 9, 2018. Description
The Humboldt park neighborhood has one of the largest Hispanic populations in the Chicago area. Humboldt is home to the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, the Urban Theater Company and one of the most Beautiful parks in the city.
Humboldt has an old connection to the FLAN (Armed Forces of National Liberation) terrorist organization. There is a deep divide amongst the residents over support for the FLAN.
The park is the life blood of this neighborhood. Humboldt Park was once the nation’s greatest public park, the park has tennis courts, an inland beach, baseball fields and bike paths. Humboldt is ranked number 5, on the list of Chicago’s top ten most violent neighborhoods and is one of the toughest neighborhoods in the city.
The riots of the 60s and 70s damaged this neighborhood and forever changed the economic future of Humboldt Park.
Like the other top ten hoods drugs, gangs and lack of opportunity continue to plague the area.
[VIDEO] Chicago Auburn Gresham is the next subject of Vic Maggio's series on violent Chicago neighborhoods. It's one you can visit one you get off the expressway just off of 79th Street for example. Maggio writes to this video which was posted on February 2, 2018:
The Auburn Gresham Neighborhood is home to the Thurgood Marshall Branch of the Chicago public library, St. Sabina Church, headed by Rev. Michael Pfleger, and St. Leo campus for veterans, which includes the Catholic Charities' St. Leo's residence-based outpatient clinic.
The Neighborhood has seen many tough times and a lot of violence and has seen a substantial drop in population over the past couple of decades. This is directly due to crime. This neighborhoods gang problem really took off because of the piss poor economy created in the late 70s forcing many young black men to the streets to make a living. This period in time seen the rise of the mega gangs.
I have met a lot of good people in this neighborhood and hope this hood is not on the list next year.
Maggio News
Here's a map of the Auburn Gresham community
I wanted to share this post over at The Sixth Ward from 2016 with regards to John Ruberry who did an urban exploration of Auburn Gresham. His family once resided in the area and he makes sure to note some of the many abandoned homes there. He even notes the value of controversial Catholic priest Father Michael Pfleger within the community.
[VIDEO] This video was published to YouTube via Bloody Chicago on January 26, 2018. As in the earlier videos a basic history of the community is shared in the description.
The South shore neighborhood has some of the most beautiful shore line
in the city, and is home to South Shore Cultural Center, Rainbow Beach,
Terror Town, and the historic district, the Jackson Park Highlands.
The neighborhood has seen a massive increase in crime since 2000,
because of placement of residents from Chicago’s most violent public
housing projects and because of this South shore is now the subsidized
housing capitol of Chicago.
South Shore is a good example of how political leaders attempted to
rectify one mistake with another.
I hold out hope for South Shore, but unfortunately, I think the damage
has already been done.
[VIDEO] This video I actually shared here last year and will repost that video on this occasion just to share with you the 8th most violent neighborhood according to Vic Maggio and stats he got for HeyJackass.com. Here's the description posted to the video shared on YouTube Janunary 20, 2018:
The Roseland neighborhood is home to the Lowden Projects, the wild 100s.
The Roseland neighborhood by far has one of the best outward physical appearances then most of the other top ten neighborhoods.
Roseland has a decent economic base, good homes and schools, this goes against all the usual arguments of why violence is happening in this neighborhood.
Updated: This year in the Roseland neighborhood, 130 people have been shot and, 36 have been killed and 94 have been wounded. These stats rank Roseland at number 8 on the 2017 list of the most Violent neighborhoods in Chicago. This video was made 5 weeks before the year ended. I meet a lot of good people in this neighborhood and am hoping Roseland does not make the list next year.
And here's a map for your reference of the Roseland community area
Roseland
In the above video you will see shots of the Lowden Homes on 95th and the surrounding community as well as some shots of the homes of West Chesterfield. Of course that in addition to the great history of Roseland that had been a prosperous community through most of the past century. However, as we've seen of many neighborhoods in the first three videos things just change. It could be the economy or white flight bottom line is that fortunes change...
[VIDEO] This video about Greater Grand Crossing on the south side is no. 9 most violent neighborhood. This is what Maggio writes about this video (duration 15 minutes) which was posted to YouTube on January 13, 2018:
The Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood is home to white city park, the parkway gardens projects, and has the most violent block, O Block.
One positive thing this neighborhood has going for it, is New Beginnings Church and Pastor Corey Brooks and his youth organization Project Hood. What this area really needs is JOBS.
Out of all the top ten neighborhoods Grand Crossing and South Shore are the two I spent the least amount of time in because they are so far east.
Updated: This year in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, 131 people have been shot and, 22 have been killed and 109 have been wounded. These stats rank Grand Crossing at number 9 on the 2017 list of the most Violent neighborhoods in Chicago.
This video was made 6 weeks before the year ended. This video contains a mass shooting in the neighboring community of Chatham where 2 brothers were killed, and 5 others were wounded on Christmas day 2016.
For your convenience this is a map of the Greater Grand Crossing community area.
This video experienced some resistance when it was shared on Nextdoor last year. Most people there objected to Maggio's video because many have looked at his political leanings and some people considered him an outsider. I will also warn you that as he discusses the history of this area he will note a racist amusement park known as "White City" where Blacks were banned from patronizing however there were attractions that utilized Black workers. I don't know if this triggered anyone, but at least you'll know about it if you haven't watched the video yet.
About 2:35 a.m., officers responding to a call of shots fired found Ambriana Collins suffering from several gunshot wounds to her chest in an alley in the 10700 block of South Eberhart on the Far South Side, according to Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Investigators were told a white truck was seen speeding from the scene of the shooting, police said.
Collins was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:51 a.m., authorities said. She lived in the neighboring West Pullman neighborhood.
Collins left behind a 4-year-old son named Angelo, according to her relative Shiela House, who said the boy’s father died from cancer last October.
“Everybody’s just so lost about it,” House said.
Another relative, Devin Williams, said Angelo might be staying with his grandmother for now.
House said Collins was a hardworking mother, noting that she was employed at both a Popeyes restaurant and a McDonald’s location at 103rd Street and Kedzie Avenue.
“We’re just so stunned,” House said. “Everybody called her Ambrii. She was loved by so many.”
An update to the incident reported by ABC 7 Chicago last Friday. Would like to share this video of the scene from the Sun-Times. You would find it in the article. [VIDEO]
Police responded to a report of shots fired at about 2:35 a.m. in the 10700-block of South Eberhart Avenue. Police discovered a woman with several gunshots in her chest in an alley.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities have not released her identity.
Police said a truck, possibly white, was observed fleeing the scene. No one is in custody and Area South detectives are conducting a homicide investigation.
[VIDEO] This is the start of Maggio's top 10 most violent Chicago neighborhoods series. This entry uploaded to YouTube on January 6, 2018 is of the Back of the Yards neighborhood with a duration of just over 8 minutes. The description he posted:
The Back of the yards neighborhood will never be known as New City, to me, or the residents of this community, this neighborhood is the least violent of the top ten.
Back of the Yards is a diverse community where the gangs are at each other’s throats, this problem has a racial component to it, that nobody dares to mention.
The violence raging in this community is total and the weaponry being used to kill and maim people is shocking. Weapons like AR-15s and AK-47s are regularly used in gang shootings in and the communities that surround the back of the yards neighborhood.
The stats show of the 33 rifle related shootings, 46 people were shot and 13 were killed in these attacks. The battles raging in this neighborhood have a vendetta based history that goes back decades.
There are a lot of good people that live in this neighborhood that are trapped by the violence, it must also be realized these gangs could not survive for decades without some sort of support from within the community.
I was born and raised in the neighboring community of Bridgeport, I worked and partied in this neighborhood for decades. It is a shame to see the senseless violence raging without no end in sight in this neighborhood.
And for your frame of reference, a map of the New City community area of which Back of the Yards is considered a part of.
Located in the
community area
of
New City,
the neighborhood extends from 39th to 55th Streets between Halsted
and the railroad tracks along Leavitt Street, just south and west of
the former
Union Stock Yard
and adjacent packing plants, a giant sprawl that was until the 1950s the largest livestock yards and
meatpacking
center in the country.
The boy was dropped off by the ride-share vehicle in the first block of West 105th Street at about 2:28 a.m., police said. He was approached by two male suspects who spoke with the boy before police said they opened fire.
The boy was grazed in the head and ran inside a home and is hospitalized at Comer Children's Hospital. Police said he is in fair condition. The ride-share driver was not injured.
The suspects fled the scene, police said. No one is in custody and Area South detectives are investigating.
[VIDEO] Yesterday I posted about sharing Victor Maggio's top 10 series of Chicago's most violent neighborhoods. I wanted to mention this segment from FOX News' The Ingraham Angle last year. I shared a few more videos from this edition on The Sixth Ward not long after it had aired.
Back in September 2018, host Laura Ingraham hosted an hour long town hall with an audience and in this particular segment you see above she spoke with Gianno Caldwell - who was shown in the neighborhoods talking with residents and gang members - and then Maggio. This segment is a little over 8 minutes and I'm sharing this so that you will get to see and here from Maggio and his thoughts on the violence in the city.
My plan is to post each of those 10 videos about the most violent Chicago neighborhoods every Tuesday at 9:00 AM. Just bear in mind these are year old videos and hopefully after 10 weeks, you will see Maggio's perspective on the violence plaguing Chicago's most trouble neighborhoods.
Actually I wrote about this today at The Sixth Ward. You might have seen this on the news Sunday. I share this post from Capitol Fax regarding this shooting in the 15th Ward. A man doing some campaign canvassing got shot by some thugs who didn't recognize him. Rich Miller writes about this on his blog today.
So let's all be careful out there. Campaigning or not and let's keep politics out of it. Politics already gets a bad rap especially out of Chicago no need to inject thuggish foolishness such as bullets into this.
[VIDEO] Yes many people in this city affected by gun violence are tired of it. Will another march affecting the transportation infrastructure bring more attention to solve the issue of this violence?
The Mayor and Police Superintendent had a press conference this morning discussing the violence. When seeing this, I thought the mayors was close to tears...
Mr. Augustus was the man who was shot and killed by police on Saturday night sparking protest and some very dramatic video of police officers confronting a crowd of demonstrators in South Shore. I will share two posts on this from The Sixth Ward and then post additional video.
ABC Chicago: Protests erupt after man fatally shot by police in South Shore https://t.co/ag4yCNQGi8
This report was shot today from CBS 2. When the shooting first happened there was a protest brewing right on 71st & Jeffrey. If you click that first link you see the police having to push back the crowd. It looked like it was getting ugly. Today those protests continue. [VIDEO]
Nothing graphic is show in this video. It's apparent that at first Augustus was resisting, it's also apparent that he had a gun on his person, and it's apparent that he appeared to be reaching for his weapon. With this said, I don't relish sharing video of a man who would be dead as a result of this action. In showing this video, since there is a record of what happened I encourage you to watch to see for yourself what happened. [VIDEO]
[VIDEO] Saw this video over at John Ruberry's Marathon Pundit. Ruberry though he's a suburbanite today has roots in the Roseland community.
All the same this documentary produced by Victor J. Maggio - and I would like to see his statistics - lists Roseland as the 8th most violent neighborhood in Chicago. He breaks down the history of Roseland and how it's a wonderful community with such violence.
The description for this video:
The Roseland neighborhood is home to the Lowden Projects, the wild 100s.
The Roseland neighborhood by far has one of the best outward physical appearances then most of the other top ten neighborhoods.
Roseland has a decent economic base, good homes and schools, this goes against all the usual arguments of why violence is happening in this neighborhood.
He mentions a number of incidents that take place in the areas north of 95th Street and I'm sure some of you reading this blog might be offended by being lumped in with Roseland. So allow me to share a map with you below which is of the Roseland Community area which is a larger area than of what's considered the Roseland neighborhood further south. So another reason why I want to have a map to reference for your benefit.
Roseland community area
This video does especially mention the murder last year of a Cook County Judge at his home in West Chesterfield. Also mentioned is the murder of a man who owned a non-profit on 95th Street. Eye opening video. Another mention are the Lowden Homes that are west of the Dan Ryan on 95th near Wentworth, cited as the source of these crimes.
[VIDEO] Remember last Thursday I posted about a police involved shooting near Chicago State University. Well suspect in custody and again this explains that helicopter on Wednesday night.
Anthony Woodridge, 25, was charged with two felony counts of attempted
first degree murder, one felony count of aggravated discharge of a
firearm, and one felony count of aggravated battery by discharge of a
firearm.
The Chicago police officer was shot late Wednesday
night while trying to catch up with the suspect, who was on the run on
the city's South Side.
Plainclothes officers from the Calumet
District were conducting a street stop just before 11:30 p.m. near East
95th Street and South Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago's Rosemoor
neighborhood, police said. That led to a foot chase.
During the
pursuit, Woodridge allegedly turned in the direction of the officers and
fired, hitting one of the officers in the hand. Officials say Woodridge
continued firing while the officer was on the ground. The injured
officer and partner returned fire, and Woodridge was unhurt.
Police were able to catch the suspect, and a gun was found at the scene.
[VIDEO] This is why I heard the helicopter in my neighborhood last night? A police officer was shot near Chicago State University last night.
Officer was said to be fine after being shot in hand and one suspect in custody. Another piece of trivia is that the incident actually took place in Roseland Heights. Rosemoor is the neighborhood across the Bishop Ford Expressway to the south.
