I love outside of Gary Indiana, and yeah it can be dangerous if you look lost or like you have no purpose for being there, but there's also good working people just trying to eke out the same shit living we all are. I hear my mom and sisters say this kind of shit and it's just like. Sigh
Edit; for some fun examples look on any reddit thread about dangerous trips or some shit and people will constantly talk about how badass they were for driving through Gary or St Louis or some shit.
It's not a warzone mayos.
I'm from south Chicago and people here talk like Englewood is some PVE area when my whole life here the only time someone tried to actually mug was literally in the loop when I was smoking in an alley on break. It's so god damn dumb and I'm getting madder the more I type. I HATE THE TERM CHIRAQ. THATS MY HOME YOU FUCKS
Edit: ALSO IT WASNT EVEN A POC WHO TRIED TO MUG ME BUT SOME TRAIN KID WITH A KITCHEN KNIFE. But laughs in CC
The annoying part is this was originally a term coined by drill rappers and referred to, like, very specific pockets of extreme poverty and gang violence where a lot of them grew up. Of course it got co-opted and now it's just another conservative talking point.
Believe me I know. I grew up a 20 min walk from chief keef. I still fall asleep to war movies/documentaries bc I'm used to gunfire
I've got family that was from that area of Chicago and have gone to visit and never really seemed that bad to me. Now everyone in my immediate family I guess assumes anywhere but up by Wrigley or whatever is just a constant shooting gallery or something.
Granted I also chuckle when I hear the gangs are moving out to x rural area in the state I live in or somewhere I'm visiting and they act like the entire town overnight is going to become "a bad area"