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A comment on Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022. Parent comment

Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by toomuchtodo on Monday June 27, 2022 @01:12PM (#31897551)
Former Chicago suburbs native. Once you have kids, you’re not willing to take them to the Bean on a weekend and end up in the middle of a shooting. Taxes are higher in NY or SF, but if you have kids, you’re not moving there anyway (I’d pick Des Moines, IA or somewhere safe in the Rust Belt first). The weather might get better with climate change, but probably not enough to make the winters tolerable. It can get very cold, and you might as well live in Canadian latitudes those times of the year. CPS quality is low and likely to not improve in the time my kids would rely on it.

Chicago could be great, but the effort required makes it a deep long dated out of the money call. Some deus ex machina intervention is going to be required to reduce crime, reduce the debt burden, and right size public services so a productive tax base will stay. Ideally, one works remotely for a Chicago firm and visits when the weather is good (between Memorial and Labor Day).

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Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by ruh-roh on Monday June 27, 2022 @02:32PM (#31898700)
I am not going to wade into the crime chatter all over this thread, people have their own stories and barometers on that stuff.

But I cannot let Bean anecdotes slide without an alternate take. We take our kids (two under 10) down to the Bean/Millennium Park area 4-5 times a summer, without fear. It's a fantastic place for families. Super diverse, good exercise, breeze off the lake. The Bean + the fountains + Maggie Daley Park can be an awesome Saturday/Sunday afternoon.

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Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by curiousllama on Monday June 27, 2022 @02:04PM (#31898300)
> Once you have kids, you’re not willing to take them to the Bean on a weekend and end up in the middle of a shooting

A (irresponsible) buddy of mine once drunkenly fell asleep by the bean, and was woken up by a nice homeless fellow who told him “hey man, can’t be sleeping here, the cops will fine you.” Wallet, phone, etc all still in his bag.

I lived across the street from the bean for 3 years. I’m more likely to get injured in a car wreck driving around the suburbs than a shooting by the Bean

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Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by toomuchtodo on Monday June 27, 2022 @02:16PM (#31898467)
You do you, we have different risk tolerances. It just isn’t worth it to me. I am not feeling lucky.
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Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by tptacek on Monday June 27, 2022 @02:17PM (#31898481)
You are more likely to be shot in the Rust Belt than at the Bean, and it's not close.
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Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by haswell on Monday June 27, 2022 @05:11PM (#31900854)
Sure, we all have different risk tolerances, but if you're actively avoiding The Bean, I don't think risk tolerance can be the primary factor. What has led you to believe the area surrounding The Bean is so risky?
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Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by halfmatthalfcat on Monday June 27, 2022 @02:33PM (#31898705)
> Once you have kids, you’re not willing to take them to the Bean on a weekend and end up in the middle of a shooting.

Despicable and shameful FUD. You'd have to win (lose) the statistical lottery for this trope to become true. Good riddance tbh, Chicago needs more people believing in the city than those who spew this tired and fear-machine driven narrative. Hope wherever you ended up is as cultured, cosmopolitan and rich in life as Chicago but I highly doubt it.

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Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by toomuchtodo on Monday June 27, 2022 @02:40PM (#31898804)
I absolutely encourage people who believe in the city to move there. It needs those people, and I wish them all the best, genuinely.
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Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by haswell on Monday June 27, 2022 @05:18PM (#31900943)
As a current (longtime) resident, I see comment threads like this and scratch my head wondering which sensationalized coverage led to the belief that the city is so dangerous "it needs people who believe in it to move there".

May I ask: which neighborhood(s) did you live in, and/or is there specific coverage or a precipitating event that made you lose faith?

Crime has increased in some areas, yes, but the reaction to those increases have been extreme, and do not seem proportional.

It's one thing when people who don't live here are just reacting to the news cycle, but I'm pretty curious to hear your perspective as someone who has lived here.

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Re:Chicago startup companies to watch in 2022 by curiousllama on Tuesday June 28, 2022 @10:37AM (#31908241)
They mentioned elsewhere: Evanston and Lake View lmao
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