to hell in a handbasket

Wow I suddenly don't feel quite as safe in our neighborhood as I did 20 mins ago. Thanks to morsehellhole.blogspot.com/ which I stumbled upon as I was googling residential truck permits for our ward (Caleb just got a ticket for a permit we've never heard of) I have now been informed of violent activity that the Chicago news channels apparently don't like to cover.

Now we don't watch the news every night but we do watch it more than once a week and all shootings tend to be out on the West side or the South side of the city. Every once in a while there is something going on up here on the North side but it is usually pretty rare and consists mainly of robbery, not shootings.

I already knew that our neighborhood is considered a "pocket" neighborhood. Meaning that the safety of the area can really vary from block to block and that a few blocks north of here it starts to get a little iffy. However, I've felt pretty good about our block and the few surrounding it (except after dark...I've never really liked walking from my car at night). And now none of those stories mentioned on that blog are from our block, but a few are just down the street. Not an area I walk through, but it is an area I drive through daily to get to work, the store, the doctor's office, etc.

I dunno, I guess I'm still not very "afraid" of where we live. It's more that I'm confused. If there was a shooting that close, how could I not have heard it? But perhaps it really isn't as close as I think it is. Probably 5-6 blocks away, it just seems close since I usually drive. Also I'm angry that this isn't covered on the nightly news! I would like to know if my neighboorhood is going to hell in a handbasket people! Especially since I'm about to bring a child into the picture. What, the news is only going to cover the shootings on the South side because that's what we expect? No one wants to know about the danger on the North side. That ticks me off.

Thank goodness we have a security system in this place and that the tenants are good about keeping all the gates and outter doors shut tight. Our last apartment was in a better area yet I was still nervous. Things happen, I mean it is Chicago and our last building's outter doors and gates were hardly ever shut properly. So I guess we are safer here.

I just wish I knew about these things earlier than this. I shouldn't have to randomly find this out. The news should be covering it! grrr...