Last year at the end of August, I wrote an article about the gangs of young adults terrorizing people in the affluent gold coast area and some dismissed it as an over-reaction (http://carliniscomments.com/archives/258-CHICAGO-TOURISM-PROBLEM-LAND-SHARKS.html ).  It was highlighted and commented on the Huffington Post with one aloof reader saying, “this just sounds like fear-monge­ring to me.”

Well, guess again.  It is there and it has been growing.  Even the Chicago police are talking about it again on their unofficial BLOG: www.secondcitycop.blogspot.com  Besides that, Loyola University has warned its students at their downtown campus to be aware and vigilant against the “flash mob” that has rushed a nearby McDonalds (Chicago & State) to cause mayhem and crime.  (http://loyolastudentdispatch.com/2011/04/12/flash-mob-offenders-strike-near-loyola-again )

Other “wilding” incidents listed in the Chicago police blog include:

• The McDonalds disturbance which 70 young adults crashed into the restaurant to cause mayhem and the police shut it down for three hours  (Here is a YouTube segment – nothing from the mainstream though - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56odROGlul8
• Retail thefts (mass shoplifting) in the Water Tower Place retail center.
• Individuals being jumped for their iPhone or shopping bags.
• As it was summed up in one post: The mobs are not just shoplifting.  They're beating people for their cell phones.  They're beating people for no reason.  A person was recently stabbed on Chicago Avenue. http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=13350456&postID=6475334030933952101

How come the Cook County States Attorney isn’t actively pursuing these cases?  How come these aren’t being prosecuted as hate crimes?  Why isn’t the mainstream press asking tough questions about this and the lack of a sense-of-urgency by the Cook County States Attorney’s Office?

You won’t see me spending any money up there on the Mag Mile.  Too many landsharks.

IS CHICAGO THE NEXT DETROIT?

That’s what some of the Chicago Police are asking.  Maybe some of the neighborhoods are feeling the weight of the economy and a surge in crime, but this is Chicago’s Mag Mile, center of fashion and glitz.

It’s time to be politically accurate instead of politically correct about the safety in downtown Chicago.  There are problems that are occurring more frequently and those who are uninformed are walking into a potential disaster.  One observer said this:

"It’s a big and ongoing problem for this downtown area, and it’s all around Water Tower.  You would think that the powers that be would start doing something about this considering that tourist dollars will be at stake when someone finally gets shot or beat-to-death on the “Magnificent Mile”."

You would think the powerful Greater North Michigan Avenue Association would be screaming for this to end as it is very bad for business and overall appearance, but they are like the merchants of Amity in the movie JAWS not wanting the sheriff to make any noise about the shark-infested waters because it would scare off the tourist trade.

Those who still do not want to recognize there is a real crime problem up on North Michigan Avenue, go and flaunt your iPhone and carry your Nieman Marcus bag or other couture shopping bag to see if you get someone interested in helping you “lighten your load” by taking it from you.  If you are lucky, they will just take it from you and not rough you up, but don’t bet on it.

The Mag Mile seems to be taking on a whole different connotation.  Better have a full magazine (in your gun) in order to walk the full distance because it might not be Detroit, but it certainly is turning into an intimidating Dodge City.

It also seems ironic that at the same time, a grant for a couple of hundred thousand dollars has been given to a group of south suburban cities to study “retail redlining”.  Retail redlining is when the parent company of the store looks at the demographics and figures it is too risky to open up a store in a certain neighborhood based on the different criteria they use. 

If they are doing that, shouldn’t the Mag Mile be re-evaluated?  What if half the stores moved out?  There is already an overly optimistic dependence on the sales tax revenues coming out of the stores by both the city and the county.  They better start re-evaluating the crime out there.

To all the Yuppies and fashion forward shoppers: You don’t have to boycott North Michigan Avenue, just be aware that if you get beat up or assaulted for your iPhone or your Bloomingdale’s Bag, you have no one to blame but your “clueless” self.

CARLINI-ISM :  Concealed carry is something not wanted by some out-of-touch Illinois politicians, but based on crime rising: Unarmed is undesirable and unfashionable on North Michigan Avenue.