Chicago’s Most Dangerous (Abstract, Categorical) Locations Your mother was right: don’t go play in the street. Cars aren’t that much safer, either. Clubs, offices, bars, and car washes, on the other hand, are quite safe (in terms of murders, at least).

So I spent a fair amount of the day teaching myself how to use Google Fusion Tables (they’re pretty neat once you get the hang of them, or at least get the hang of getting the hang of them; here are some projects that have used them). Some of the research I was doing involved crime stats, so I decided to find out what Chicago’s most dangerous places are since 2001. Well, at least in terms of abstract locations, as derived from the CPD’s reported location descriptions from the city’s data portal.

Lessons? In terms of homicides, the street is obviously the most dangerous place to be. Cars are surprisingly dangerous things to be in, more so than apartments or houses. Hallways are more dangerous than stairwells. Clubs and offices are about equally dangerous, although I’m pushing statistical significance a bit with the claim. More people were killed in retail stores than taverns, so if you’d rather be safe than sorry, go drinking instead of shopping.*

* Author is not a licensed statistician; for entertainment purposes only.

Update: Using the data collected in ”Homicides in Chicago, 1965-1995,” I took a quick, dirty look at homicide locations in the late 20th century. Taverns appear to be much safer now.

Share







