It was tongue in cheek. I've been there many times and never had a problem. Granted I don't go to the part of town that has 19 murders in a weekend, but hey. Just poking fun.
I do appreciate the reasonable reply to my thin skinned original post.
I really like spending time in Chicago, and am amazed by some of the things people think about Chicago. Despite my love for Chicago, there are some strange things about it for sure, and it is very different from MSP/
The stark racial and socioeconomic differences are hard to get and handle on,(south side, west side, Gold Coast, $north suburbs) when suddenly the perspective changes when the relaxed, dynamic black/white 40/60 mix in the white collar, high income near north side becomes noticeable, for me. (you rarely experience that in Minnesota) This for me is somewhat relevant in an era of Baltimore, Obama's divisiveness, and general polarization. Chicago is just a very unpredictable place, with good and bad mixed in.
Watching all those Bob Newhart shows as a kid (as silly as that sounds), and driving though the city (and stopping at the lakefront, museums (king tut exh.) then driving through the hood on the way east to see things that reminded me of watching Good Times up close for some kid that grew up next to corn fields ) many times on family vacations probably had an impact on me.
If I had a great paying job, a nice condo with a balcony near the water, and nice boat, (and no car, just a bicycle and motorcycle) I'd be extremely thrilled to be in Chicago, especially as someone who likes to drive to Big Ten football games. If I had to commute through 40 miles of hellish traffic each way every day, or lived in some poorly maintained, high taxesd area 10-20 miles from the Lake, I'd probably want to move to Indianapolis or Des Moines immediately.