Chi Town is no joke. Huge city with plenty of scary areas. Gentrification scattered the criminals everywhere, that used to be concentrated on the south side.
The Housing Project idea failed when the entire areas became war zones run by the street gangs. The City could have stepped in and saved those areas for the decent folks, but the Community Organizer and politico ilk were always backed by gang money and votes. When the west side (Cabrini Green) land became worth more than the projects, Washinton, Sawyer, Dailey Jr. and Emanuel, and their developer buddies razed the buildings. They sent the criminal element out to unsuspecting white suburbs to live in Section 8 housing. Now you have Nig-Nog crime spreading to Carol Stream, Carpentersville et al.
Chicago blatantly cooks the books on violent crime, shootings, rape, and homicides and still has over 500 "reported" homicides a year. The politicians don't care because the vast majority of the crime is gang, drug or minority related.