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Chicago . . . Whose Kind of Town ?


My kind of town, Chicago is

My kind of town, Chicago is

My kind of people, too

People who smile at you

And each time I roam, Chicago is

Calling me home, Chicago is

Why I just grin like a clown

It’s my kind of town

This is the first verse of the Sinatra song from 1965. 

I was born in Chicago and lived on the west side of the city in a neighborhood, called Austin. It was never clear to me whether that part of town was named after the high school of the same name, in the same neighborhood, or vice-versa. Back in 2009 I returned to my old neighborhood and got out of the car to take a picture of where I had lived on Washington Blvd. Truth be known, just being in my old neighborhood at Washington and Central scared the sh** out of me! Much before that, after high school, while I was in college I drove a cab all around Austin, and so I am familiar with all of the streets in that neighborhood.

When I just read about the horrible, mayhem-filled Father’s Day weekend in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, I was saddened as I could identify with many of the streets where these senseless murders took place. 

Chicago has many a bloody weekend, but Father’s Day weekend in the Windy City was especially bloody, with 102 shootings, including 14 fatalities, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Five children were among the dead—the youngest victim was 3.

Two boys, 15 and 16, were walking in an alley at 12:18 a.m. in the 4700 block of West Superior Street – both were shot! I remember that Superior Street is between Huron and Chicago Ave., and 4700 – that’s one block east of Cicero Ave.!
My old neighborhood . . . my kind of town ?

A 13-year-old girl was killed and two other teens were wounded Saturday night in Austin on the West Side . . . my old neighborhood! The girl was inside a home about 8:30 p.m. in the 1000 block of North LeClaire Avenue when the shots were fired, and she was struck in the neck, police said. She was taken to Stroger Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. I know where LeClaire Ave. is. My old neighborhood . . .  my kind of town ?

A 3-year-old boy was fatally wounded about two hours earlier when someone opened fire at his father while they were driving in Austin at 600 north Central . . . very close to where I grew up! My old neighborhood . . . my kind of town?

I no longer plan on going back to the city of Chicago in the near future, and certainly not into the Austin neighborhood, as it is no longer my kind of town!

BTW: I wonder if BLM had any sort of protest or even a neighborhood gathering in the Austin area in the days following the “Father’s Day Massacre”?

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