Peoria Illinoisan

Not to turn this blog into a countdown of murders in Peoria, but really, what the hell is going on around here? Last night saw the official #8.

8 murders in 4 months. Multiply that out and we get 24 for the year.

Or, if you figure we only had 4 murders at this point last year, a year that saw 18 murders total and sparked televised violence forums… we could end up with 36.

36 murders in Peoria.

That doesn’t count the near daily occurance of shootings where the victim actually lived. Heck, yesterday afternoon I heard what I thought was a gunshot and I told my wife “I don’t know if that really was a gunshot or not, but I don’t know what else it would’ve been. How sad is it that when I hear noises, I just expect them to be gunshots and it’s becoming part of our daily lives.”

Want to know what outsiders think of our fine city? Here’s an exerpt from the a student letter to the Bradley Scout:

“As a Chicago-area native who grew up seven miles outside downtown (not in those “rich” suburbs most think Bradley students are from), I didn’t expect Peoria to be so bad. But after almost four years of various run-ins with crime and some scary scenarios, I feel safer at home.”

“After Jason picked me up at my house, we headed over to the overly priced but irresistible restaurant [Steak'n'Shake]. But not until he made fun of my off-campus neighborhood, describing it as unfriendly and unsafe-looking (in more polite words than he’d used)”

“Though Peoria isn’t the most dangerous city in the world, it also isn’t the safest. But I guess that preconceived “Bradley bubble” pops when something hits so close to home.”

I’m leaving out the details of what happened in the story, but the term “Bradley Bubble” stood out to me. This is the first time I’ve heard that term used. Is that really what people think? Don’t leave the safe-haven of the Bradley Campus because once you do, you’re on your own, and Peoria is not a place where you should be venturing out.

I generally don’t feel unsafe. I’m either extremely naive, or I think I understand when and where to go exploring. Don’t walk around Campustown at night. Actually, don’t walk around anywhere at night. Don’t turn off the major streets in the South End except during the hours of 10-12am, preferably on a Sunday. Same goes for parts of the East and West Bluffs.

I hate to say it, but as I write this I’m beginning to think that “Bradley Bubble” thing has some truth to it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at 9:24 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.