Many years ago part of the city i live in was effectively controlled by a drug gang (run by 2 brothers).
One of the reasons they were successful initially is because they flew under the radar, they carried on their business discreetly and kept crime in the area low so the police rarely had any business there.
They also made a point of leaving “civilians” alone as well.
All that changed when one of the brothers started to get high on his own supply. It made him paranoid and resulted in the untimely grisly deaths of some of the dealers/rivals. This is the UK so we’re only talking about 1 or 2 people. He also made the mistake of starting to threaten the local police officers.
That was it then, they became priority number one and within about a year the gang had been dismantled. He is rotting in prison for the rest of his life and the other brother is forbidden from entering the city.
The first half is very much my experience … the only crime in the area was petty stuff from idiot kids who didn’t know any better, and they were usually sorted out efficiently.
I didn’t bother locking my car for 10 years, lol
In my childhood, from 5 to 15, o used to live in one of the most degraded part of my city (1mln people, southern Europe). Drug dealing and sex workers where common and widespread s well as clients. Maybe no actual “cartels” tbh.
Well, the area was very safe and in control, actually the drug dealers kept the situation under control because they didn’t want police to mess around.
Years later the area was cleared out and and started to become the Hotpoint of night life (pubs, cheap alcohol holes and such) and people flocked from every other part of town from 23:00 to 5:00. That’s when it started being unlivable because you would fine your car hit or pissed on, high music and loud voices all night long and drunk people around, broken glasses and bottles in the morning…
So, I missed the dealers. And I moved after a few years of that hell. (The night time life, I mean)
Edit: the fun part? The middle class people who called for removing the drugs and sex, people living in the area I mean, started moving out after the night love started. And house value fell (wasnt too high to begin with, ok) because the only kind of business you can start afterward in the area where pubs and cheap alcohol places and sleeping at night was not an option anymore.
Yeah, I’ve lived in some grade-A shitholes. Very livable, as long as you don’t mind what the lift smells like :-)
We need a term for this.
Pimptrification?
“like in Chicago”
bruh
