Chicago Claims Most Dangerous U.S. Neighborhood: Study

Guess which Chicago neighborhood topped the list

By ALLY CLARK

Updated 1:57 PM CDT, Mon, Oct 4, 2010

Keep your belongings close and the pepper spray handy if you plan to trek to the city's near West side.

Chicago's United Center Park earned a No.1 rank in the top 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in the United States, according to a report on Walletpop.com.

The results are based on exclusive data generated by NeighborhoodScout.com and FBI metrics culled  from local law enforcement agencies.  Drilling down to the neighborhood level allows for fewer generalizations, the report says. The site, however, does show a list of the most dangerous cities as well.  No cities in Illinois make that top-100 list.

According to the info, anyone walking down Lake Street between Damen and Western has a 1 in 4 chance of being a victim of a crime.  Those who choose to live there face the same odds with the chances of being robbed.

The Windy City nabe steals the not-so-hot-top-spot from a Cincinnati neighborhood, which earned the dishonor last year in the survey's first run.  This year the Cincy locale  took second, followed by two neighborhoods in Las Vegas and a neighborhood in Atlanta.

See WalletPop for the full list of the top 25 neighborhoods.