When I found out I was pregnant, I knew I didn’t want to raise my child in the city.
Crime rates were going up, and I didn’t want to worry every time my child was playing or going to school. I was afraid to walk down the city streets and wondered if I was going to make it home from work. I knew most of my worries were unfounded, but now I had a new life to look out for. I considered the crime rate in every area before deciding. My mom lived in Elgin, IL, and she told me it was a pleasant area for kids and families. My husband would not be too far from the city, and he would have an easy commute. Mom lived on the outskirts of the city, and I started doing my research. I found out that the crime rate was lower than most cities, but it was still on the low side of average. The statistics said there were an average of 12 crimes per 1000 people as an average city crime rate. This still seemed high to me, but I had to not just think of me and the baby, but my husband. He not only had to travel back and forth to work, whether it was snowing and 30, like in January, or scorching, and 90 in July. I gave a lot of thought to where I wanted to raise my child. The biggest draw of living in Elgin, IL, was that my mom was there. I could get a job, and my baby would have his grandmother all day. I wouldn’t be handing him off to a strange babysitter that I didn’t know if she was a criminal, or one of her family members were criminals.