Middle America is often associated with a nerve-soothing lack of criminal activity. If you've ever expressed an opinion like this to someone who's lived there, you were probably met with a defense along the lines of "Yeah, well what about Chicago?" That's a completely valid response. People haven't taken to calling it "Chiraq" for nothing.
There were more people killed by gun violence in Chicago than American soldiers killed in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2012. Just a reminder, we were at war with Afghanistan for every single one of those years. In case you're wondering, the Windy City's total was around 5,000, while the war claimed closer to 2,000 lives during the same time.
So, the Midwest "has that going for it" when it comes to crime, so to speak. It's also worth adding to that argument that frequent "Murder Capital of the United States" contenders like St. Louis, Missouri; East St. Louis, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; and Gary, Indiana are all located in the central time zone as well.
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People are lining up to buy ($1,000) homes in Detroit!
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