I knew it was a sketchy neighborhood. There were always a few men milling around on the streets, looking me up and down, making me feel like an especially tasty piece of barbecue. A friend of mine drove in from the suburbs of Chicago once and had his car stolen just minutes after arriving at my boyfriend's place. He calmly remarked as he stood by the window: "There goes my car."But I didn't feel scared.I was in the historic South Shore neighborhood, just a few blocks from Lake Michigan.