> Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.
Chicago is an extremely segregated city. In segregated cities, there is a nuanced thought process one must undergo to move into an area where you are considered an outsider. In Seattle for example, the tech community is overall reviled for having gentrified the Central District, where historically black areas were bulldozed to erect overpriced cardboard apartments for tech plebes. This is a legitimate question.
The reason you're being downvoted is because "Why are you living there?" can sound suspiciously like "You shouldn't be living there." It's also a leap to assume the black people living there are going to suspicious of him. You'd be horrified if a group of white people were "suspicious" of a black man living in their neighborhood and this should be no different.
Another question is what will his answer do? How will your opinion of him change or be influence by his answer? Maybe he was born there. Maybe that's all he can afford. Maybe he found an apartment with a particular architectural style unique to that area he wants to live in. Maybe it's close to his friends, or close to his girlfriend, or not too close to his girlfriend, or close to his parents, or easy to get to work, or he often goes into central/southern IL or over to Indiana and doesn't want to drive through the city every time.
It’s probably worth pointing out that historically the majority of the wealthiest pockets of Chicago were on the south side. There are a lot of grand streets with magnificent homes, broad sidewalks with enough space for the tree canopies to develop nicely, etc. All that exists on the north side too, just not as frequently. And where it does it’s 2-3x more expensive.
There’s a couple streets down in Kenwood that I don’t think have any equivalent on the north side though…
Chicago is an extremely segregated city. In segregated cities, there is a nuanced thought process one must undergo to move into an area where you are considered an outsider. In Seattle for example, the tech community is overall reviled for having gentrified the Central District, where historically black areas were bulldozed to erect overpriced cardboard apartments for tech plebes. This is a legitimate question.