Let's consider ourselves lucky the police keep downtown from getting too wild

Last weekend in Chicago there were 36 shootings; seven victims died.

This is a fact of life in a major metropolitan area when the weather warms up. In some circles, it's called "killing season." It's uncomfortable humor.

But it's true. In Naperville, however, there is no such thing and what a blessing, what a marvelous way of life.

Last weekend, people poured through the downtown area, drinking, celebrating, eating, dancing and even enjoying some loud music again. This is a good thing, by the way. We often do the same when we are on vacation.

Yet, the most common complaint I've heard in recent months is simply how the police department doesn't do its job controlling the crowds. Police are too concentrated in the downtown areas.

Really?

That's a funny assertion, considering Naperville is merely 40 miles away from downtown Chicago and offers a bona fide night life.

The rationale is: Why drive to the big city and spend money when Naperville can offer the same kind of fun?

While the shootings and other acts of violence occurred mostly in Chicago's crime-ridden neighborhoods, the city's Friday- and Saturday-night bustle can be a dangerous time due to the heavy amount of drinking and driving. Naperville puts rare emphasis on DUI enforcement as it led the state in arrests last year - DUIs being the biggest safety threat to a Naperville resident. So it makes sense to have police there.

Naperville doesn't have street gangs. It doesn't have turf wars. It has grass and sod wars.

"Can you believe there is going to be California emerald sod along the Riverwalk?" goes the bitter man. "My tax dollars being wasted again."

No one suffers like wealthy people do, and that's primarily what Naperville is nowadays. It costs a lot to live here, and few can say they live a modest life in the upscale suburb.

So, one of the many perks here is picking apart the way nightlife and the downtown district functions.

Last year, the downtown area was too loud. So the sound ordinance was being brutally enforced. So much to the point that some bar owners stopped playing music outdoors.

The council stepped in last week and realized it was absurd to tell business owners they were being too loud on a Saturday night in the middle of summer with a building full of patrons. So they relaxed the ordinance and now the owners can turn the volume up again.

But there will be a host of folks ready to say this city is one step away from slot machines and Fat Elvises walking around.

This weekend, the Chicago Police and SWAT will be on foot walking the streets of Chicago to combat the violence. Many of the officers will be fully armored in battle gear, carrying semi-automatic weapons.

Take a second to picture that.

Now, let's get back to complaining about a noisy downtown and how expensive those parking garages are.

Visit Mike Mitchell's blog, My Big Fat Mouth, at napersun.com.