Chicago Foreclosure Fallout

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

Lisa Williams' Austin flower shop thrived for most of its first three years.

Then, eight months ago, sales started falling. Thieves broke into the store twice in one week, making off with the cash register. Ms. Williams laid off her 15 employees as sales plunged 40% in six months. Feeling unsafe, she now closes her North Avenue store at 1:30 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.

"I don't see me making it here," Ms. Williams, 43, says.

Her business woes coincide with a wave of foreclosures that claimed more than 800 homes in Austin last year and shows no sign of abating. Driving the foreclosures are rising interest rates on subprime loans, which only a few years ago helped give the West Side neighborhood its first hope for recovery in decades.

We can assure Ms.Williams isn't allowed to arm herself in Chicago because Mayor Daley doesn't seem to mind criminals preying on law abiding citizens.