But they don't want to wait it out here in the city, fearful of stepping outside at night and hoping for things to maybe get better.

They want out.

"Not to make it all about us; the whole world is suffering," said Amber, a 30-year-old nurse who lives in River North. "This is a minute factor in all of that, and we totally realize that. We are very lucky to have what we do have.

"But I do think that I've never had to think about my own safety in this way before."

Incidents of widespread looting and soaring homicide figures in Chicago have made national news during an already tumultuous year. As a result, some say residents in affluent neighborhoods downtown, and on the North Side, no longer feel safe in the city's epicenter and are looking to move away. Aldermen say they see their constituents leaving the city, and it's a concern echoed by some real estate agents and the head of a sizable property management firm.