Moving to East Oak Park near Madison and Austin? Good idea?

[chitownperson]

Some folks like to promote Oak Park as some kind of danger zone due to it's proximity to Austin, but understanding how to analyze the crime data is typically key to being able to measure how safe a place is. Most of the crime in Oak Park are crimes of opportunity, much of which is someone involves someone leaving some item of worth unattended in plain view. Violent crimes happen to a much lesser extent and often later at night. It's frankly quite amazing how low the crime rate in Oak PArk is considering how high it is deeper in Austin. Lincoln Park has a similar level of safety, and is often promoted as a safe and desirable area of the city.

Yes look at the crime maps, but it's important to understand why some areas have greater number of crimes before jumping to the conclusion that those are some who the troubled spots. Some streets like Washington or Madison sometimes show more instances of crimes, but those areas are also a lot more dense with a lot more apartment buildings in comparison to the North side of the village. More people means more possibility of crimes, not that that area is more dangerous. There's around 52,000 people in a relatively small area, so the denser parts will have higher number of instances… Most residents that have been here for a while understand this.

Specifically regarding the OP's situation, there is typically more crime along Austin, not merely because it borders Austin, but because it's a main artery that services a lot of people. You typically have to deal with more property crime along Austin, and it's not the place to take a stroll at 11pm, but there are also people that are happy living there. They tend to be more involved in looking out for each other and who enters the buildings, but it's not like they live in fear.

To be honest it comes down to your personal comfort level. Personally prefer to live a few blocks west of Austin because the blocks look nicer and it feels a little less urban, but I also have friends that live on Taylor and Austin and are happy there.

Another thing to remember is that not every part of Austin is the same. Austin across from Columbus park tends to be nicer that around Washington or Madison because the park kind of acts like a buffer and you have a less urban city feel. South of 290 on Austin is also not a bad spot.

My advice is that you should spend some time in different parts of the village to get a proper feel of it. If you still don't feel comfortable around Austin and Madison, don't move there. You can look at the crime maps, listen to all the advice here, but you still need to feel comfortable with the place you guys are going to live. You may also want to look at other locations in the village like Lake and Oak PArk, or Lake and Harlem… each part of the village has a different personality, and different levels of entertainment which is worth considering. It also depends on budget, but I would recommend getting to know the rest of the village before deciding so you have somewhat of a yard stick to judge with.

[ToriaT]

Personally I would not live there as I would heed the advice of moving further west or north in Oak Park, however most of the crime posted is not violent crime and robberies but store theft and theft of items from homes such as things stolen from garages.

Whoever said Berwyn is a war zone does not know what they are talking about. The crime there is about the same or even a bit lower than Oak Park's. Most of the bad crime that I have been tracking in the area comes from Austin, particularly the blocks east of Austin avenue and north of Roosevelt road.

As a last point, I've had family members that have lived in apartments on Washington Blvd and Austin Ave for the past 30 years and have never experienced a crime. They don't own a car so that can't be it, as they walk the streets to and from public transportation every day.

[chitownperson]

I have to largely agree with Toria regarding Berwyn. Some folks like to paint Oak Park as an Island surrounded by a sea of dispair but fact is the only real trouble spot it bump ups against is Austin, and even then there's very little spill over crime.

Perception often plays a big part in how people feel safe, and there will always be those folks who will feel like they are under a constant threat of something if they're on Austin, but like Torias example of her family there are a lot of folks living on the Oak Park side of Austin that have lived incident free lives for decades, and also similar to Torias example there are lots of people on Austin that don't drive. Does that mean that you should move to Austin and Madison? Not exactly, it comes down to you comfort level and what you're use to, and there are other areas of the village that I'd think have more going on in terms of walkable amenities ... But I do think it's nessesary to dispel the myths that some folks like to paint that some how living on Austin means you're under constant threat of some boogie man.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by southsidegal6743

It's the proximity to Berwyn and Cicero.

The towns to the north and west of OP are nice (Elmwood less so these days but it's still okay) however, to the east and south you have 3rd world type war zone places. It's common sense to stay farther away from those places.

Berwyn has less crime than Oak Park.

[ToriaT]

For many people, brown faces=I feel unsafe

[chitownperson]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

For many people, brown faces=I feel unsafe

You speak the truth ToriaT

[Lookout Kid]

I personally would avoid living too close to Madison and Austin, as Madison just east of Oak Park is somewhat vibrant and active and highly traveled. I think noise would be the biggest issue, but crime worries aren't completely unfounded in that area either.

I've mentioned before that I used to have friends living right ON Austin several years ago when crime was worse than it is now, and they never had a single problem in two years. I would visit often and park my car on the *gasp* Chicago side of the street and did not ever have an issue. But they were further south directly across from Columbus Park, not right at the busy Austin/Madison intersection.

If you are worried about crime, I think having just a few blocks of buffer will help a bit. Additionally, you will just have to be "aware of trouble" in the parts of Oak Park that attract shoppers and crowds, just like you would in the Loop. Downtown Oak Park is beautiful and mostly peaceful, but it does sometimes have robberies--at least more so than your typical upscale suburb.

[chitownperson]

I've heard of quite a few residents parking their cars on the Chicago side of Austin on a regular basis. Seems like the thing to do for discounted parking. I agree that Madison being a huge road is more of a motorway with noise rather than a quaint little street. This may also add a little more incidents as more cars are driving through meaning more opportunities, however you've got much higher chances of getting hit by a car trying to cross that street than you are being a victim of crime. We actually looked at a house on Home just off Madison and decided against it because we did not want to live off such a big street, but I hear that there are talks of narrowing Madison St to make it more pedestrian friendly.

[Fighting Fungus]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

For many people, brown faces=I feel unsafe

You are probably one of those people lol

[ToriaT]

Fighting fungus, I cannot deny it. There are times I feel that way too I would be lying if I would say otherwise. You do have to be street smart while not making over generalizations. Its tricky if you are out and about and see someone you feel unsafe around.