Oak Park vs. Evanston (Chicago, Schaumburg: crimes, neighborhood, public schools)

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by adele115

I forgot to add, there is another report that the man was actually "run through" the trash compactor" by a jewel employee (unknowingly). I don't know how the "no sign of trauma" came to be, but the trash compactor detail is more current than the article I posted>

Ewwww. As a physician not much gives me the grosses me out, but the thought of being crushed in a trash compactor comes pretty darn close.

BTW, its well known that the homeless population have very high mortality rates, much higher than the general population. There are many reasons but probably the high degree of drug and alcohol use and mental illness are a major contributing factor.

[Lookout Kid]

Now Adele, that trash compactor thing was clearly an accident. You shouldn't jump to conclusions. Please don't start attributing crime to Oak Park that doesn't exist--it doesn't help anyone.

You'd be surprised by the stuff that happens in Lincoln Park. I think people expect more trouble in the city, however.

[Anthera]

It seems to me (and please correct me OP if I am wrong) that the OP has already decided that the level of crime in Oak Park is more than what she wants. My reading of her post is that she is looking for an alternative to OP.

I think that on the north side, Evanston is a great alternative to Oak Park, and if you need to look at something even less urban Highland Park is the next best substitute in this area.

[Lookout Kid]

Using stats from City-Data and the 2006 CPD Annual Report, I have created a little comparison of reported crimes from 2006. In addition to Oak Park and Evanston, I have thrown in a couple of "more typical" suburbs (Schaumburg and Naperville) and neighborhoods in the city that are popular with families raising kids. I have also thrown in a high-crime suburb (Maywood) and a high-crime city neighborhood (Englewood) for some perspective on the matter. The stats are adjusted per 100,000 residents using 2006 population estimates, so they can be compared directly.




As you can see from the comparison above, Evanston offers little advantage over Oak Park in terms of crime. In fact, Oak Park has comparable crime to many of the city's most popular and safe neighborhoods, and doesn't even come close to approaching a "bad" suburb or city neighborhood. Schaumburg offers marginal improvements over Oak Park and Evanston, and that is expected. Naperville has very little crime.

[oakparkdude]

Awesome chart, Lookout Kid!!!

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Anthera

I think that on the north side, Evanston is a great alternative to Oak Park, and if you need to look at something even less urban Highland Park is the next best substitute in this area.

Evanston is not significantly better than Oak Park in terms of crime. In some ways, it's worse. In 2006 you were more likely to get robbed in Oak Park, but more likely to get burglarized in Evanston. These stats flip flop from time to time.

For me, as a city resident, I notice that Oak Park offers an improvement over the crime found in genteel Lincoln Park. Take into account that city crime is vastly under-reported and Oak Parkers have a hair-trigger reflex to call the police, then it would seem that Oak Park is probably quite a bit safer than Lincoln Park.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

Awesome chart, Lookout Kid!!!

Thanks! I have the raw numbers too, but figured the simple adjusted numbers were more succinct and easy to compare.

[Anthera]

Maybe the OP needs to check out Highland Park.

[adele115]

Originally Posted by Anthera

Maybe the OP needs to check out Highland Park.

I like Highland Park too, though it's a bit far. Lookout, thanks for the chart. I want to look more closely then respond (gotta go now). My initial thoughts are "surprise" at Lincoln Square, though with any of these areas, commercial districts will generate a lot of the crime reports (for instance, Oak Brook I believe has a high theft rate which is due mostly to the mall. Thanks for the work!

[Lookout Kid]

I'm pretty sure the Woodfield area contributes to Schaumburg's crime as well, but that doesn't explain the higher rate of burlaries there. Naperville has a destination downtown, however, and has much lower crime.

I'm not at all suprised by Lincoln Square. It's one of the safest neighborhoods in the city, and has been for years. Even pre-gentrification Lincoln Square was really safe.

Every town has factors that make direct comparison difficult. For instance, the Oak Park burglary numbers include garage burglaries in detached garages. Suburbs with attached garages will automatically have fewer garage burglaries.