Division and Western Safe? (apartment, renting, crime)

[rogerthecat]

I'm considering renting an apartment on Cortez a few houses west of Western Ave., which is priced suspiciously low. I've heard bad things about Western. On the other hand I have stayed many nights in an apt on Oakley in Ukrainian Village which is only 3 blocks east and is a nice quiet neighborhood.

Also there is a big strange building surrounded by fences about 100 yards from this apt and I don't know what it is. The apt is on the 3rd floor but there is an outside staircase that can be easily accessed by anyone.

The apartment seems like quite a bargain but I'm worried. Anyone have any familiarity with the neighborhood?

[tomcho]

Here is the everyblock report for that area.

http://chicago.everyblock.com/street...9n/?only=crime

You'll see a lot of "petty/nuance" crime due to Clemente being right there. The general rule of thumb is western is the dividing line around division. It's get worse as you go west and better as you go east. As far as the building, the building on Cortez and Western is a ComEd location.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by rogerthecat

The apt is on the 3rd floor but there is an outside staircase that can be easily accessed by anyone.

What is an outside staircase? A fire escape? A back porch with stairs?

[Alacran]

It could simply just be an outdoor staircase leading to a door.

[nikitakolata]

I haven't spent any real time on Cortez, but I live two blocks west of Western and two blocks north of Division. I've lived here for 3 years now and never experienced any serious problems. We had someone break into our garage (who was caught in the act by the police) and some punks broke one of our basement windows. Those things happened in 2009 and I haven't had any problems at all in the last year.

Generally I don't worry about my personal safety when I'm walking around near my house. The type of crime most prevalent is property crime but so far I haven't really experienced the loss of anything of much value. The biggest nuisance was replacing the basement window, which cost us all of $10.

West of western the prices drop a lot; I think that is due to perception more than reality sometimes.

[aragx6]

If you're going to be west of Western,I'd rather be a bit farther north closer to North Ave., but I certainly wouldn't call it a warzone. It really just depends on your comfort level, but if you've got a bad feeling, and you have other options, I'd keep looking.

[surlycue]

The 2500 block of Cortez is particularly awful due to several Bickerdike properties. You'd be a block east of that but the residents do have feet and likely use them which leads to why the price is "suspiciously low."

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by Alacran

It could simply just be an outdoor staircase leading to a door.

What? What is that?

[Alacran]

This.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by Alacran

This.

I always looked at that as a back porch with stairs even if the porches are really small.