Relocating to Rogers Park, help me please! (Chicago, Evanston: apartments, condos)

[Sovrappensiero]

Hi!
I'll start my PhD at Norhtwestern this Fall and I'm looking for cheap housing. I'm considering an offer for a one-bedroom apartment off Morse Red Line Stop in Rogers Park, the address is 6931 N Greenview Avenue, the location is very convenient (close to the train, thus making my commute to Evanston shorter) but I've never been to Chicago in my life and I'm inquiring about safety.
What do you think? Is it a relatively safe area? I'm a white young girl and I'm not used to wander around the neighborhood at night...

[s0nginmyheart]

I used to live a couple blocks north of that (Greenview & Greenleaf/Lunt). It's VERY convenient to the Morse stop (and if you ever needed it, there's also an entrance/exit on Lunt's side). Currently, there is a lot of CTA construction going on on the far north side though (renovations). There's also a Metra stop on Lunt, I believe. And you'll have an easy commute to NU if you're driving.

Rogers Park usually gets a bad rap by people who don't travel north that often, but after living there for two years, I found it to have a certain charm that you can find in other popular neighborhoods. It is still slowly gentrifying (my building was a renovated condo of a 3-flat and had all new owners) but it's still a mix of old apartments, new/newer condos, rehabs and single-family homes - mix of young, old, gay, straight, couples, families, etc. and yes "ghetto" people too.

Morse corridor has a lot of restaurants I utilized more often than some of the (lame) retail stores. But there's also Morse Fresh Market (neighborhood grocery) and a Family Dollar there if you don't want to travel to Jewel on Howard/Clark. Glenwood corridor has mostly bars and some good hole-in-the-wall eateries. There's a farmer's market every Sunday there (season-permitting). There's also an Arts Festival that happens once a year - I want to say this happens at the end of Summer. There's also a small Pride festival that started last year (end of June) and I believe is happening again this year.

It's a quick walk to the Lake, and there are more restaurants on Sheridan, and a great local pet groomer if you have pets.

Yes, there is undesirable activity that happens in the neighborhood, but that happens all around the city and in every neighborhood. I've traveled at all hours of the day on the CTA and never had a problem. The bars on Glenwood and Morse have some foot traffic if you're going home late which help in that regard. But that doesn't mean I'm standing in the middle of the street looking for trouble.

[chet everett]

How much cheaper is the Roger's Park apartment than on in Evanston? You may end up being better off with being to use just the Evanston transit options ?

[MassVt]

This reminds me of a Holy Grail sketch:

Lancelot: We were in the nick of time. You were in great peril (i.e Rogers Park)
Galahad: I don't think I was...
Lancelot: Yes, you were. You were in terrible peril.
Galahad: Let me go back in there and face the peril.
Lancelot: No, it's too perilous.
Galahad: Look, it's my duty to sample as much peril as I can.
Lancelot: No, we've got to find the Holy Grail. Come on..
Galahad: Oh let me just have a little bit of peril?
Lancelot: No. It's unhealthy.

I stayed in a hotel on Sheridan, between Lunt and Morse, and it was fine. The natives obviously have more experience, and there were shootings in the general area some time ago, but the area around Loyola seemed perfectly fine to me, even tranquil in spots...and Lake Michigan is only a block or two away..

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by chet everett

How much cheaper is the Roger's Park apartment than on in Evanston? You may end up being better off with being to use just the Evanston transit options ?

My wife and I considered a move to Evanston a few months ago. If you want to live close to the downtown core (like close to the Davis Purple line) a 1BR is pretty expensive; as in closer to $1000/month. There are obviously some that are $800, but they're not as nice.

I think there is more value in Rogers Park. It would be super easy and painless to hop on the red line at Morse, go a couple of stops up to Howard, transfer to the purple line, get off at Foster/Noyes.

My only concern would be waiting around for a redline transfer back home at the Howard station when it's late at night.

[xavier xerxes]

very funny Mass Vt!!!

So many people quote Monty Python and
it reminds me that I need to watch these movies again.
So appropriate for so many points to be made!!!
Very good quote.

[xavier xerxes]

And I have seen from personal experience that more people from NorthWestern are living around Morse because its cheaper, very interesting and continues to slowly improve.

Note to people Morse EL stop is closing June 29th for six weeks this summer for renovation
Jarvis is closing Nov sometime, so That may be a bummer temporarily but its overall a very very good thing.

[RockF]

The R.P. often gets a bad rap mainly by folks that don't live here. I live in a renovated building at Morse and the Red Line and like anywhere in the city, being a bit street smart is the rule. The R.P. is the only truly diverse neighborhood in Chicago. Socially, economically, ethnically all blends together in beautiful human mixture. General rule of thumb is to stay east of the Red line and you are quite safe. The Lake is a block away and is an asset that can not be under valued. The Morse market is a neighborhood market (no wide aisles or high prices like Dominicks or Jewel) unbelievable in value and quality. Vibrant art and music scene; Significant student population (Loyola Undergrad is there); A large city park runs along the Lake the entire length of Rogers Park. Be warned, if you are looking for the lilly white, suburban experience, then you need to go to one.