Is East Garfield Park between Sacramento and Kedzie a bad area? (Chicago: condo, neighborhood)

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Jessica_82

I don't have enough income to move into the nicer areas, even if they aren't yuppie. I still want to feel safe though. I understand the Chicago real estate market, but a lot of people have taken a chance on areas like this and came out with a huge profit. I agree that up and coming might keep coming up or might never get there, but I am getting a lot of mixed feelings from my friends and co workers about this area.

Like Drover said, tell us how much you can spend, and we can help more.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

You need to have a great security system, a couple large, tough, guarddogs, a shotgun,carry mace, and have at least one capable adult male at home at all times. Even then you are not guaranteed to escape being a victim around there.

LOL! Don't forget to buy a parking space for the M1 tank either All joking aside, EGP was recently annointed the "Next Hot Neighborhood" by Business Week, which raised a little stir, and was somewhat puzzling. It does have some nice attributes (a great park, the L, proximity to I-290, a vintage housing stock) but per the 2000 census, it was 98% African American and 72% of the residents were renters. The median income was low (about 30% of the overall City average). Not very diverse, or very affluent. You can look up the crime stats on your own but my guess is that safety would be a concern.

I'm always pulling for City neighborhoods and inner ring suburbs to change for the better but this one probably has a long way to go before it will be a desirable and safe place to live. You could probably do better.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by BRU67

LOL! Don't forget to buy a parking space for the M1 tank either All joking aside, EGP was recently annointed the "Next Hot Neighborhood" by Business Week, which raised a little stir, and was somewhat puzzling. It does have some nice attributes (a great park, the L, proximity to I-290, a vintage housing stock) but per the 2000 census, it was 98% African American and 72% of the residents were renters. The median income was low (about 30% of the overall City average). Not very diverse, or very affluent. You can look up the crime stats on your own but my guess is that safety would be a concern.

I'm always pulling for City neighborhoods and inner ring suburbs to change for the better but this one probably has a long way to go before it will be a desirable and safe place to live. You could probably do better.

Its like how Humboldt Park has been touted for like 25 years and you still need the same things I mentioned for EGP! I am not trying to be mean to a certain area, but when they have been totally crime ridden for decades, its gonna take more than a decade or two to change them. Thats my story and I am sticking to it!

[Drover]

The thing is, Humboldt Park is starting to see some of the signs of early gentrification. And it's not condos and crap going up. What you're seeing there is the rise of hipster bars and cutesy restaurants and precious little boutiques here and there; places where hipsters can say "I hang out in Humboldt Park" (with a smidgeon even able to say "I live in Humboldt Park") with that sort of hipster-warrior bravado that implies, "I'm a courageous urban warrior who hangs out in a shady neighborhood and I live to tell about it" as if they're combat veterans. Humboldt Park 2007 is basically Wicker Park/Bucktown 1992: it may be 85% hellhole now, but it's 15% hipster. And the history of the near Northwest side suggests that once the hipster set attains 15% penetration, they'll have 50% penetration within a decade and pave the way for 50% yuppie penetration a decade later. That's what's going on in Humboldt Park. So far, none of that is happening in EGP.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Drover

The thing is, Humboldt Park is starting to see some of the signs of early gentrification. And it's not condos and crap going up. What you're seeing there is the rise of hipster bars and cutesy restaurants and precious little boutiques here and there; places where hipsters can say "I hang out in Humboldt Park" (with a smidgeon even able to say "I live in Humboldt Park") with that sort of hipster-warrior bravado that implies, "I'm a courageous urban warrior who hangs out in a shady neighborhood and I live to tell about it" as if they're combat veterans. Humboldt Park 2007 is basically Wicker Park/Bucktown 1992: it may be 85% hellhole now, but it's 15% hipster. And the history of the near Northwest side suggests that once the hipster set attains 15% penetration, they'll have 50% penetration within a decade and pave the way for 50% yuppie penetration a decade later. That's what's going on in Humboldt Park. So far, none of that is happening in EGP.

Agreed. HP might be 10-15 years from the saturation point of WP or Lake View. But the parts you are speaking of are mostly in East HP and Logan Square. West HP is still a total hellhole and not too far north from or better off than EGP. EGP I would say in 30 years might be tolerable.It will take a lot to gentify that area.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Drover

The thing is, Humboldt Park is starting to see some of the signs of early gentrification. And it's not condos and crap going up. What you're seeing there is the rise of hipster bars and cutesy restaurants and precious little boutiques here and there; places where hipsters can say "I hang out in Humboldt Park" (with a smidgeon even able to say "I live in Humboldt Park") with that sort of hipster-warrior bravado that implies, "I'm a courageous urban warrior who hangs out in a shady neighborhood and I live to tell about it" as if they're combat veterans. Humboldt Park 2007 is basically Wicker Park/Bucktown 1992: it may be 85% hellhole now, but it's 15% hipster. And the history of the near Northwest side suggests that once the hipster set attains 15% penetration, they'll have 50% penetration within a decade and pave the way for 50% yuppie penetration a decade later. That's what's going on in Humboldt Park. So far, none of that is happening in EGP.

I lived in HP for a year from 2002-2003 and it was way worse than it is now. So much has changed already. The Armitage corridor is changing first. The southern areas will take much longer...

[Drover]

Well, I didn't mean to imply that EGP is going to turn a corner any day now; my point was that comparing Humboldt Park and EGP is not particularly apt. Humboldt Park is showing signs of improvement that EGP is not.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Drover

Well, I didn't mean to imply that EGP is going to turn a corner any day now; my point was that comparing Humboldt Park and EGP is not particularly apt. Humboldt Park is showing signs of improvement that EGP is not.

I would not accuse you of doing so. But regardless of a Starbuck's and some novelty shops and "hip" bars, HP and LS are far from being very safe right now.Yes, if you want to be a pioneer and get some "street cred" you will be able to pull it off far easier in HP or LS. They both are on the way to becoming WP/Bucktown part 2. I just wanted to point out to people that those areas are far from being a utopia. Its too bad the CTA tore up the HP train because it would be needed greatly again in the next 5-10 years. Oh well, the CTA is not really good on planning for the future at all is it?;-)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

I would not accuse you of doing so. But regardless of a Starbuck's and some novelty shops and "hip" bars, HP and LS are far from being very safe right now.Yes, if you want to be a pioneer and get some "street cred" you will be able to pull it off far easier in HP or LS. They both are on the way to becoming WP/Bucktown part 2. I just wanted to point out to people that those areas are far from being a utopia. Its too bad the CTA tore up the HP train because it would be needed greatly again in the next 5-10 years. Oh well, the CTA is not really good on planning for the future at all is it?;-)

Yeah, the CTA really should have known some 60 years ago when they abandoned an underutilized trunk line that several decades later the revitalization of that same neighborhood would have depended on the presence of that line. Just like the current-day presence of the Green Line has facilitated the revitilazation of Garfield Park and Englewood.

I'm done with this topic; it's strayed way away from the original topic.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Drover

Yeah, the CTA really should have known some 60 years ago when they abandoned an underutilized trunk line that several decades later the revitalization of that same neighborhood would have depended on the presence of that line. Just like the current-day presence of the Green Line has facilitated the revitilazation of Garfield Park and Englewood.

I'm done with this topic; it's strayed way away from the original topic.

Actually, the CTA's cut-backs on the Humboldt branch caused HP's decline to happen in many ways.The population of HP never really declined, it just changed in dynamics...The "Green" line (Lake Street "L") is a different story...I will not argue about this further...The CTA has always made stupid moves. Have you ever hear of the Westchester branch?