Hyde Park/U of C - safe? (Chicago, Washington: crime, loan)

[TitanRam]

Excuse my ignorance of Chicago, but I'm from St. Louis and am applying for law schools this fall. U of C has one of the best law schools in the country, but I've heard Hyde Park is dangerous but getting better? Can anyone provide me more details?

[chet everett]

Hyde Park has been one of the wealthiest and best policed neighborhoods in Chicago for dozens of years. There are certainly neighboring areas that have troubling levels of violence but as the gsmg-bangers in those areas blast one another into oblivion there are fewer thugs to commit property crimes against others.

Ignorance of facts like these won't be tolerated by the demanding professors at UofC Law...

[Larry Siegel]

Well, it depends on what the meaning of "is" is. Hyde Park's core area near the University of Chicago is wealthy and safe, but some nearby areas that an out-of-towner might think are in Hyde Park are dangerous. The formal boundaries of Hyde Park, including South Kenwood which is also wealthy (Obama lives there), are 47th to 61st, Cottage Grove to the lake. The area along Cottage Grove, within Hyde Park, is not that great, and there are some other slightly rundown areas around 51st and 53rd, but in general Hyde Park is safe, well-to-do, and beautiful It has a long history of integration and according to the 2000 census is:

White – 43.5%
Black – 37.7%
Hispanic – 4.11%
Asian – 11.3%
Other – 3.39%

[Gemini1963]

Definitely apply if you are interested in the school itself. Then if you are admitted, come visit. I think you'll see it's just fine.

[NealIRC]

Originally Posted by TitanRam

Excuse my ignorance of Chicago, but I'm from St. Louis and am applying for law schools this fall. U of C has one of the best law schools in the country, but I've heard Hyde Park is dangerous but getting better? Can anyone provide me more details?

Hyde Park is a White neighborhood surrounded by Black neighborhoods.

Me personally, I'm a White guy who lived in, and goes to Black neighborhoods. I'm an adherent of the "bait and fish" method.

[TitanRam]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Hyde Park has been one of the wealthiest and best policed neighborhoods in Chicago for dozens of years. There are certainly neighboring areas that have troubling levels of violence but as the gsmg-bangers in those areas blast one another into oblivion there are fewer thugs to commit property crimes against others.

Ignorance of facts like these won't be tolerated by the demanding professors at UofC Law...

Give me a break; I prefaced this thread with explicitly stating I don't know a lot about Chicago.

[chet everett]

There are dozens of threads on this forum that detail the desirable and problematic parts of Chicago, as well as large numbers of sites for information about the both specific situations available to students at UofC and more general sources of info regarding the overall options for graduate students at any of the Chicago area schools...

[TitanRam]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There are dozens of threads on this forum that detail the desirable and problematic parts of Chicago, as well as large numbers of sites for information about the both specific situations available to students at UofC and more general sources of info regarding the overall options for graduate students at any of the Chicago area schools...

Yeah, and I made a new one for easier access for me (and to get the most current thoughts); big deal. Is a new thread a crime or personal offense?

[chet everett]

The issue is really more about "but I've heard it is dangerous" -- where did you "hear" this? Was the source trustworthy? Did you make an effort to check out the stats? (technically the moderator has banned any new thread about violence in Chicago too, but that is not the real issue)

Take this situation as a potential contrast: If I was concerned about safety issues at Washington U in St. Louis I might use a search engine to find this page -- https://police.wustl.edu/crimepreven...ff-Campus.aspx There are THREE links to various crime maps / stats sites. If there were specific questions about how accurate those links / how the "on the ground" experience compares to such evidence that is a whole lot different than starting out with a negative view...

BTW, here is a similar page for UofC -- http://safety-security.uchicago.edu/safety/ and the links there are reliable, for the most part they reflect crimes that have been reported. It should go without saying that not all crimes get reported, especially when there are folks with reasons to stay off the radar of law enforcement involved. Even when the victim of something like a traditional Chicago style mugging is an average student they may not choose to report the crime if they are too busy and did not need medical care. The methodology of some thugs that wander near the off campus housing is to spot a loan student oblivous to their surrounding, casually walk near them and then SLAM a fist into the side of their head. While the victim is sprawled out on the sidewalk the thugs grab their wallet, cell phone, laptop and run off. There are basically about four or five such events reports every month in Hyde Park and probably at least a couple that go unreported . With a population of over 25K in Hyde Park one could say that about 2% of folks are exposed to violence every year, though with the large number of tourists, employees and guests to various conferences that would be overstating the problem. It is also almost certainly true that folks that NEVER go out alone, never get that "too comfortable" mindset on streets with low light levels and infrequent patrols / always stay aware of what sorts of potential threats exist, rely on the abundant patrols with never experience such things...

If you wish for an environment with less such violent you should factor that into your decision.

[TitanRam]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The issue is really more about "but I've heard it is dangerous" -- where did you "hear" this? Was the source trustworthy? Did you make an effort to check out the stats? (technically the moderator has banned any new thread about violence in Chicago too, but that is not the real issue)

Take this situation as a potential contrast: If I was concerned about safety issues at Washington U in St. Louis I might use a search engine to find this page -- https://police.wustl.edu/crimepreven...ff-Campus.aspx There are THREE links to various crime maps / stats sites. If there were specific questions about how accurate those links / how the "on the ground" experience compares to such evidence that is a whole lot different than starting out with a negative view...

My source was/is friends who live in Chicago (one of which who goes to law school at U of C). The point is, I'm not sure if they are a legitimate source, which is why I posted here in the first place.

I did google it; I found information from the U of C, and some threads from 2012 and earlier. I wanted some updated information from people who currently live in Chicago (other than my friends) so I posted here. Why are you making such a large issue out of this? And why is a moderator banning threads on violence in Chicago?

Are you upset that I said "I heard it's dangerous"? Why do you care if I made an effort at all? You had a choice to post in this thread. I didn't ask specifically for you to go out on a limb and develop a comprehensive report.