East Humboldt Park (for sale, neighborhood, buying) - Chicago - Illinois (IL) - Page 5 - City-Data Forum

killbuzz · 07-15-2010, 11:04 AM

Thanks for the advice everyone...

eevee: Knowing that definitely eases my mind a little

chet everett: I'm going to my realtor's office today so I will definitely ask about an alarm system, and yes, we will be getting renter's insurance. Never had any before though, can you give some recommendations?

chet everett · 07-15-2010, 11:12 AM

If you have not had insurance before it easiest to call the three biggest property insurers and they will give you a quote that is probably a lot less than you will lose on your first break-in...

Agents with physical offices tend to be easier to stop by and fill out the police report than dealing exclusively by mail.

nikitakolata · 07-15-2010, 11:14 AM

I don't think you made a huge mistake. You are only renting, after all.

I live in that area (on Campbell between Division and North). My husband and I have been living there, in an obviously new house, for 2 1/2 years now. We had someone break into our garage last summer (though he was caught in the act and only made off with an mp3 player) and had some punks break one of our basement windows. We have an alarm system, so I guess that scared them off.

All in all, those are not the biggest problems in the world. The broken window in our basement originally had me VERY freaked out, but then I ended up talking with some neighbors and the police about it and figured out it was actually 3 kids that did it (under 15) and since nothing at all was stolen I can't say it was all that horrible.

Since that happened though, we did install bars on our lower level windows, got some security cameras for outside, and installed bullet proof/shatter proof lexan panels on all of the first floor windows as well. At this point, breaking into the house would be very difficult. Maybe all of that was an overreaction, but knowing it's there makes me feel better, so to me it was well worth the cost (plus my dad got us the supplies at cost so it really wasn't all that expensive anyway).

I think the issues to be most concerned with in the area are related to theft and property damage. No one has ever bothered me when I was walking home or anything, and although I have a car, I really don't use it much. I primarily walk and use the bus/train to get around and haven't had any issues with it. Slowly I'm getting to know more of my neighbors, too.

I definitely have days when I wish I lived somewhere else, but overall, we got a really beautiful place for significantly less than we would have paid to live 2 blocks away. I don't think it was the worst decision, and maybe the neighborhood will really make some significant changes someday...

Lookout Kid · 07-15-2010, 12:32 PM

It's pretty much impossible to get an alarm system in a rental unless you plan to stay there for a long time, or have the landlord's name on the contract. We had a system installed in our Wicker Park place, and called ADT to activate it. The shortest contract they allowed at that time was three years. We knew we wouldn't be there for that long, so we weren't able to activate the alarm. Some companies won't even work with renters.

nikitakolata · 07-15-2010, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

It's pretty much impossible to get an alarm system in a rental unless you plan to stay there for a long time, or have the landlord's name on the contract. We had a system installed in our Wicker Park place, and called ADT to activate it. The shortest contract they allowed at that time was three years. We knew we wouldn't be there for that long, so we weren't able to activate the alarm. Some companies won't even work with renters.

That is true. However, I think you can actually take the alarm system with you if you move (my friend Jean says she did with ADT) and either install the system yourself, use an outside contractor to hook it up, or pay ADT to do it again.

That said, you can have an alarm that is really darn loud and will go off and probably scare anyone who enters the house without it being connected to a service like ADT at all. My parents and a lot of their neighbors do that (granted, it is in St. Charles, but still). The combo of the loud sound and the silly little sign in the yards has caused my parents' house to be skipped over in some recent burglaries in the area. Having the service to call the cops is nice at all, but a large part of the value of an alarm system is the attention it gets when it goes off, if you have even slightly decent neighbors they'd call the police after hearing it.

chet everett · 07-15-2010, 01:07 PM

Like I said, the LANDLORD ought to WANT to have the alarm, as it will reduce their exposure tremendously. Should they hesitate I would certainly invest in a non-permant installation that'll be NOISY http://www.homesecuritystore.com/c-7...s-strobes.aspx The Lexan ( or glass block where egress is not an issue...) basement windows ought to be required in my mind. Even wanna be toughs routinely toss a rock into unprotected windows "just to see what'll happen"...

In the nicer neighborhoods where there more folks at home during the day the random things get squashed pretty quick, but in the transitional areas the extra preventive measure can make a HUGE difference.

Lookout Kid · 07-15-2010, 02:53 PM

In our case the alarm system was installed by the landlord and was hard-wired, so there was no portability. We didn't have the code information, and ADT wouldn't reset the system unless we signed up with them. So we bought some of those cheapy battery powered window alarms. Thankfully we didn't ever need them after our first attempted break-in incident (the one that scared us in to action). But the place behind us (in the same building) got cleaned out by burglars a few weeks later. We were terrified and felt under siege on one of the fanciest blocks in Wicker Park. There were several other incidents that spooked us, but I don't need to get into it here. But they involved arsons, rapes, and an armed chase in our front yard. It was a bad couple of years.

progmac · 07-15-2010, 03:53 PM

i'm just poking around the forum, i'm not from chicago. but believe me, living in an """"UNSAFE"""" neighborhood will make your life way more interesting than someone living in whatever yuppy area of the city is considered """""""""""""SAFE""""""""""""". After you've been at it for a while you'll get addicted

killbuzz · 07-15-2010, 04:24 PM

Yeah it looks like were going to go with some DIY alarm system. How does the alarm trigger actually work though? Say if I wanted to hook it up to our front basement windows. What would be some other good spots to protect? We have a back deck that leads to an alley, I think its fenced in though. We also have a wrought iron fence in the front yard, but no window bars or anything. Our next door neighbors have a few dogs (I think like 2 pit bulls and maybe a doberman)...

nikitakolata: Since you're from the area, can you recommend any good restaurants or other stores close by? Pizza Metro got some good reviews on Yelp, and there's a fruteria/carniceria across the street from it, have you been there? I don't want to have to go to the Wicker Park Jewel to grocery shop, but it wouldn't be terrible.

progmac: Yeah I hear what you're saying. I'm from a mostly white western Chicago suburb and that place was incredibly boring.

progmac · 07-15-2010, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by killbuzz

Yeah it looks like were going to go with some DIY alarm system. How does the alarm trigger actually work though? Say if I wanted to hook it up to our front basement windows. What would be some other good spots to protect? We have a back deck that leads to an alley, I think its fenced in though. We also have a wrought iron fence in the front yard, but no window bars or anything. Our next door neighbors have a few dogs (I think like 2 pit bulls and maybe a doberman)...

nikitakolata: Since you're from the area, can you recommend any good restaurants or other stores close by? Pizza Metro got some good reviews on Yelp, and there's a fruteria/carniceria across the street from it, have you been there? I don't want to have to go to the Wicker Park Jewel to grocery shop, but it wouldn't be terrible.

progmac: Yeah I hear what you're saying. I'm from a mostly white western Chicago suburb and that place was incredibly boring.

it sounds like you'll be fine. over time and maybe some hard luck you'll get some urban instincts about you and really start to love it. the trade offs of real urban living definitely outweigh the costs. the hardest thing is getting your parents on board (hint: if they are like many suburban parents, they never will be!).