Is Pilsen Safe?

[Firetop]

Great info ,thanks to all of you. I like getting info like this instead of a glossy one sheet from a tourist write up. I dont think Ill have a problem, just gotta turn the whereabouts meter up a notch or 5. As for nightlife, I dont tend to be a club or trend type. So it sounds like this will be just right. keep it coming . i totally appreciate it.

[Firetop]

great you tube links.

[Preaching2thechoir]

To me, it is about like calling University Village "Jew Town". I actually heard a guy on the bus call it that just the other day. Can you imagine that?

Actually if you grew up in Chicago, in the 60's you wouldn't have to imagine it as that is what the area was called when I was a child. It was called jew town by many until the day the land was sold and the vendors were driven out.

Back then every Sunday we would get on the "8 Halsted Street" to get there. I vividly remember the jewish street vendors negotiating with customers in order to sell their merchandise. Thus the name "Jew Town" was born. To my knowledge, prior to the era of PC, nobody (including the jewish people) found it offensive. China Town anyone?

[NearWestSider]

I went to "Circle Campus" aka "UIC", and at one point (mid 70's) my daily route was Halsted north from the Burlington. Which means I used to walk through there every single day.

I remember catching flack from time to time for bringing Polish sausages into the Circle Center cafeteria. People could smell them two tables away, and not everyone approved of their unmistakeable aroma.

And now I live in Maxwell Street aka Jewtown aka University Village. Funny how life leads you to places you never thought you'd be.

Regardless, anyone who would call University Village "Jewtown" has got to have been in a coma for the last fifteen years.

What the guy actually said was "There's Jewtown! What?? What's that? What the hell they do to Jewtown??", so maybe he actually has been in a coma for fifteen years. Seriously, I hadn't heard that name for ages. That was my surprise.

"Jewtown" is gone. Long Gone. May it Rest in Peace.

And this has NOTHING to do with Heart of Chicago. My apologies to all for getting so far off topic.

Firetop: As you may have noticed, some of us really like the West Side. Hope you do to!

[Avengerfire]

Umm "Jewtown" is not all gone. I guess it depends if you consider the stores to be part of it or not. Look at all the stores that are on Roosevelt still between Canal and the Dan Ryan.

[garvey]

it seems to me that many people in this forum fall into the category of "people who have been in a coma for 15 years". 24th & oakley is by no means unsafe. Pilsen in general is by no means unsafe; everything between canal and ashland from 16th to cermak is actually well on its way to becoming a new naperville.

also, italians were always a minority in the taylor street/ "little italy" area. the area is only branded as an italian neighborhood because the italian residents of the area settled there in the early 20th century and are still there today; at the time that italians arrived there, the area was largely irish, greeks, and jews, and then in the 40s to the 60s the area was mostly mexican, and after uic was built and displaced all the mexicans to pilsen, the area became largely Black. all of those groups were displaced at some point, and the small minority of italians were the ones who stuck around for a hundred years and got the neighborhood named for them. irrelevant, i know...

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by garvey

...also, italians were always a minority in the taylor street/ "little italy" area. the area is only branded as an italian neighborhood because the italian residents of the area settled there in the early 20th century and are still there today; at the time that italians arrived there, the area was largely irish, greeks, and jews, and then in the 40s to the 60s the area was mostly mexican, and after uic was built and displaced all the mexicans to pilsen...

Ummm. No.

Ever heard of the Forty-Two gang? Hello?! Google it kid.

Btw-I know people that lived in Little Italy since the 20's (and did not move until the last 10 years or so) and always have called it that.

Do you want their videotaped testimony? Because I can produce it.

From the 40's to 60's it was Mexican? Are you on crack?

On the more serious side, who told you this? Where did you get this info? Because it is wrong. It is partially right in terms of the Jews , Greeks and Irish being in the UIC area, but overall it is largely wrong.

[NearWestSider]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Ummm. No.

Ever heard of the Forty-Two gang? Hello?! Google it kid.

Btw-I know people that lived in Little Italy since the 20's (and did not move until the last 10 years or so) and always have called it that.

Do you want their videotaped testimony? Because I can produce it.

From the 40's to 60's it was Mexican? Are you on crack?

On the more serious side, who told you this? Where did you get this info? Because it is wrong. It is partially right in terms of the Jews , Greeks and Irish being in the UIC area, but overall it is largely wrong.

Dude, you are hopeless. Why don't you give up? Better yet, take a course on the history of the West Side or something. Sheesh.

Taylor Street (which is what it is really called) was mostly Mexican when I lived there, and that was in the 1976.

What I was told is that the area where the campus was built was largely Greek (ie, Greektown did not appear out of nothing).

The story about the Mexicans being displaced from UIC and creating Pilsen is an urban legend. The Mexicans were in Maxwell Street first, and when IT went down the tubes they moved to Pilsen.

[Pebbs78]

The reason why I moved to that area was not because of the reputation, but because of the easy commute to downtown. If you work on the south side of the bridge, it's easy to get to work in the morning. You can pretty much walk to anywhere downtown, commit to happy-hour after work, and get home fast, (and cheap), by a cab at night. Plus, you don't have to deal with the suburban Cubs fans on the red line at 530. What a nightmare! That's what I have to deal with now in Andersonville, daily, and I wish I lived back in the West Loop.

Too bad I switched jobs, I would probably still be living in that area. No complaints, I love the urban feel.

[NearWestSider]

Originally Posted by Pebbs78

The reason why I moved to that area was not because of the reputation, but because of the easy commute to downtown. If you work on the south side of the bridge, it's easy to get to work in the morning. You can pretty much walk to anywhere downtown, commit to happy-hour after work, and get home fast, (and cheap), by a cab at night. Plus, you don't have to deal with the suburban Cubs fans on the red line at 530. What a nightmare! That's what I have to deal with now in Andersonville, daily, and I wish I lived back in the West Loop.

Too bad I switched jobs, I would probably still be living in that area. No complaints, I love the urban feel.

I know what you mean about the quick commute. I am bike commuting now from UV, and I moved here mainly because a quick commute matters a great deal to me. Living in a "cool" place does not.

I actually like the suburban vibe of UV (I've done enough time in marginal neighborhoods to appreciate it). But I understand why it would drive aspiring hipsters or urban thrill-seekers bonkers, so I don't recommend it to them.

I am also a sucker for the West Loop because the streets are great to bike on. I ride up Peoria every day through Fulton Market to Kinzie, and as soon as I get past Kinzie Bridge going east, my stress level goes up an order of magnitude. Coming back, it feels like I'm exiting a compression chamber. River North is a wonderful neighborhood with great amenities, but I could never live there because I'm a biker and the traffic is too intense.

It always amazes me how the West Loop manages to keep a quiet, laid-back vibe, despite its proximity to downtown, and I find that it refreshing that at least one part of greater downtown is not in the process of being commercialized into oblivion. That is also true of UV and Pilsen, to some degree. I dunno, I just find it classier or something.