How Safe is the Old Town Neighborhood? (Chicago, Lincoln: low income, 2015)

[newmemberr]

I'm considering renting a nice apartment in Old Town. The only issue is that the immediate area around the apartment looks a little sketchy (Sedgwick and Blackhawk).

I believe this has something to do with the Marshall Field Garden Apartments being in the vicinity. Does anyone have experience with this area?

[personone]

Originally Posted by newmemberr

I'm considering renting a nice apartment in Old Town. The only issue is that the immediate area around the apartment looks a little sketchy (Sedgwick and Blackhawk).

I believe this has something to do with the Marshall Field Garden Apartments being in the vicinity. Does anyone have experience with this area?

The Old Town neighborhood overall is very safe. Unfortunately, the one area in Old Town that is a little sketchy, is around the Marshfield apartments. It's one little apartment complex, so not a whole lot to worry about if you are street smart. There was a drive by shooting there a little over a year ago that made news. I've walked around that area all the time during the day (I go to church around there) with no problems. It is also right next to the Sedgwick CTA stop, so there is a decent public presence around the area. I have walked around there at night, to and from the Sedgwick CTA stop, and never had any problems or felt unsafe. You just need to be street smart.

[newmemberr]

This is my biggest hesitation for signing for the apartment. I don't know how I feel about being in an environment that might not feel safe for us or our guests.

Did you encounter any uncomfortable situations or we you left alone for the most part?

[wase4711]

sounds like you arent very street smart, and probably paranoid; you should look elsewhere..

[IronWright]

You can be killed or robbed in any neighborhood. Old Town is relatively safe by any metric. People are assaulted in LakeView, Lincoln Park, West Loop etc. If you like the area go for it, I wouldn't think you'd be in fear for your life.

[TBideon]

There are some hoodrats along Sedgwick - you know the type, always yelling, angry, attitude, menacing, saying the n word, bumping into people intentionally...but it's somewhat limited to that one or two block stretch south of the brown line.

[dtcbnd03]

A good rule of thumb is to not live right next to a large public housing complex like that so you probably want to stay east of the brown line. Old Town is very safe but those two blocks are sketchy. I have several friends in Old Town and the ones that have lived closer to Sedgwick/Blackhawk have had more issues. One lived at Evergreen/North Park and they would always walk up North Park or Orleans to get to the brown line and would never walk down Sedgwick especially at night.

On the plus side there' an AWESOME Chinese restaurant there called Lan's that is really fun to go to with big groups. BYOB, family style eating, wild atmosphere, turns into a karaoke bar after dinner and the owner is literally an insane alcoholic that will make you chug vodka straight outta the bottle. I have a picture of him after he headbutted a friend of a friend after doing a vodka chug and he's grinning holding a towel to his forehead while blood is gushing down as if nothing happened haha. Pretty sure there was a little lawsuit from the customer after that but don't know the details or how it turned out.

[personone]

Originally Posted by TBideon

There are some hoodrats along Sedgwick - you know the type, always yelling, angry, attitude, menacing, saying the n word, bumping into people intentionally...but it's somewhat limited to that one or two block stretch south of the brown line.

Yes. The bad spot is literally limited to 1-2 blocks, and it is right down the street from the CTA (so there is a public presence nearby). Also there is a nearby little dog park/field in that area practically across the Marshfield apartments where homeowners nearby are out with their dogs all the time during the day.

When I first moved to Chicago, I didn't know the history of the Marshfield apartments, and because it was in Old Town, I was somewhat naive and didn't think anything of the area other than the 1-2 blocks seemed a little sketchy. Because of that, I freely went through that area. I never had any problems, which is why I say with common street smarts, anyone will be fine. After learning the history, I am a little more cognizant and aware while in that area, but don't really act any differently.

[ChicagoMeO]

Over in the parking lot where Marchello's was, there was a little hotdog shack, it was on the 600 block of North Ave. They closed it. They had $5.00 cheap looking hotdogs. I think it was a left over from the Cabrini Green days. People from Cabrini would go to that hot dog stand. Even if you don't live near the low income housing is, people still go about taking the Chicago Ave bus to and fro and hanging out by the Chicago Ave Redline, and some do not feel as safe there with the groups hanging out, whether the groups are doing anything wrong or not.

My point is that people who live in some places you will encounter them around the area, so just walk around and see if you like the folks you encounter passing by you. If you can do it on a Saturday night, even better, thats when everyone comes out of their house and you get a good sample of your potential neighbors.

[beaniemac]

I worked in that area for many years. I mean back when cabrini greens buildings were still around. and I NEVER had an issue in that area. and I pretty much took the train to and from work in the day and night and walked the neighborhood regularly and was never remotely worried about safety there.