Student housing, safe areas? (Lincoln, Columbia: crime, college, living)

[shiraziman]

What are some safe neighborhood near Columbia College? Any tips for a lone freshman?

[It'sAutomatic]

Downtown campus? It's safe. There's tons of student housing around there. You could live outside and commute in if you really wanted. The main issue with downtown, especially at night, is people asking you for money. They're harmless though.

[Kmanshouse]

Otherwise, move up to Lakeview. My daughter goes to Columbia and just moved there.

[SeriesOfTubes]

Anywhere near Columbia College is safe. I would try to avoid living too close to the Roosevelt L stop though because there is a lot of crime at the station. The station is fine to use during the day but I would avoid it late at night. Most of the crime is petty crime but I would try and avoid hanging around that area. You go one block N, S, E, or W of there and it's completely fine.

[Dorian22]

Anywhere around Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Buena Park, and Edgewater.

[personone]

Originally Posted by Dorian22

Anywhere around Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Buena Park, and Edgewater.

Unless there are 2 different campuses, it looks like Columbia College is in the Loop. I'm not familiar with it and always assumed it was somewhere downtown.

Assuming the OP is talking about the downtown campus (if there is another campus), I would not recommend any of the above, except for maybe the Gold Coast, because they are relatively far.

I would recommend being somewhere in the Loop (including West or South), Gold Coast (maybe), or River North (maybe). Being in the Loop would be the closest, and the Loop is safe by any big city standards. You have to be street smart and use common sense at night, even more so in the South Loop, but the Loop is overall safe. Plus because the Loop is the city's business district, you can get an Uber any hour of the night if you do need to go somewhere late.

Of course, if the college has a campus in a different part of the city that you are referring to, then my advice would change.