Hyde Park dangerous??? (Chicago, Lincoln, Time: safest area, high school, college)

[ajolotl]

both.

82nd and Laflin?? That might as well be another country. has nothing remotely to do with Hyde Park or Beverly. No one debates that most of the south side sucks, just that the spillover to the nice parts doesn't require most people to lock themselves in their houses after dark. If that were the case I seriously doubt you'd see the real estate prices that we have over here.

[Southside Shrek]

Originally Posted by ajolotl

both.

82nd and Laflin?? That might as well be another country. has nothing remotely to do with Hyde Park or Beverly. No one debates that most of the south side sucks, just that the spillover to the nice parts doesn't require most people to lock themselves in their houses after dark. If that were the case I seriously doubt you'd see the real estate prices that we have over here.

Again, I was mainly going by Rebecca's posted report on life, living and dangers in Hyde Park today.

82nd and Laflin is not very far from Beverly. As a kid I went to Beverly quite a lot and also caddied at the Beverly Country Club. In its better days, 82nd and Laflin was a strong middle class working neighborhood without much serious crime to speak of. Doctors, dentists, lawyers and professionals also lived there. Now you are referring to it as 'another country'. The last time I drove through there was back in the 1970s and, yes, it did have a whole different look and feel to it, especially along West 79th Street heading east from Ashland. I saw large signs on store fronts saying "DEATH TO SHOPLIFTERS" and other unwelcoming things I was not accustomed to from childhood memories. I don't think I got much past Racine before I turned my car around and got out of there never to return again.

[Mystery Mix]

Hyde Park is "CHICAGO", unlike what somewhat posted. You are living in Chicago, a city where people are shot, robbed, raped , and killed daily. It is so bad that they are considering bringing in the National Guard. Do you think that just because you will be attending U of C you will be only in the Hyde Park area and never venture the south side in it's entirety, the north or the west side. You are in for a rude awakening and crime does exist in Hyde Park. It's Chicago, the whole city is going to hell that is why I relocated to Orlando. Is it crime free here, yes, but it's not as common as Chicago and my children don't have to go through metal detectors just to get to school. It's not about Chicago, Hyde Park or anywhere else. This entire country is violent and evil. Just pray for God to protect you wherever you are.

[ajolotl]

Yes, many people live in Hyde Park and never visit the "south side in its entirety". In fact, many just go Hyde Park north toward the south loop, downtown, and north side neighborhoods.

Chicago vs. Orlando? I would have stayed in Chicago. By what measure is Orlando so much safer?

[chicago103]

Originally Posted by Mystery Mix

It's Chicago, the whole city is going to hell that is why I relocated to Orlando. Is it crime free here, yes, but it's not as common as Chicago and my children don't have to go through metal detectors just to get to school.

Ok chicken little. Yes, the entire 227 square miles of the city of Chicago is a warzone! Only someone who doesn't know much about Chicago would even say that. I live in Garfield Ridge, a neighborhood within Chicago city limits, now if you can show me facts where people in my specific neighborhood are shot and killed everyday and kids go through metal detectors in all schools then you would have a point. However you seen to be all about hysteria and not about facts to back up your blanket generalizations. I actually study Chicago for a living and you debating me about this subject is like me having a debate with a neurosurgeon about brain surgery, way out of my league just like you are out of mine. I won't make any assumptions but I wonder if you actually ever lived within Chicago city limits. Chicago is no more how you describe it than if I said everyone in Orlando hangs out at Disney World every day of the year and has their houses plastered with Mickey Mouse souviners.

On topic, tens of thousands of college students live in Chicago without any problems year after year, I myself have earned two degrees at the University of Illinois at Chicago and always living on or near campus.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by ajolotl

Chicago vs. Orlando? I would have stayed in Chicago. By what measure is Orlando so much safer?

None. Per NeighborhoodScout.com, crime rates in Orlando are nearly twice as high as in Chicago (87% higher). Florida is one of America's most dangerous states. And almost no students at the University of Chicago go into "the south side in its entirety," and this is a fact that's well-known (and oft bemoaned) on campus.

Originally Posted by Southside Shrek

Even when I was a kid the area around the University of Chicago was not considered safe.

Originally Posted by coldwine

HP didn't really become anywhere desirable to live until the past five or ten years, I would say.

The world has changed, Shrek. Crime has fallen by nearly half in Hyde Park just in the past ten years, and Hyde Park is now nearly as safe as East Lakeview, per CPD statistics compiled by SECC (and published by the U of C):
Common Sense (http://commonsense.uchicago.edu/crime-info.html#analysis - broken link)

[Southside Shrek]

Originally Posted by paytonc

The world has changed, Shrek. Crime has fallen by nearly half in Hyde Park just in the past ten years, and Hyde Park is now nearly as safe as East Lakeview, per CPD statistics compiled by SECC (and published by the U of C):
Common Sense (http://commonsense.uchicago.edu/crime-info.html#analysis - broken link)

I understand things change over time. When speaking generally about Chicago's South Side, that usually means things have taken a turn for the worst.

I am sure my friends who attended the U of C years back would be hard pressed to believe that it is safe today to roam around at night off campus. They were conditioned like Pavlov's dog to believe otherwise and remain on their safe campus island, especially after dark.

[snoylekim]

as someone who attended U of C 'years back' - Late '70s to be specific , the second paragraph isn't quite accurate ..we were strongly discouraged from leaving the boundaries of "Hyde Park" (61st on the South, Cottage on the West, Lake on the East, 47th on the North ) , except for established corridors like the 55th Street Bus to the El, then in groups ( NEVER take the El south of 55th) .. And, we were 'educated' in the safer versus rougher parts of Hyde Park, which, trust me, we pretty much moved about at all hours of the day and night .
Then and now.. 63rd Street seems marginally improved, 47th MUCH improved .. in the day foolish trips down either of those streets at the wrong time would result in , well, an ass-kicking and maybe a lost wallet ..

[Southside Shrek]

Originally Posted by snoylekim

as someone who attended U of C 'years back' - Late '70s to be specific , the second paragraph isn't quite accurate ..we were strongly discouraged from leaving the boundaries of "Hyde Park" (61st on the South, Cottage on the West, Lake on the East, 47th on the North ) , except for established corridors like the 55th Street Bus to the El, then in groups ( NEVER take the El south of 55th) .. And, we were 'educated' in the safer versus rougher parts of Hyde Park, which, trust me, we pretty much moved about at all hours of the day and night .
Then and now.. 63rd Street seems marginally improved, 47th MUCH improved .. in the day foolish trips down either of those streets at the wrong time would result in , well, an ass-kicking and maybe a lost wallet ..

I took the El from 63rd and Ashland to my friend's father's store on East 63rd near Cottage Grove. We didn't get our arses kicked back in the late 1950's but I thought we were going to.

[Sbudsky]

Hyde Park is one of the safest areas in the city, but it is diverse and urban and IMO that's what makes people so uncomfortable. See Ms. Hyde Park: On O'Reilly and Why He's Wrong about the South Side of Chicago OR Ms. Hyde Park: Time Out Chicago wants to know: What's the matter with Hyde Park