Uptown (Chicago, Irving, Sheridan: best neighborhood, to buy, living)
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Location: The great, formidable City of Chicago, Illinois
8,697 posts, read 13,736,574 times
Reputation: 2133
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bardot
Is Ashland west or east of the old gated cemetery in that area? (the apartments along that cemetery on Montrose looked pretty appealing).
Here's a map of Uptown, with the various sub-neighborhoods. The dashed line is the official border of the Uptown Community Area. Note that it goes all the way west to Ravenswood Avenue when you're north of Montrose. The Sheridan Park part of Uptown has some incredibly beautiful tree-lined streets with really great buildings, but it also has had FAR too many gang shootings this summer. The Sunnyside pedestrian mall (at Racine, Magnolia and Malden) has become a real problem spot. Believe me, you're better off sticking to Buena Park. It does get sketchier quickly at Montrose, so if you're really squeamish you should stay further south, being careful to avoid being right on Broadway or on the 800 block of Cuyler. Check out the 700 blocks of Bittersweet, Gordon Terrace, and Buena Avenue. No sketch to be found.
^ Thanks so much, that's quite helpful. I live at Montrose & Clarendon so I'm aware of the happenings north of me, but the nice area I was looking at today that appealed to me was right on Montrose nearer to Clark. So I suppose it's considered the "Ravenswood" neighborhood.
Here's a map of Uptown, with the various sub-neighborhoods. The dashed line is the official border of the Uptown Community Area. Note that it goes all the way west to Ravenswood Avenue when you're north of Montrose. The Sheridan Park part of Uptown has some incredibly beautiful tree-lined streets with really great buildings, but it also has had FAR too many gang shootings this summer. The Sunnyside pedestrian mall (at Racine, Magnolia and Malden) has become a real problem spot. Believe me, you're better off sticking to Buena Park. It does get sketchier quickly at Montrose, so if you're really squeamish you should stay further south, being careful to avoid being right on Broadway or on the 800 block of Cuyler. Check out the 700 blocks of Bittersweet, Gordon Terrace, and Buena Avenue. No sketch to be found.
Yeah I was looking at an apartment by Wilson in official Sheridan Park... went there day and night and just don't have a good feeling about it. Crime data isn't exactly great there either.
The actual building we looked at was a really nice rehab BUT, all location location location... I'd be taking the red line stop there at wilson several nights around 11pm and my gf is brand new to the city and city living all together, don't think that would be a good thing to do on an ongoing basis, kind of rolling dice. Plus I was looking at it as a place to walk east towards the lake, and that route was a bit of a no go. Several corners where looked like people were "posted up". There are definitely some nicer areas of Uptown though, particularly Buena Park as you said. Definitely block by block, w/ some of the stops having not just a few but literally dozens of shady characters. High activity. There is obvious gentrification going on from the mix of people, but not quite there yet at least where I was looking.
There are definitely some nicer areas of Uptown though, particularly Buena Park as you said. Definitely block by block, w/ some of the stops having not just a few but literally dozens of shady characters. High activity. There is obvious gentrification going on from the mix of people, but not quite there yet at least where I was looking.
I'm pretty much agreeing with you here but I thought I'd add...Buena Park is really beautiful with amazing old homes and buildings and cheap rent, however it is such a small area and it 'borders' Uptown. Shady characters are constantly crossing in and out of Buena Park. If you don't own a car it sucks because you're forced to walk south for everything (groceries, el-stop, bookstore, retail, restaurants, etc). Granted, south is Lakeview so that's not a big deal but it just gets old real quick. I'm sure it is the safest Uptown neighborhood but I don't walk around at night.
A good rule of thumb is don't go north of Montrose in Uptown unless you're prepared to handle it.
Location: The great, formidable City of Chicago, Illinois
8,697 posts, read 13,736,574 times
Reputation: 2133
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bardot
^ Thanks so much, that's quite helpful. I live at Montrose & Clarendon so I'm aware of the happenings north of me, but the nice area I was looking at today that appealed to me was right on Montrose nearer to Clark. So I suppose it's considered the "Ravenswood" neighborhood.
That would still be Uptown, but Uptown is quite nice on the western edge. And the northwestern edge is basically considered part of Andersonville.
I'm pretty much agreeing with you here but I thought I'd add...Buena Park is really beautiful with amazing old homes and buildings and cheap rent, however it is such a small area and it 'borders' Uptown. Shady characters are constantly crossing in and out of Buena Park. If you don't own a car it sucks because you're forced to walk south for everything (groceries, el-stop, bookstore, retail, restaurants, etc). Granted, south is Lakeview so that's not a big deal but it just gets old real quick. I'm sure it is the safest Uptown neighborhood but I don't walk around at night.
A good rule of thumb is don't go north of Montrose in Uptown unless you're prepared to handle it.
For all the doom and gloom on this board about Uptown, I continue to have a pleasant and quiet experience up here in Margate Park, especially with the increased security on Kenmore and Winthrop and the Somerset closure.
I think there are 3 areas of Uptown i'd recommend, to 3 specific groups of people. Bueana Park for those who work in the loop (express buses), enjoy lakefront access, cheapness and access to Lakeview nightlife. Margate Park for those who work in the loop (express buses), enjoy lakefront access, even cheaper cheapness and access to Andersonville. Andersonville Terrace for those who don't work in the loop and want the Andersonville feel for less and enjoy the less dense, quiet streets.
The rest of Uptown still has enough gang/drug/homeless activity to significantly impair quality of life for most.
For all the doom and gloom on this board about Uptown, I continue to have a pleasant and quiet experience up here in Margate Park, especially with the increased security on Kenmore and Winthrop and the Somerset closure.
I think there are 3 areas of Uptown i'd recommend, to 3 specific groups of people. Bueana Park for those who work in the loop (express buses), enjoy lakefront access, cheapness and access to Lakeview nightlife. Margate Park for those who work in the loop (express buses), enjoy lakefront access, even cheaper cheapness and access to Andersonville. Andersonville Terrace for those who don't work in the loop and want the Andersonville feel for less and enjoy the less dense, quiet streets.
The rest of Uptown still has enough gang/drug/homeless activity to significantly impair quality of life for most.
I could see that... the environment changes in a hurry driving through there. I was actually pretty upset as I REALLY liked the building and condo. I am glad I drove around the immediate area as well or might have ended up signing a bad lease.
I could see that... the environment changes in a hurry driving through there. I was actually pretty upset as I REALLY liked the building and condo. I am glad I drove around the immediate area as well or might have ended up signing a bad lease.
Sheridan Park is a tough area to recommend, the nicer areas on the far west edge are just too isolated from what IMO makes other portions of Uptown attractive, mainly the lake, express buses and rail access since no one wants to use the Wilson stop and rightly so. The eastern areas continue to be some of the worst in area, hence the great "deals".
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