Oak Park?!?! Thoughts on safety and crime

[kindrakindra]

Halloween hasn't been that bad for us. We do go through a ton of candy (about 4 Costco bags worth). 99% of the people from the west side who come trick or treating have been immensely kind and respectful. We don't necessarily mind the later night trick or treaters; often it is working parents who don't get home in time to meet the stated hours.

Every year we leave a bowl of candy out while we go with our kids. We go early, probably around 4:30. This past year our entire bowl of candy was gone between 4:30 and 5:15. The candy takers were fellow OPers, and not city kids. My neighbor saw the whole thing go down. We figured that anyway, due to the time it happened.

[chitownperson]

Kindrakindra,

That has been our experience too. We've never had a "negative" experience, and the vast majority of families from both the west side and Oak Park have been very respectful and polite. I've never had anyone be disrespectful, just a few teens not in costume asking for candy without a thank you, but I would not say that's "negative", nor that it wouldn't happen anywhere else. We usually get 2 or 3 big bags of candy and it's gone before 7pm. We haven't really answered the door past 7pm, not because we wouldn't give candy out, but because we usually don't have any left.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by kindrakindra

Halloween hasn't been that bad for us. We do go through a ton of candy (about 4 Costco bags worth). 99% of the people from the west side who come trick or treating have been immensely kind and respectful. We don't necessarily mind the later night trick or treaters; often it is working parents who don't get home in time to meet the stated hours.

Every year we leave a bowl of candy out while we go with our kids. We go early, probably around 4:30. This past year our entire bowl of candy was gone between 4:30 and 5:15. The candy takers were fellow OPers, and not city kids. My neighbor saw the whole thing go down. We figured that anyway, due to the time it happened.

How do you recognize 100% of the people who came from the west side as having come from the west side?

[prinsessa]

I would guess that most people who come from the west side arrive in cars. I'm sure they could be coming from some where else. I would assume that people who live in Oak Park don't drive to TOT in Oak Park. I work with a few people who live on the west side of Chicago and they all come to Oak Park to TOT. Last year I saw a car with (no kidding) 10 kids in it. I don't even know how they fit so many kids in one car. I have spend 2 years during Halloween in Oak Park and we haven't had any problems. There was a few groups of teens that looked like they might be looking for trouble (one group all had ski masks on) but I didn't experience any trouble myself.

[C. Maurio]

Originally Posted by cmg524

Hi All,

My husband and I are relocating to Oak Park from NYC. We know that crime is a big issue in Chicagoland, and with Oak Park's proximity to Austin, we are wondering about crime issues. I have been following some crime stats online, and Oak Park's Police post monthly and daily crime statistics.

We don't have a huge budget to spend on a house, and plan to start a family soon. We have found af ew cute places in Oak Park east of Ridgeland in the north end of the neighborhood. I know that previously this was thought to be a more dangerous part of the village, but from what I can tell it doesn't seem to have maintained that reputation.

What do you think? Would you consider buying a home on Humphrey and Berkshire? We certainly would be "city smart" and know to keep bikes locked up, vehicles locked in garage, and motion lights. As well as a security system which I understand is a must-have for anyone in Oak Park.

Thoughts?

Thank you in advance!

Oak Park is very safe. I would not hesitate to live there. My grandparents lived there until they died and nobody ever bothered them. And also the cops there are very aggressive. If you call them, they will come. And if you look shady, they will stop you.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by C. Maurio

Oak Park is very safe. I would not hesitate to live there. My grandparents lived there until they died and nobody ever bothered them. And also the cops there are very aggressive. If you call them, they will come. And if you look shady, they will stop you.

There are some parts of Oak Park where the concerns over crime would be minimal and other parts that, due to crime and other negatives, merit far more caution...

[chitownperson]

The whole of Oak Park is "safe". I would not consider any part of Oak Park "unsafe". You have to be a little more cautious walking down some parts of Austin Blvd. at night, but there are plenty of people that actually live on the Oak Park side of Austin and choose to do so, and have had little to no issues. The furthest eastern portions (Austin blvd, Humphery, and Taylor) usually get an unfair judgement, with safety concerns being over exaggerated. If you want to ask specific question to people that actually live on Austin Blvd and what it's like, I'd recommend checkout the "live here oak park" forum, and doing a search. There are a couple of discussions about it, where residents have stated how much they love living right across from Columbus park, with the great view, and have had no safety concerns all the years they've been there (one of which is a single female). There was an article in "The Oak Parker" where a resident choose to stay in a building on Austin Blvd for over 2 decades because he loved it so much, and had no issue. I know a number of people that live on Humphery and Taylor, and have had no issues with safety and love living there.

Much of the talk about the safety issues in Oak Park are often over exaggerated based on personal perception from the thought that Oak Park borders the west side, as oppose to knowing what the day to day is actually like living in those areas. So, you'll probably be a little more cautious of locking your garage and keeping your awareness (good for any where really) if your on the 2 most eastern streets, but I would not depict Humphery as a safety concern at all. Plenty of people find it to be a good street to live on.

[WeSoHood]

Is this graph below a different Oak Park area? These are shootings from the past weekend & it's certainly alarming to me that this is a family area.

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/vi...D7hQImOM.en_US.

I do understand this thread is old, but I'm certainly interested into what Chicagoans consider safe and unsafe, given I'm not from the region.

Sorry for the old thread bump.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by WeSoHood

Is this graph below a different Oak Park area? These are shootings from the past weekend & it's certainly alarming to me that this is a family area.

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/vi...D7hQImOM.en_US.

I do understand this thread is old, but I'm certainly interested into what Chicagoans consider safe and unsafe, given I'm not from the region.

Sorry for the old thread bump.

None of those shootings are in Oak Park.

[adele115]

Originally Posted by WeSoHood

Is this graph below a different Oak Park area? These are shootings from the past weekend & it's certainly alarming to me that this is a family area.

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/vi...D7hQImOM.en_US.

I do understand this thread is old, but I'm certainly interested into what Chicagoans consider safe and unsafe, given I'm not from the region.

Sorry for the old thread bump.

Those three farthest west "markers" are not in Oak Park. They are in Austin. Yes, a couple blocks from the border, but nonetheless in Austin. Oak Park does have some issues w/ bordering Austin, but shootings within Oak Park boundaries is not one of them (e.g., extremely rare)