Moving to Evanston near Saint Francis Hospital (Chicago, Oak Park: apartments, condo)

[ghostchicago]

I am moving to Evanston right behind St. Francis Hospital. Near the intersection of Custer and Oakton. Is the area safe? I keep hearing from co-workers that its not.

[chet everett]

Custer & Oakton is NE of the hospital, probably walkable to the CTA Purple line. That is not a terrible spot. The scarier apartments are closer to Howard.

In Evanston "safe" ranges from "really really safe" to "mostly pretty safe" as even the worst parts of town are nothing like the lawlessness in parts of Chicago. From even a property crime standpoint the relative odds of theft / garage break-in almost certainly higher in Oak Park.


If you are unfamiliar with the level of responsiveness that a mostly well managed (if sometimes too politically correct...) city is capable you'd be wise to read up on the info Evanston posts online -- Daily Crime Reports - Reports | City of Evanston

[damba]

Originally Posted by ghostchicago

I am moving to Evanston right behind St. Francis Hospital. Near the intersection of Custer and Oakton. Is the area safe? I keep hearing from co-workers that its not.

During the day it's really not a problem. OTOH, I was never a big fan of walking around that area at night- south of South Blvd to the L. Still too sketchy. Understandably though, most of this stuff is going to be based on personal experience more than anything concrete. Crime stats really don't mean much in that regard.

[goillini8]

Gonna echo the other posters. It's not fool-proof safe. Need to be careful. During the day, with activity from the hospital and activity in general, there should be no issues. At night, would want to be more careful, but overall it should be fine. I lived in South Evanston on Seward just east of Ridge and then later on Reba Place maybe three blocks east of of Ridge and never had any problems. Of course this was in the late 1990s. But, with all the condo development, and development along Chicago Avenue, I'd think it maybe be safer than it was.

And, I looked up the exact location of your apartment and I had friends who lived in basically the exact same area at the same time I lived there. Again, that's the late 1990s. But, having been back to Evanston and driving around (I always visit my old haunts and drive by where I lived), it doesn't seem to be any worse.