Rank these suburbs: Evanston, Skokie, Highland Park, and Glenview

[Ellabella2]

I'm wondering if the OP is a female and if so if there are unsafe areas of Evanston she should avoid (??).

I've never lived in Evanston, but I did live in Oak Park (very similar type of urban/suburban Chicago suburb). And Oak Park had a housing search office that had a reputation for steering white renters into more dangerous areas, and black renters into safer areas for integration purposes. I believe a 20-something woman who was steered towards the more dangerous Austin area of Oak Park was murdered in her apartment.

Not sure if Evanston is like this, but the OP's first priority should be safety in an unfamiliar city.

Feedback anyone?

[nana053]

Originally Posted by Ellabella2

I'm wondering if the OP is a female and if so if there are unsafe areas of Evanston she should avoid (??).

I've never lived in Evanston, but I did live in Oak Park (very similar type of urban/suburban Chicago suburb). And Oak Park had a housing search office that had a reputation for steering white renters into more dangerous areas, and black renters into safer areas for integration purposes. I believe a 20-something woman who was steered towards the more dangerous Austin area of Oak Park was murdered in her apartment.

Not sure if Evanston is like this, but the OP's first priority should be safety in an unfamiliar city.

Feedback anyone?

Austin is part of the city. It is not in Oak Park, so realtors can't steer anyone toward Austin. Certainly, I would not want to live close to that border though. I really doubt that story about steering although Oak Park does have a reputation for being aggressive in their integration.

Evanston does not steer people and it does not have dangerous neighborhoods like Austin.

As far as I know Evanston does not have a housing search office at all unless you mean Northwestern's student housing office. It doesn't actually recommend places to live though, just lists them. That is not available to the general public anyway - only to NU students.

There are some areas around the high school and a few close to Howard Street that I would tell anyone to steer clear of. But even those areas are not really unsafe unless you are walking around late at night.

[Ellabella2]

Step one inch west of Austin Blvd and you are in Oak Park. Hence that part of Oak Park is commonly (unofficially) called the "Austin area".

And, yes, the housing office (not real estate agents) did have a reputation for "steering" people based on race for integration purposes.

Anyway, the info you provided on Evanston will probably be helpful to the OP, especially if she (or he) plans to be out late at night.