Buying at the border of logan square/bucktown (western & armitage) - concerned about safety (Chicago: neighborhood, to live in)

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by RedHerring

Perhaps you misread. This property is on the west side of Western ave, at the intersection of Armitage and Western.

Nope, I'm simply pointing out that purchasing here squarely puts one at the edge of what I'd consider "fully" gentrified Armitage.

I'd consider that kind of a plus, personally - means you have a pretty wide range of options depending which direction you head out.

[Attrill]

I've been living just a little north of the area you're looking at for 7 years. I've had absolutely no problems at all. There are some issues at the Milwaukee/Armitage intersection with homeless people by the liquor store and some sketchy teenagers at the hot dog place on Armitage. Other than that it is fine. Check Everyblock.com for crimes in the area (everyone has their own threshold for "safe").

Even with the economy cratering for the last couple years there is a lot going on in the area. A few places have opened around that intersection, and A LOT of new places have opened by the California stop - Revolution brewpub, Cole's, and Boiler Room are the big ones. Ronnie's seems to really be taking off as well.

Even just a year ago the area was a bit empty late at night, but there are now a lot of cabs around and drunken white people at all hours of night. Estimating property prices is kind of tough anywhere in the city due to the low volume of sales, but we just had three banks appraise our house at about 150-200% of what we paid for it 7 years ago (we did a lot of work on it - subtracting those costs we're still up 60-70%). If you're looking to find a place that will appreciate you need to look at how much risk you are willing to take. Bucktown presents little to no risk, but ultimately the return will reflect that. The southern end of Logan Square presents a low risk with a moderate possible return - and as I mentioned, you will be following businesses that have bet their existence on the area succeeding. So far they are doing great.

In the end it is up to you to figure out what feels safe to you, but I'm a married middle aged guy raising a young child and I'm completely comfortable in the area.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Attrill

Even just a year ago the area was a bit empty late at night, but there are now a lot of cabs around and drunken white people at all hours of night.

Signs of progress if ever there were any.

[RedHerring]

Well, I made the plunge and am going to be the new neighbor to anywhere who lives nearby. Thanks for all the feedback, everyone.

[shaman1204]

I take it you bought the place on Western and Armitage?

[RedHerring]

Affirmative. Here's hoping in 10 years or whatever, when I sell, people don't still think this is a bad part of town. After spending some time in the area I realized it doesn't fully deserve its reputation - and there was certainly a bunch of new construction going on which is promising for the future.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by RedHerring

...After spending some time in the area I realized it doesn't fully deserve its reputation - and there was certainly a bunch of new construction going on...

Key word-was.

[RedHerring]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Key word-was.

Was as in 2 days ago.

[Chicago60614]

I think you did fine by buying there. Maybe I'm totally wrong, but when I use to live in the area, I always thought you had to be over more towards California and then go south of Armitage for it to get "weird". I really need to get back over in that area and hang out/walk around soon. It's been a few years now since I hung out there for any decent amount of time.

I wonder if the old lady still has the bar just west of Kedzie on Fullerton that we use to go to all the time. The place didn't even have a name out front.

[Humboldt1]

Red Herring,

You should be fine. I like that area, especially with the close access to blue line. I do agree, though, not much new construction these days, though there are isolated examples. That area will get better and better over time, but you will need to be patient. You will need to stay 10 years to see significant improvement. My guess is in 5 years it will look pretty much the same, but not worse.