Long-distance runner moving to Chicago (Lincoln, Ashland: apartment, lease, safe area)

[UnusualSuspect]

I'm moving to Chicago next month, and my biggest concern as a 29-year-old single woman is finding a neighborhood in which I can safely go running alone, often in the dark before work. Also, I don't care all that much about being close to nightlife and fun things to do, but it would be nice to be semi-close to public transportation that can get me downtown.

I've done a bit of research, but I don't really have the option to spend a lot of time in the city looking for an apartment, so I'm trying to find a short-term place that I can rent without actually visiting. Not an ideal situation, but I've done it before in other cities.

So, I've got two questions:
1. Are there any neighborhoods that stand out as being good for someone like me?
2. I'm considering an apartment at N. Ashland and W. Lawrence. Would this be considered Andersonville? Which, from what I've read, would be a decent place to live?

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by UnusualSuspect

...my biggest concern as a 29-year-old single woman is finding a neighborhood in which I can safely go running alone, often in the dark before work...

2. I'm considering an apartment at N. Ashland and W. Lawrence. Would this be considered Andersonville? Which, from what I've read, would be a decent place to live?

I would not recommend a woman do that in the dark when not many people are around in probably 90% of the city. The only areas of the city where your risk is minimal are close to O'Hare airport.

2. No. It is Uptown. Andersonville is 4 blocks north.

[chet everett]

If you are serious about "long distance running" like for marathons or longer you should focus on being VERY close to the Lakefront and in a VERY SAFE part of Chicago.

While Andersonville is not terrible I would NOT want to run through Uptown in the early morning / late evening...

[soulful]

The running path that runs along Lake Shore Dr. in the Lakeview and Lincoln Park areas would possibly be ok for about 30 minutes before/after dark as there are other runners. Still, there could be an isolated incident and you'd want to be really careful. Or, you could run on the sidewalk along inner Lake Shore Dr. However, that is kind of a drag I know.

[david224]

I would really reconsider the place you are looking at. I'm a runner as well, and i live RIGHT on the lake in lakeview. it's literally perfect - very safe area, run outside and am right on the chicago lakepath. you could also do a similar thing in the safe area of lincoln park.

of course you want to take precautions but if you are on the lakefront in a safe area you should be just fine - especially all summer, lots of people around at night.

my single female friends almost universally live in lakeview or Lincoln Park or Goldcoast for safety reasons. more expensive, but worth it. even as a guy, id be wary walking around alone in uptown or andersonville at night. have heard of several incidents from people i know.

[Janinele]

I'm also a runner (and also female) and the lake front path is great for running in the very early mornings - I'm out there from 5.30 am on and am never alone (other runners, cyclists and dog-walkers and you even see the police from time to time. Andersonville is a very safe place and close to the path - try to find an apartment there.

[Jesse69]

Just run with a can of mace ready and you can go anywhere!

[UnusualSuspect]

Thanks for your replies! I kind of suspected as much. So, I'll change the question a bit: Assuming the lease is just for two months (which it is), and I get a gym membership if I decide it's too sketchy to run outside, is Uptown otherwise okay? Just for normal stuff like walking to and from the train, the grocery store, etc. during daylight hours.

[Drover]

Ashland and Lawrence is pretty OK, yeah. When someone says "Uptown" people reflexively think of Uptown's core commercial district, which is an absolute basketcase. You'd be 4 blocks away from the commercial district, and while that doesn't sound very far, 4 blocks can make a huge difference in this town. I would simply suggest you do your running mostly to the south. You can go a fair distance north and west without running into iffy areas (which are only iffy mostly at night anyway), so without knowing how far you intend to run on any given outing, I'll simply point out that anywhere south all the way to downtown is the "safe" part of the city.

You'd have three options for trains. The nearest CTA train station -- the Lawrence Red Line stop -- is at the northern edge of the "basketcase zone" so mind your Ps and Qs over there, especially at night. I honestly wouldn't use the Wilson station any time of day. It's one of the nastiest in the whole CTA train system.

A little further away but in the opposite direction (that is, away from the "basketcase zone") you'd be about a 12-minute walk from the Damen stop of the CTA Brown Line. And pretty much right next to it is the Metra Ravenswood stop. If you're going downtown, Metra is a far superior option because it will get you there in about half the time, and from the Ravenswood stop it's only 25 cents more to downtown than riding a CTA train. Plus Metra trains are quieter, cleaner, more comfortable, and about 99.999% thug- and stewbum-free. The advantage of the CTA trains versus the Metra trains is that the CTA runs far more frequently and it's much more useful for getting from neighborhood to neighborhood within the city. Metra is focused on getting people from the suburbs to downtown and it doesn't have nearly as many stops in the city as the CTA does.

[chet everett]

I appreciate Drover's comments, but given that the OP will be in Chicago for a VERY short time (8 weeks...) I would STRONGLY recommend sticking to the Gold Coast, Old Town and Lincoln Park. Honestly I would even avoid the sections of Lakeview that are are west of Wrigley, as the hassle factor for a really serious runner having to deal with crowds of drunken sports minded folks might really have a negative impact if she is a serious about running...

If the OP were looking more "long term" stay I would have an easier time of understanding how a "quiet" part of Uptown might be worth the tradeoff, but for a short term situation any 'savings' (and frankly the rents in Uptown are NOT CHEAP ENOUGH for the risk and crummy scene...) but it'd be stupid to stay someplace that has MORE NEGATIVES ...