The most underrated neighborhood in Chicago (Albany: violent crime, professionals, gardens)

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by kafka_on_the_shore

After 16 daunting pages I'm surprised and glad someone finally bothered to mention any of the south side neighborhoods. I'm gonna have to discredit everyone else and their mentions of north side neighborhoods, as they are, predominately, and many alternatives desired destinations for transplants.

Hey I like Garfield Ridge, I mentioned to my friend who is relocating to Chicago I told them to check it out.

[rparz]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

450K, single family home, any size yard will do, doesn't need to be near downtown or work, would prefer a mostly homeowner area.

Portage Park, Belmont Craigin, excellent housing stock, quiet area, but not walking distance to the el.

[kafka_on_the_shore]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee City

Hey I like Garfield Ridge, I mentioned to my friend who is relocating to Chicago I told them to check it out.

I do as well, but sadly there isn't much to offer in terms of nightlife and activities for mid-aged people (20-30's). Most of that requires modes of transportation, which isn't difficult at all considering the access to the CTA and at most, finding someone (a buddy) with a car. It would be nice if people from aforementioned neighborhoods took the time to venture out and explore outside of their comfort zone, but unfortunately it is unlikely it'll ever happen. Mostly because they don't have any reason to do, which is a good thing. It keeps things in balance.

[rparz]

Originally Posted by kafka_on_the_shore

After 16 daunting pages I'm surprised and glad someone finally bothered to mention any of the south side neighborhoods. I'm gonna have to discredit everyone else and their mentions of north side neighborhoods, as they are, predominately, and many alternatives desired destinations for transplants.

Cross reference those hoods with schools.

[deliz]

I believe you have to have 2 pugs and a bug-a-boo stroller to live here. No??

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by kafka_on_the_shore

I do as well, but sadly there isn't much to offer in terms of nightlife and activities for mid-aged people (20-30's). Most of that requires modes of transportation, which isn't difficult at all considering the access to the CTA and at most, finding someone (a buddy) with a car. It would be nice if people from aforementioned neighborhoods took the time to venture out and explore outside of their comfort zone, but unfortunately it is unlikely it'll ever happen. Mostly because they don't have any reason to do, which is a good thing. It keeps things in balance.

Yeah while many people do drive for night life in some areas, a lot don't want to which is why you see packed trains (i.e. Red, Blue, Brown, and Purple) at 2am every single weekend. It's easy to ride on some line whether it's on the red line or to neighborhoods like Lakeview, Near North, Lincoln Park, etc or on the Blue Line to places like UK Village, Wicker Park, and Logan Square.

There is a reason why these neighborhoods have the nightlife they do now or have become like that. Take Pilsen for example...not a bad neighborhood, but to get there *fast* you either take the Orange line and walk about 1/2 mile of nothingness to Halsted & Cermak for the beginning of things, or you take the red line to Chinatown and take a bus to the same area.

Really, when you think about it, people are impatient when it comes to this. They want to ride the train, get off and either have their bars right there or have it within a tenth or two tenths of a mile. Not only that, but many people think that many neighborhoods on the south side are dangerous (which is partially true of course, for some neighborhoods). They might not even want to travel through them on their way to the bar.

Honestly, when I think of any sort of night life, Woodlawn, Chatham, Washington Park, Englewood, etc are the last things that come to mind. Hell, even look at around US Cellular Field. There's not many bars, and there's a perfect opportunity for it because it's right on the Red Line, and it's an MLB team that is not bad. Seriously, south side is the last thing I think of when I think about night life. Not only that, but it's just not what I'm looking for in living. It's too residential in many spots for me personally. I would love to see some neighborhoods on the south side become more night life friendly, but some things in some neighborhoods there have to change first IMO.

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by Aleking

It's boring, characterless and is a stepping stone along the trail to Naperville for when the big ten crowd morphs into the stroller crowd.

So, in your mind, what neighborhood isn't boring and characterless? Uptown?

By the way, I'm in the stroller crowd (doublewide) and have no intentions of moving to Naperville (also graduated from a Big 10 school, wear a baseball hat and flipflops, drive an SUV, etc).

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by IAmEverywhere

To answer the original question, I think Rogers Park is the most underrated neighborhood. Not only does it welcome all kinds of people, but different kinds of people actually mix there. The neighborhood has easy access to the lake. In fact, except for Edgewater and parts of the South Side, it's the only place where access to the lake isn't cut off by Lake Shore Drive. Rogers Park has an urban feel, but it's also not too noisy. Despite these advantages, it's not on most people's radar screen.

@FAReastcoast: There are bars throughout Lakeview and Lincoln Park. Also, even for the bar strips on Clark or Lincoln, people have to go elsewhere after getting drunk. They often live in the area, so they could potentially walk anywhere in the neighborhood to get home. Also, they may also go to establishments such as late-night restaurants which aren't necessarily on the bar strips.

I know this demographic. I attended a Big Ten school for a year but transferred out voluntarily. And I lived in Lakeview for over three years. Most of the people who frequent the Lakeview and Lincoln Park bar scenes are obnoxious. Many are potentially violent, especially when drunk.

I feel safer walking in neighborhoods such as Uptown and Logan Square after going out there than I do being out and about among the Lakeview/Lincoln Park/Big Ten crowd.



The parts of Lakeview which are now generally known as Wrigleyville were actually interesting when spent time in them in the mid-1990's. They were actually somewhat diverse and eclectic. There were many interesting shops and restaurants. The area had many arts venues, especially live theatre.

This all was rapidly dying when I moved into Lakeview in the early 2000's.

You sound like you have an ax to grind.....
By the way, it's silly to say that Rogers Park or Uptown are safer than LV or LP. That's not even debatable as it's not uncommon to have shootings/gang related violence on a weekly basis in both RP and Uptown.

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by IAmEverywhere

Crime statistics for Lake View and Uptown were discussed on page 3 of this thread:

//www.city-data.com/forum/chica...ontrose-3.html

Dividing the crime totals for a recent 90 day period as posted by Vlajos on this thread by the populations of each community area as posted by cump on this thread:

Lake View: 886 crimes divided by 94,000 residents = 9.4 crimes per 1,000 residents
Uptown: 435 crimes divided by 56,000 residents = 7.8 crimes per 1,000 residents

So even the hard numbers show that Lake View actually has a higher crime rate than Uptown.

This is really interesting given that one of Uptown's roles is being a dumping ground for many people who are poor, have a mental illness, are chemically dependent or some combination.



Behavior of people not from the neighborhood is relevant to a discussion of crime and safety.



I never mentioned "fratboys" or fraternities in this thread.

Besides, fraternity membership isn't the issue here. Not all fraternity members are violent when drunk. Nor is it the case that people who did not go Greek in university are never violent when drunk. Some of the most vicious people I interacted with at the Big Ten school I attended were not fraternity members (at least as of when I knew them).
Moreover, being a young professional with a real job is irrelevant to whether that person's behavior is defined as criminal.



A significant number of the people who go to the bars in Lincoln Park and Lakeview are the kind of people who will start a fight with you with little or no provocation, especially when drunk. If one of them attacks you, serious injury is a likely outcome. Actually, if one of them gets in a fight with you, it's likely that their friends will join in.

@FAReastcoast: I didn't mean to say that everyone who attended a Big Ten school fits this mold. I figured it would be obvious in the context of this thread who was being referred to.

The difference between a crime in Uptown/RP and LV/LP is that in one area, you might get into a fist fight with a drunk white guy wearing shorts, a Cubs shirt and flip flops. In the other, you might be shot by a guy wearing his pants down at his knees, gold teeth and neck tattoos.

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by FAReastcoast

That is all fine and good, but how does that tell you what neighborhoods people travel do and do not travel to? Maybe I don't generalize people the way you do, but I do not understand how you are coming to this conclusion.

Can you look at a guy in Lakeview and think "no way that guy would travel to uptown or Lincoln square"?

You're not comparing Uptown to Lincoln Square are you? Maybe in terms of distance from LP or LV but certainly not in make up of the people who live there.