Should I give up my car if I move to Chicago? (Harvey: home, neighborhoods)

[BibiKeni]

Hi all
There is a real possibility that I may be moving to Chicago to take a job at one of the City Colleges. I have been looking at housing in either Hyde Park or Kenwood, but the two schools for which I am a candidate are in the hood. I'm no shrinking violet, but I do drive a late model BMW convertible.

Aside from the snow issues, will I be safe commuting into the scary parts? I drive through some of the seedier parts of DC now on my way to work now, but Chicago strikes me as a different game.

If it makes a difference, I am a Black female. Has anybody given up their luxury vehicle when they moved to Chicago?

[pidgeon92]

Perhaps trade the car in for something a little more nondescript? You're not going to get a lot of use out of a convertible in Chicago anyway.

Myself, I'd never not have a car in Chicago, but that really is a personal preference.

[emathias]

It depends on which city college. If you didn't already own a car, I'd probably suggest living without one for a month or two and then deciding. Since you already own it, I don't see the point in selling it until you decide whether it's worth keeping around. If you have to go to multiple city colleges regularly, you should probably keep it. If you will leave Chicago in a couple years it may also be worth keeping just so you don't have the turnover costs.

Ultimately, where you're looking to locate in Chicago is more car-friendly than the denser areas in the North Side and I suspect car ownership rates there are fairly high. I'd keep the car at least for the first few months, but then sit down and weigh the expense of keeping it against the value you feel it ads to your life here. If it's not worth the cost, sell it. If it is, keep it. That's really all it boils down to.

[chicagobear]

If I were living in Hyde Park and working on the south or west side, I would probably keep my car.

[buccsmf1]

Originally Posted by chicagobear

If I were living in Hyde Park and working on the south or west side, I would probably keep my car.

I would agree that its location based. I live on lake and michigan and work at rush, wife works in the west loop. We got rid of both our cars and love not having to deal with them. Its definitely doable between the CTA, uber, and zipcar. But there are definitely areas in this city that aren't safe to be on foot. I'd bring it with you and hold onto it for a couple months and see how you do using the above transportation methods.If you like it, sell the car, if you don't, keep it.

[chet everett]

Where do you currently live?

There is no shortage of other people driving BMWs or other pricey cars at any of the City Colleges. A whole lot less hassle than taking a bus.

[BibiKeni]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Where do you currently live?

There is no shortage of other people driving BMWs or other pricey cars at any of the City Colleges. A whole lot less hassle than taking a bus.

I live in the DC Metro area, home of the BMW. I am not pondering whether or not I should get rid of my car all together, only whether it is safe to drive it into the worst neighborhoods on a daily basis.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by BibiKeni

I live in the DC Metro area, home of the BMW. I am not pondering whether or not I should get rid of my car all together, only whether it is safe to drive it into the worst neighborhoods on a daily basis.

...absolutely! Safety while driving is just not an issue and neither is parking during any normal hours.

I mean for crying out loud there are literally ten of thousand of people driving all kinds of imported cars around every part of Chicago.

The rate of car theft is not particularly high for Chicago, probably similar to DC.

Heck, even the "worst" of the City Colleges are well policed and not in the kinds of areas that anybody is ever gonna say are overrun with "grand theft auto" type thugs...

You really need to get some perspective if you are seriously thinking about working here.

[marothisu]

What are the two schools you are a candidate for? Kennedy-King and....Olive-Harvey? Dawson? West Side Learning Center?

[rzzz]

Will the soft top get slashed? I.e. not to steal the car but to steal stuff in the car. That happened to some friends of mine in Wicker Park back in the day. That would be my concern with a convertible.