Biking through south side - places to avoid? (Chicago, Oak Park: high crime, how much)

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by mofford

My friend Jim has told me many times that the south side of Chicago is the baddest part of town. If you go down there you better just beware of a man named Leroy Brown. He stands about 6 foot 4, all the ladies call him treetop lover, but the men just call him sir. He's the baddest man in the whole damn town, badder than old King Kong, and meaner than a junkyard dog. Leroy is a gambler and he likes his fancy clothes, he likes to wave his diamond rings in front of everybody's nose. He's got a custom continental, and an eldorado too, he's got a 32 gun in his pocket for fun, and he's got a razor in his shoe!

Do you really want to go there ?

Having had family that lived on the old south side in the 70s I not infrequently did see the "custom Continentals and El Dorados that were favorites among certain kind of gentleman of the era. The subsequent shifts in what sorts of illegal activities are most common, who exerts control of such things and the massive depopulation of many neighborhoods very likely means that despite drops in total frequency of violent crime the likelihood of somebody having "nothing to lose" by assaulting / robbing a curious bicyclist would give me pause in treating the OP's question as cavalierly as the verses in a song...

I would recomend riding with larger groups and along specific designated routes, such as those that are part of the Bouvelard tour. There really ain't nothing worse than being an unfortunate innocent victim ...

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by mofford

My friend Jim has told me many times that the south side of Chicago is the baddest part of town. If you go down there you better just beware of a man named Leroy Brown. He stands about 6 foot 4, all the ladies call him treetop lover, but the men just call him sir. He's the baddest man in the whole damn town, badder than old King Kong, and meaner than a junkyard dog. Leroy is a gambler and he likes his fancy clothes, he likes to wave his diamond rings in front of everybody's nose. He's got a custom continental, and an eldorado too, he's got a 32 gun in his pocket for fun, and he's got a razor in his shoe!

Do you really want to go there ?

You might risk it if you're in love with a Roller Derby Queen, though..

[lankyloo]

I moved out of the neighborhood a couple of years ago, but I used to live in South Shore and rode my bike all over the South Side. Mid 30's white guy. I mainly rode during the day, but sometimes at night. My area was mainly east of the Dan Ryan, from 111th up to Roosevelt. I never had any issues at all. I think especially if you are riding during the day, there really isn't anything to worry about. No one ever said anything to me that wasn't nice or polite, other than drivers occassionally telling me to get on the sidewalk. No harassment, and the worst experience I had were people looking surprised to see a middle aged white guy riding his bike around.

I don't want to sound Pollyannish, but my experiences were on the whole very positive. The one thing I would mention is that there are not a lot of street riders in these areas, so cars are not as used to driving around bikes, so you want to take more care than you would on the North or even West Sides riding in traffic.

I would say it's a worthwhile endeavor, and will show you a lot of interesting parts of the city. There's a lot of very interesting neighborhoods and places on the South Side that people never see because they are scared, and don't know anything about the neighborhoods they will tell all sorts of horror stories about. A lot of the neighborhoods are not great, but the vast majority of the people are like people everywhere else, nice and generally friendly.

[Runuova]

Originally Posted by lankyloo

I moved out of the neighborhood a couple of years ago, but I used to live in South Shore and rode my bike all over the South Side. Mid 30's white guy. I mainly rode during the day, but sometimes at night. My area was mainly east of the Dan Ryan, from 111th up to Roosevelt. I never had any issues at all. I think especially if you are riding during the day, there really isn't anything to worry about. No one ever said anything to me that wasn't nice or polite, other than drivers occassionally telling me to get on the sidewalk. No harassment, and the worst experience I had were people looking surprised to see a middle aged white guy riding his bike around.

I don't want to sound Pollyannish, but my experiences were on the whole very positive. The one thing I would mention is that there are not a lot of street riders in these areas, so cars are not as used to driving around bikes, so you want to take more care than you would on the North or even West Sides riding in traffic.

I would say it's a worthwhile endeavor, and will show you a lot of interesting parts of the city. There's a lot of very interesting neighborhoods and places on the South Side that people never see because they are scared, and don't know anything about the neighborhoods they will tell all sorts of horror stories about. A lot of the neighborhoods are not great, but the vast majority of the people are like people everywhere else, nice and generally friendly.

That's all I'm saying!

Maybe it sounds more legit coming from an actual white guy.

[lankyloo]

Originally Posted by Runuova

That's all I'm saying!

Maybe it sounds more legit coming from an actual white guy.

Unfortunately, I think that might be true...

It always amazes me how many people in Chicagoland just believe what "everybody knows", and then argue with those who actually live, work, and play on the South Side about what it's really like. We know it has a lot of problems, but that is not the beginning or the end of the story.

I lived and worked in the South Side at various points for a total of 15 years, going back to the early 90s up to the present, and I could count on 2 hands the number of times I had a negative experience based on my race. The only racial profiling I experienced regularly was shopkeepers thinking I had more money than I did.

[ToriaT]

What about riding down Cermak road or Roosevelt east from Harlem to the Lake? Is it safe to bike? Is it safe to drive?

[MSchemist80]

There are some places in the world and even city you just don't go to if you have a choice otherwise and sense. Places like Somalia, Syria, North Korea, Englewood etc. Chances are and I agree the worst that will happen is that you get raised eyebrows and possibly questioned by the police who would assume you are either horribly lost or up to no good (looking to score drugs or something).

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

What about riding down Cermak road or Roosevelt east from Harlem to the Lake? Is it safe to bike? Is it safe to drive?

first of all, i wouldnt take Cermak. Lake is a better option and has a protected bike lane.

ultimately i guess it depends what your tolerance is. i dont find it to be that big a deal as long as youre passing through. the biggest issue you will have is avoiding broken glass everywhere.

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

What about riding down Cermak road or Roosevelt east from Harlem to the Lake? Is it safe to bike? Is it safe to drive?

Driving's fine. I wouldn't bike on either of those just because they're 2 lanes each way. Washington's a better ride. There's also Lake street which technically has the buffered bike lanes, but since the lane is all the way by the curb there's more broken glass/crappy road to deal with, and after you get west of Pulaski and the road opens a little bit, people drive fast on both sides of the L supports, which doesn't make for a great bike ride.

While i haven't ridden on the southside past US Cellular field or the lakefront to hyde park, I've biked from the loop to Oak Park about 15 times at this point - which obviously goes through the heart of the west side.
In addition, I know quite a few coworkers who bike commute from Oak Park daily. Point of this is not that there are not serious issues with these neighborhoods, but its also not Judgement Night. Driving, or riding through, as a white guy will not get you killed, it will get you ignored.

[Runuova]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

There are some places in the world and even city you just don't go to if you have a choice otherwise and sense. Places like Somalia, Syria, North Korea, Englewood etc. Chances are and I agree the worst that will happen is that you get raised eyebrows and possibly questioned by the police who would assume you are either horribly lost or up to no good (looking to score drugs or something).

I get it! Your goal is to get a rise out of me by referring to a place that is home to plenty of people that I care about by casually placing it along the same lines as war torn countries, that's cute!

I see what you did there!