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Old 03-12-2008, 05:32 PM
 
Location: outer boroughs, NYC
904 posts, read 2,862,961 times
Reputation: 453

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Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperIncumbent View Post
Ah, thanks a lot for the great response guys. I guess I did jump the gun on that issue. I know for a fact that crime in Chicago isn't festering; It's just that my first impression of Chicago was how tightly packed it seemed in comparison to New York. You can practically walk for miles in Queens without stepping into a sketchy neighborhood even once. In Chicago (again, it's just my naïve impression), it seems like you can practically walk right into a bad neighborhood even by accident if you're not careful...
What parts of Queens are you walking in?

Seriously, though Chicago is actually pretty damn big, in terms of square miles. Also, if you are used to big cities, most of the North Side is okay, even the rougher parts (Uptown, mostly) are not holy-crap-I'm-taking-my-life-in-my-hands bad. They're just a bit shabby and have a some homeless people and what I'll politely term as "characters." They're not gang war zones, and even still, constitute a distinct minority of the North Side; the rest of it is really quite nice.

 
Old 03-12-2008, 07:17 PM
 
774 posts, read 2,487,843 times
Reputation: 737
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperIncumbent View Post
Ah, thanks a lot for the great response guys. I guess I did jump the gun on that issue. I know for a fact that crime in Chicago isn't festering; It's just that my first impression of Chicago was how tightly packed it seemed in comparison to New York. You can practically walk for miles in Queens without stepping into a sketchy neighborhood even once. In Chicago (again, it's just my naïve impression), it seems like you can practically walk right into a bad neighborhood even by accident if you're not careful...
No sketchy neighborhoods in Queens? Seriously? I'm glad that you at least admit that you have a naive impression. I'd argue exactly the opposite here - Chicago is one of the easiest cities anywhere to decipher the good and bad neighborhoods. There are very few places in the city where you all of the sudden go from a nice neighborhood to a bad neighborhood (maybe going the west past the United Center or the area by Old Town near the remnants of Cabrini-Green, but I can't think of too many other places this applies to). Accidently running into a bad neighborhood just doesn't happen much around here other than the couple of aforementioned examples - you have to be looking for it or go out of your way to find it. For better or for worse, Chicago is one of the most economically segregated places you'll find, which means you'll see the areas adjacent to the Loop (downtown) and generally the entire North Side as very affluent with few pockets of poverty or crime, while the far West and South Sides can be very sketchy (there are exceptions on both ends, but no more so than NYC). I also don't see how you could possibly think that Chicago is more tightly packed than New York (at least Manhattan). Are you getting us confused with Detroit because these impressions are way off-base (and I'm not trying to be a Chicago homer here)?
 
Old 03-12-2008, 10:28 PM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
4,068 posts, read 7,264,844 times
Reputation: 3055
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperIncumbent View Post
You can practically walk for miles in Queens without stepping into a sketchy neighborhood even once.
You can do that in Chicago, too... particularly on the North Side.
 
Old 03-12-2008, 10:37 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
190 posts, read 979,241 times
Reputation: 60
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperIncumbent View Post
\You can practically walk for miles in Queens without stepping into a sketchy neighborhood even once.
Not true at all. Every "good" neighborhood in Queens is adjacent to a "bad" neighborhood of some sort.

As everyone has said, Chicago seems pretty segregated socioeconomically speaking. I took a bus from the Loop today to the South Side/Hyde Park area (No. 4 Cottage Grove bus). What I saw out the window was high rises dotting the South Loop area until about 18th-20th Streets and then complete, utter urban blight straight down until the U of C on Cottage Grove and 59th Street.

As far as going west? I haven't tried that yet, but I'm still here for another week and a half. Maybe tomorrow.

Chicago's been great so far. I'm excited to make the permanent move here in a couple of months from New York City.
 
Old 03-13-2008, 12:20 AM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 102,705,069 times
Reputation: 29966
"Prove you wrong?" Forget it. Not our job. We're not gonna beg you to live in our city. Come and check it out for yourself with an open mind and prove yourself wrong. Or prove yourself right and never come back. We don't really care either way. We'll be happy to have you if you find that you were wrong, and we won't miss you if you find that you were right.
 
Old 03-13-2008, 12:08 PM
 
1,464 posts, read 5,486,192 times
Reputation: 410
No bad areas around Queens!?? LOL! That is like saying I can walk for miles in Harvey here and be A OKAY! LOL OMG! Are you serious? Queens is a hell hole in most parts.
 
Old 03-13-2008, 02:16 PM
 
11,973 posts, read 31,626,695 times
Reputation: 4641
The Northwest Side of Chicago has a similar feel to the "nice" parts of queens (had to put that in quotes), and it goes on for miles and miles with the lowest crime rates in the city. It feels like Queens in terms of the housing, but is probably safer.
 
Old 03-13-2008, 09:16 PM
 
1,367 posts, read 5,718,547 times
Reputation: 887
The neighborhoods here are very segregated; you can live in one area and practically not know the others exist. There are neighborhoods undergoing revitalization, the problem is that that usually means people that have lived there for a long time are forced out to do skyrocketing rents. What about Logan Square, Andersonville and other neighborhoods that are more upcoming?
 
Old 03-13-2008, 09:34 PM
 
Location: Chicago, Illinois
3,047 posts, read 8,998,778 times
Reputation: 1385
Where did you do your research, original poster? That's all I have to say...
 
Old 03-13-2008, 09:51 PM
 
Location: Chicago
38,707 posts, read 102,705,069 times
Reputation: 29966
Andersonville isn't "upcoming." It has arrived, period. SFH's were already selling in the $700K to $900K range when I lived there nearly a decade ago.
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