Chicago (Hyde Park) Crime Forum

[bouleversement]

Here is a map I found in an old thread. There doesn't appear to be a more recent one (this is summer 2008 data). Hyde Park looks like a gun-free island.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&i ... 33838&z=10

People say Hyde Park is very safe but according to this website there have been 2 homicides in the last year and 9 violent crimes in the most recent one month period.

http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago ... /hyde-park

I am not concerned about myself but rather my wife. I can't very well expect her to never leave the campus confines.

[rendlelaw]

I'd also be very interested in hearing about this. How safe would a young woman and two toddlers be walking to a train or bus station from Hyde Park and riding out from there?

[Crowing]

Homicides are targeted; don't worry about them. Don't rock out with your Beats in dark alleys at night. Don't take the El down here. It doesn't run through Hyde Park anyway.

I've lived in some other urban areas and Hyde Park is on the safer side of what I've seen. If you've never been outside of suburbia, just learn some basic city conduct and you'll be fine.

[The Brainalist]

http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago ... north-side

Perhaps this is the first time you have looked at crime statistics in a major city. Urban places like Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York have a lot of crime. Relatively speaking, Hyde Park is one of the safer urban places to live. The link above is for the precious North-Side, where you'll probably ultimately want to live, because more young people and young families live there. More murders there than Hyde Park. Look at pretty much anywhere else in Chicago proper and you'll get a similar picture. Lots of violent and property crime. That's the trade off if you want to live in one of these cities and not commute to work/school.

Here is Berkeley, for example:
http://www.crimemapping.com/map.aspx?ai ... 00f597613a

Someone was murdered on Shattuck 4 days ago.

[jbagelboy]

http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago ... north-side

Perhaps this is the first time you have looked at crime statistics in a major city. Urban places like Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York have a lot of crime. Relatively speaking, Hyde Park is one of the safer urban places to live. The link above is for the precious North-Side, where you'll probably ultimately want to live, because more young people and young families live there. More murders there than Hyde Park. Look at pretty much anywhere else in Chicago proper and you'll get a similar picture. Lots of violent and property crime. That's the trade off if you want to live in one of these cities and not commute to work/school.

Here is Berkeley, for example:
http://www.crimemapping.com/map.aspx?ai ... 00f597613a

Someone was murdered on Shattuck 4 days ago.

As general wisdom, sure -- but it is statistically and socio-demographically undeniable that Chicago area violent crime has been rising over the past decade while LA, NYC, SF proper and several other major urban centers have seen drastic improvement, mostly due to aggressive gentrification, better policing, and more public transportation. The trend is in a disturbing direction. Parts of Chicago have been rated on par with shitfests like Damascus and Baghdad for murders per capita and general violent crime risk (although I always find these comparisons somewhat disingenuous since the causes and historical environments are so different as to obviate comparison, but they are still disturbing). East Bay (specifically Oakland) is pretty bad recently though, agree with you there.

That being said, Hyde Park is not the worst part of the Chicago by any stretch. University of Chicago is one of the wealthiest, elite institutions in the region; it's going to be safe enough for students.

[Samuel Patane]

Its Chicago. Like any city you need some street smart. Hyde Park isn't terrible but it isn't Beverly Hills either. I wouldn't walk home from the train by myself after midnight, but I wouldn't feel scared to walk around during the day as long as you don't hit the alleys too much.

[midwest17]

Hyde Park is perfectly* safe during the day. At night, you might want to be cautious about walking around on your own, but the risks are very much mitigated by being smart (i.e. not using your phone, listening to music, etc). Public transportation from Hyde Park to downtown is readily available at all times of day. Within Hyde Park, there are free shuttles run by the university during the evenings. See here for the routes: --LinkRemoved--

Someone who is abnormally risk-averse may want to avoid Hyde Park. But there are tons of female students and tons of families with small children living in the neighborhood, and it's not like they're all oblivious. It's also worth pointing out, I think, that Hyde Park has small parks and playgrounds every few blocks. Nichols Park hosts holiday events (4th of July, Halloween, etc) aimed at kids, with petting zoos, pony rides, etc. It strikes me as a good place to raise a family, though I don't have any experience with that.

* Obviously nowhere is perfectly safe.

[gchatbrah]

UChicago 2L here.

I've never felt unsafe in Hyde Park (which I define as 47th to 60th, Cottage Grove to LSD). Have walked a few blocks from my apartment at 2 or 3 in the morning to get Dunkin Donuts and have felt fine. South of 60th Street should be off-limits, though there's not really any reason to be down there. I'll echo what has been said otherwise -- it's an urban area, so be smart. I don't walk around with my cell phone out; I don't just throw on my headphones and become oblivious to what's around me; and I don't wander down alleyways. Be smart.

[midwest17]

South of 60th Street should be off-limits, though there's not really any reason to be down there.

This is silly. At night or alone, sure. But 60th street isn't the limit of civilization, and thinking that there's no reason to go past it is pretty damn condescending and elitist.

[rendlelaw]

I dunno. If you think it's unsafe when you're alone, that seems like enough to call it off-limits. And it's not like he was saying south of 60th is some slime pit where sub-humans dwell. He was simply contributing some very useful hard limits involving an area that is one of the more dangerous sections of one of America's more dangerous cities.

[bouleversement]

I presume you guys mean south of 61st. The law school is south of 60th.

[gchatbrah]

I presume you guys mean south of 61st. The law school is south of 60th.

+1. This is what I meant.

And yeah, I'm not saying civilization ends there. I'm just saying that safety south of 61st street is very different from safety north of 61st street. There are different properties and structures south of the law school than north of it. I've walked down to the post office a few blocks west of the Law School, at noon, and it just feels very different compared to most of HP.

[bearsfan23]

UChicago student here: Hyde Park/Kenwood is very safe and is the most "policed" neighborhood in Chicago. Is it 100% safe? No, but no neighborhood in Chicago is outside of some of the suburban ones on the NW side. It certainly is every bit as safe as Lakeview or Wicker Park or anywhere like that.

Thing about Chicago: Safety varies greatly "block by block". So yes, 62nd street and further south is an entirely different world than 61st street. West of Cottage Grove is completely different than to the East. Don't believe me - Go walking South of 62nd at night and see how you feel. Stay within the neighborhood boundaries, which the UCPD polices and there really isn't any reason to leave, and you're fine.

Also, keep in mind most murders/violent crime in Chicago are targeted/gang-related, so statistics don't really tell the whole story.

[Crowing]

I should add that the areas in Hyde Park between the university campus and its northeastern region where many students live are predominantly residential and are actually rather quaint. But really there's nothing stopping you from essentially walking out the door, hopping on a bus that is 90%+ UChicago students/faculty/staff, and getting off in the middle of campus. You don't really have to have much interaction with Hyde Park at all if you don't want, though my personal opinion is that it's actually a pretty nice place albeit somewhat short on fun places to go to and good restaurants to frequent.

[20141023]

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[bouleversement]

I walk about 2 miles to / from the law school several times a week and have had 0 issues. Granted, I only walk when other students will walk with me, but groups of 2~3 feel pretty safe (although a group of 4 students was approached and robbed by a group of 4 thieves within the past couple of weeks, but it wasn't someplace that I usually walk); some of my friends make the walk alone and have been fine thus far.

Here are some statistics for the various types of crimes in UChicago-specific Hyde Park region, and here is a thing that shows the historical trends of violent crimes in that area. As you will notice, the crime has generally decreased in the area in recent years. Also, in case you are wondering what districts are what at the bottom of the historic data page, here is a map (Hyde Park is #41).

Well kudos to you guys who are able to go to law school in an environment like that. I will probably still apply but it is going to take some rather extraordinary circumstance to bring me Hyde Park. 3 murders this year in the UCPD patrol area? That's nuts. I don't care if it is targeted.

Does any other T14 have a similar stat to this? UPenn is probably the only contender and I would be surprised if there were any murders in the UPPD patrol area.

ETA: I looked it up. Penn had none in 2012 according to this year's report.

http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v6 ... report.pdf

[LSATSCORES2012]

I walk about 2 miles to / from the law school several times a week and have had 0 issues. Granted, I only walk when other students will walk with me, but groups of 2~3 feel pretty safe (although a group of 4 students was approached and robbed by a group of 4 thieves within the past couple of weeks, but it wasn't someplace that I usually walk); some of my friends make the walk alone and have been fine thus far.

Here are some statistics for the various types of crimes in UChicago-specific Hyde Park region, and here is a thing that shows the historical trends of violent crimes in that area. As you will notice, the crime has generally decreased in the area in recent years. Also, in case you are wondering what districts are what at the bottom of the historic data page, here is a map (Hyde Park is #41).

Well kudos to you guys who are able to go to law school in an environment like that. I will probably still apply but it is going to take some rather extraordinary circumstance to bring me Hyde Park. 3 murders this year in the UCPD patrol area? That's nuts. I don't care if it is targeted.

Does any other T14 have a similar stat to this? UPenn is probably the only contender and I would be surprised if there were any murders in the UPPD patrol area.

ETA: I looked it up. Penn had none in 2012 according to this year's report.

http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v6 ... report.pdf

Keep in mind that the UCPD patrol area is fucking giant. 2.91 square miles. By contrast, UPenn's patrol area is just shy of 1 square mile. Here's a map of the patrol area. The campus extends about as far north as 55th St., and stops, at the southern end, on 61st. The PD is patrolling about four times that area. Betting that most (probably nearly all) of the crime reported is north or south of what is actually the campus area, and in the area that the UCPD patrols just to help support students who don't live on campus.

For what it's worth, I lived in a small town (<10,000 people) for my entire life before college and don't feel much less safe here than I did at home. The only time I'm a bit sketched out is when I go west of washington park to catch the L... but I only do that because I get sick on buses and prefer to take the train. There's also a (much closer/less skethcy) train in the other direction (the Metra - it's actually about a block from regents, where most people live), but this goes to a slightly different place.

[Ti Malice]

According to the UCPD website, their patrol area covers 6.5 square miles -- a lot more than just Hyde Park. Three murders in 10+ months in a 6.5-square-mile area with 65,000 residents hardly seems like something deserving of your level of concern.

[20141023]

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[bouleversement]

Well kudos to you guys who are able to go to law school in an environment like that. I will probably still apply but it is going to take some rather extraordinary circumstance to bring me Hyde Park. 3 murders this year in the UCPD patrol area? That's nuts. I don't care if it is targeted.

Does any other T14 have a similar stat to this? UPenn is probably the only contender and I would be surprised if there were any murders in the UPPD patrol area.

ETA: I looked it up. Penn had none in 2012 according to this year's report.

http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v6 ... report.pdf

Keep in mind that the UCPD patrol area is fucking giant. 2.91 square miles. By contrast, UPenn's patrol area is just shy of 1 square mile. Here's a map of the patrol area. The campus extends about as far north as 55th St., and stops, at the southern end, on 61st. The PD is patrolling about four times that area. Betting that most (probably nearly all) of the crime reported is north or south of what is actually the campus area, and in the area that the UCPD patrols just to help support students who don't live on campus.

Yes, I assumed the campus police force more or less patrols just the campus.

According to the UCPD website, their patrol area covers 6.5 square miles -- a lot more than just Hyde Park. Three murders in 10+ months in a 6.5-square-mile area with 65,000 residents hardly seems like something deserving of your level of concern.

I want to relax on my way to and from school and not constantly be looking over my shoulder.

I don't feel that unsafe during the day, so I tend to walk places. A friend and I were walking the streets around here at about 2:00am the other night and we're both still alive. It is pretty clear where you shouldn't go, and as long as you stay clear of those parts of town, you won't really have any issues

A visit will surely assuage my concern.

Thanks for the input all.

[flippacious]

This is not specific to Hyde Park/Chicago, but I think it's relevant and interesting. Take a look at this study:
http://media.philly.com/documents/Myers ... +safer.pdf

TL;DR version: overall mortality rate (*from injuries) increases as urban density decreases; you are more likely to die in a car accident in the 'burbs than be murdered in a city; faster emergency response times in urban areas give injured people greater odds of surviving.

It's easy to see homicide statistics and worry about the safety of a neighborhood, but statistically, we should also have some type of "oh em gee but I have to get in a car and I might die" reaction to the idea of moving to a rural area. Obviously I'm not saying you should ignore crime statistics when checking out neighborhoods, but this study puts an interesting twist on how we perceive safety and risk.

edited to specify study is just on mortality from injuries, not disease etc.

[cotiger]

.

[midwest17]

Well kudos to you guys who are able to go to law school in an environment like that. I will probably still apply but it is going to take some rather extraordinary circumstance to bring me Hyde Park. 3 murders this year in the UCPD patrol area? That's nuts. I don't care if it is targeted.

Does any other T14 have a similar stat to this? UPenn is probably the only contender and I would be surprised if there were any murders in the UPPD patrol area.

ETA: I looked it up. Penn had none in 2012 according to this year's report.

http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v6 ... report.pdf

Keep in mind that the UCPD patrol area is fucking giant. 2.91 square miles. By contrast, UPenn's patrol area is just shy of 1 square mile. Here's a map of the patrol area. The campus extends about as far north as 55th St., and stops, at the southern end, on 61st. The PD is patrolling about four times that area. Betting that most (probably nearly all) of the crime reported is north or south of what is actually the campus area, and in the area that the UCPD patrols just to help support students who don't live on campus.

Yes, I assumed the campus police force more or less patrols just the campus.

According to the UCPD website, their patrol area covers 6.5 square miles -- a lot more than just Hyde Park. Three murders in 10+ months in a 6.5-square-mile area with 65,000 residents hardly seems like something deserving of your level of concern.

I want to relax on my way to and from school and not constantly be looking over my shoulder.

I don't feel that unsafe during the day, so I tend to walk places. A friend and I were walking the streets around here at about 2:00am the other night and we're both still alive. It is pretty clear where you shouldn't go, and as long as you stay clear of those parts of town, you won't really have any issues

A visit will surely assuage my concern.

Thanks for the input all.

One thing to bear in mind is that UCPD isn't really a campus police force in the traditional sense. They're basically another full police force that happens to patrol an area that's centered on the UC campus.

[Ti Malice]

According to the UCPD website, their patrol area covers 6.5 square miles -- a lot more than just Hyde Park. Three murders in 10+ months in a 6.5-square-mile area with 65,000 residents hardly seems like something deserving of your level of concern.

I want to relax on my way to and from school and not constantly be looking over my shoulder.

Of course. What I'm getting at is that this is a pretty low murder rate. If there were three murders on campus alone, then that would be much more troubling. As you can see from the map in the link above, UCPD's patrol area extends well beyond just Hyde Park.

[bouleversement]

According to the UCPD website, their patrol area covers 6.5 square miles -- a lot more than just Hyde Park. Three murders in 10+ months in a 6.5-square-mile area with 65,000 residents hardly seems like something deserving of your level of concern.

I want to relax on my way to and from school and not constantly be looking over my shoulder.

Of course. What I'm getting at is that this is a pretty low murder rate. If there were three murders on campus alone, then that would be much more troubling. As you can see from the map in the link above, UCPD's patrol area extends well beyond just Hyde Park.

Agreed, but I didn't know that at the time.

Keep in mind that the UCPD patrol area is fucking giant. 2.91 square miles. By contrast, UPenn's patrol area is just shy of 1 square mile. Here's a map of the patrol area. The campus extends about as far north as 55th St., and stops, at the southern end, on 61st. The PD is patrolling about four&nbsp;times that area. Betting that most (probably nearly all) of the crime reported is north or south of what is actually the campus area, and in the area that the UCPD patrols just to help support students who don't live on campus.

Yes, I assumed the campus police force more or less patrols just the campus.