I live in the suburbs of Chicago and work in the Loop. It still amazes me how many people live in the city and don’t even consider the suburbs as a living option. When I first moved out on my own I moved to a not so good neighborhood. (I’m not sure how familiar you are with the suburbs, but it was in North Hammond by the casino in Whiting, IN.) I was living there by myself until I came home one night and my neighbor was waiting outside for me to get home to tell me that he had just helped the cops chase down someone who was continuously robbing people in our area. I guess the guy had a gun and shot back at them. Well that was it, I moved out and never stayed there a night after that. A few years later I checked out some apartments in Indiana and found a great deal. It was a long commute to work, but very worth it. I paid only $605 a month for an apartment bigger than most people I work with who pay over $1,000 a month. The complex has three pools, a workout room, tennis courts, a lake they stock to fish in, basketball courts, it was great. The only reason I moved out is because I am going away to school in the fall so I couldn’t renew my lease. This place was in a very good area too, I always felt safe and I loved it there. If possible consider checking out some of the suburbs, you get used to the commute.
A few suggestions:[ul]
[li]Drive through the neighborhood a couple of times at night to see what’s going on.[/li][li]Go to the local police station and ask an officer about the safety of the neighborhood.[/li][li]You will definitely want to have good insurance if you move there. Talk to an insurance agent now and find out how much it’s going to cost you. That will be an indication of the crime rate. Without insurance, one good robbery could wipe out all the savings you make by moving there.[/li][/ul]
Thank you lainaf,
I have been to the hood multiple times to look at the rehab. Once I was afraid (group of folk near my soon to be front door). I have not checked it out at night after 9PM, but will.
Talking with the cops is on my list. Although I am skeptical, because I have talked to cops in other areas earlier and the said I was nuts.
I am not so concerned about being burglarized (got bars, may get dogs), but as being harassed because I am a of a different race. I want to believe that people are good in general, but do not want to be naive.
Yeah, maybe I shoud get some of that insurance
OK, I will get big dogs!
Really how much crime is a acceptibale?
acceptibaleis is evil, he is not
acceptable.
How close are you to the university? That would also say something about how acceptable deversity is in the neighbourhood. I’m unfamiliar with the South side at best.
tiggeril lives down in that area, I believe. She might know something.
I’m always amazed at how het up people can get whenever there’s talk of moving into a less-than-Lincoln neighbourhood. I lived in Chicago for years (up until last year) and was never once hurt or mugged. Had a guy try to masturbate on me during an El ride once, but that’s another story.
Of course, I’m coming back to visit next month, and I just jinxed myself. The body found in the dumpster will be me. :eek:
Now, to answer your question (:smack: ), my last year in Chicago my husband and I lived on the NW side. The neighbourhood was almost entirely Hispanic and Asian, and we were definitely the minority. The crime rate was high, although it consisted mostly of theft and property damage, along with the empty smack baggies we found everywhere. We had a car stolen (with the club inside! We’re so SMRT!), but again, no threats or harm to our person. We paid…I think it was $435/mo for our two bedroom w/ roommate. Right around there anyway.
Served us right for parking a 735i on the street anyway. Dur.
In response to the question “Does anyone else have an experience of moving to a culturally different neighborhood?” …
I’m white and several times have lived in areas that were predominantly black or Hispanic. My race was never a problem, and I had many wonderful neighbors. My apartments were burglarized several times when I wasn’t home, but I was also burglarized when I lived in a white neighborhood close to a university.
If you see evidence of drug dealing or prostitution, do not move there. These are signs of a dangerous neighborhood.
At least in the neighborhoods I lived in, Afro-Americans tend to hang out outside more than most white folk. It’s not unusual for a fairly large group to be standing around outside in the evening, talking and having a good time. While it may be annoying if a bunch of noisy teenage boys is hanging around outside your door at 10 p.m. on a Saturday night, it 's rarely a sign of trouble. It’s just a cultural thing.
I think many people–not just whites, either–wrongly assume that minority neighborhoods are always “hoods” and that they have to be cautious around them. I’ve heard people describe South Orange, NJ as the “hood” just because there are a lot of black folks that live there. But South Orange is solidly middle class and quite safe.
I grew up in a neighborhood with a bad reputation. Our house was broken into several times and there was a 1-mile long stretch known for male transvestite prostitute traffic nearby, but I was never assaulted or mugged growing up, and neither were my siblings or parents. Maybe if more “outsiders” visited the place, they’d see it wasn’t that bad.
Yes, you are correct. Your idea IS stupid. I spend two times normal rent in order to live in an exclusively caucasian neighborhood. What are the benefits?
-
I haven’t had a car break in or any other untoward incident occur since moving here.
-
I live with people that are culturally like me, so I am socially comfortable.
You must know that there exists extreme prejudice against “white” people on the part of Blacks. Perhaps more so than vice versa! They hate caucasians, for the most part.
Also, instead of lowering your living standard to achieve a better economic situation, why don’t you consider elevating yourself so you can live better. There are many ways to do this, only many folks simply do not wish to apply themselves in the direction of furthering their education.
If you move to that neighborhood, better get used to watching over your shoulder a lot!
Bingo. FWIW, when I bought my house–for a song–it was smack-dab in the middle of the "worst’ neighborhood around. Let’s put it this way, every single friend said I was crazy, and most nervously declined to come to the housewarming party on the basis they’d probaby get raped, mugged or their car stolen.
In all honesty, there were some problems but they didn’t even approximately measure up to the reputation. The perception was much worse than the reality, and most of that was because it was racially mixed. That stupid perception far outweighed the real signs of improvement.
Okay, there were a few drug dealers at first. The vast majority of neighbors were honest as the day is long and fine people. If I smiled and said, “Hi”, so did they. Most, even the scariest looking, would casually chat a bit once they got to know me. Even then I sat out alone on my porch in the dark on hot nights, walked around (pre-dog) and never had the slightest problem. The worst that happened was a few minor things stolen out of the yard.
(Now the neighborhood is the local crown jewel of historic preservation, complete with home tours and soaring property values. We’ve been infested with tight-sphintered yuppies and I sorely miss the old days.)
The perception might be much worse than the reality, Bat. Your work schedule does give me pause, though. The very late night shifts might present additional risks for anybody. Offhand, though, I think it’s an encouraging sign that somebody sank money into a rehab. That isn’t done lightly.
Veb
It’s been too long since I lived in Chicago to speak directly to the neighborhood you’re looking into, bat312.
However, Tower Dweller’s link made me curious, and I’ve discovered that my new home of Bawlmer has a similar service. I live in a neighborhood that, while not necessarily rough, is just within my comfort level; fortunately, with the exception of some minor damage to my car, I haven’t had any problems. Anyway, long story short, according to the search engine there have been 35 crimes in a half-mile radius of my apartment in the past 14 days:
Aggravated Assault - 5
Residential Burglary - 4
Larceny from Auto - 19
Stolen Auto - 5
Robbery Hwy - 2
Even at double that (since your query was for a one-mile radius), that’s still only 70 crimes to your 131. IMHO, that’s too much.
Best of luck to you,
moi
I lived in a run down (since gentrified) neighborhood in Detroit for a year. I never had a problem despite my “minority” (white) appearance. Despite the odd views of Zeffir (whom I hope was being sarcastic rather than ignorant), I found that the people in the neighborhood were just people and that I was not subjected to any intimidation or threats. (On one single occasion I had a guy call out from his porch that he thought my wallet pocket looked pretty thick. I ignored him and he never moved out of his chair.)
ICAM shows 72 crimes within a mile of my home (Ravenswood area) during that 2 week period. Checking the stats one mile east (the heart of Uptown) shows 104 crimes, similar to your area. I walk through there on my way home from work. I am a small, white woman and have never had so much as a rude word in all the years I’ve done so. The basement of my building was broken into once during the 20 years I’ve lived here, but not by anyone I recognized from the neighborhood. Yes, I walked right in on a burglery in progress. :eek:
Check the stats for ¼ and ½ mile radius. Sometimes 2 blocks can make all the difference as far as safety goes. I think you can also somewhat discount the domestic crimes, unless you plan on living with one of the perpetrators.
I don’t even know what to say. I am literally sitting here with my jaw hanging open. Do you honestly believe this? Seriously. I’m not trying to be funny or rhetorical. Do you really think that, all other things being equal, black neighbors are dangerous, and white neighbors aren’t? Have you ever met a black person? Pardon my incredulity (or don’t) here; part of me says this must be satire, but then I have a feeling it isn’t. You pay double the rent just to avoid blacks?
Regarding the comment about NOT flaunting a big-screen TV in an “iffy” neighborhood, my sister found just the opposite to be true.
She lost several 19" K-mart $109 specials to daylight break-ins at her “iffy” place, but when she did as neighbors suggested and bought a big console that took 3 strong men to carry up those 3 flights of stairs, she stopped losing TVs.
Get one with the VCR and DVD built-in and stop worrying about losing those as well.
Contrary to the right-wing anti-welfare idiots’ take on things, the reason that “welfare cases” have huge TVs is not that they lack good financial judgement but that, in this case at least, their financial judgement is correct for their living sitation.
I venture into “bad” neighborhoods every other week in the performance of my part-time delivery job and have never felt threatened. Maybe the residents treat delivery people whom they know carry no cash differently or maybe some of these neighborhoods aren’t nearly as bad as the news media alarmists say they are.
I think the OP should try out the “iffy” neighborhood. If it pans out, the money saved would be considerable; if it doesn’t, remember that landlords greatly exaggerate the effect that a broken lease has on one’s credit score.
Actually, if the radius is doubled, the area of the resulting circle is quadruple that of the original, so your neighborhood (assuming, probably incorrectly, a geographically consistent crime rate throughout your city) is actually slightly more dangerous than the one bat312 is considering.
Oooooo…I get very nervous when I hear people say they have burglar bars. They are the cause of many deaths by fire, and make it tough for help to reach you should you need it. You should be very, very careful if you have them. Just concerned, that’s all.
Until last year, I lived for 7 years at the very northern edge of Uptown. (Realtors are calling it Andersonville these days, but to me Andersonville’s southern border is Foster Ave.)
When I moved in, it was quite a bit rougher than it is now. I parked my car in an illegal spot before I moved in to drop off some curtains, and in the intervening 45 seconds the cops had written me a ticket. (I was pissed; they told me I should have left my flashers on, because it was a “drug neighborhood.” So if I’m a drug dealer, but my flashers are on, it’s OK?)
In those 7 years, nobody ever bothered me or my belongings, or those of anyone else I knew in the neighborhood. It may have been relatively low-rent, but that was because it was largely populated by recent immigrants who hadn’t really established themselves yet. (For most of that time, I was the only native English speaker in my building.) Being female and 5’1", I wouldn’t have walked home alone from the El late at night, but up to maybe 10 pm or so was OK.
I don’t know the neighborhood you’re talking about, but from the experience of friends who went to the U. of C., people in Hyde Park (especially U. of C. admin) were always really paranoid about some of the surrounding neighborhoods. I found that even dealing with some really, really icky neighborhoods (Alphabet City in NY in the late 80s), knowing your neighbors and treating them like human beings will get you a lot of mileage. My sister, who lives in East Rogers Park, believes the same, and nobody has ever bothered her there. But I’d definitely get renter’s insurance anyway. In my neighborhood it’s only a couple hundred bucks a year.
Thanks for this thread!
I’ve been very tempred to consider a house in neighborhoods in Cleveland Heights or Shaker Heights where blacks outnumber whites. You get a lot more house for the money, and the municipalities definitely aren’t slums or on the decline. I think Cleveland Heights offers subsidized mortgages and down payments for those moving into neighborhoods where their race is underrepresented, to maintain some sense of stability throughout the city.