Can a shy non-violent non-Hispanic white male survive in Chicago metro? (Naperville: condo, safe neighborhood)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Pursooant

My vision of Chicago is a racially segregated, crime-filled, accidentally glance at a stranger and get shot kind of place.

Where are you from? We need to know where people live that have these crazy views about Chicago.

To answer your original question, nice suburbs near Hines include Brookfield, Riverside, La Grange, La Grange Park, Oak Park, and River Forest. Brookfield offers the best combination of safety and affordability, in my opinion. But you are in the "near west suburbs", so there are actually some rougher towns around there. Avoid Maywood and Bellwood like the plague. Forest Park does have the nice strip of restaurants and such mentioned by the other posters, but does have some rough spots. I wouldn't recommend it for someone with your attitude. La Grange and La Grange Park are expensive. Westchester is alright, but feeds into a bad High School--so some think it will get worse. You might also look into Countryside and Indianhead Park.

[LakeShoreSoxGo]

Might I suggest Barrington for the gentleman?

[ajolotl]

The name and posts are computer-generated. It's a CalTech project to test their latest artificial intelligence technology in a "real world" application.

My best guess anyhow ...

Originally Posted by Drover

Yet another highly informative post from Captain Cryptic...

[Mikaris01]

I know people can get crazy views from the stereotypes which I don't know if you locals know are out there.

I heard it was a nice city from people before I moved here and thought so too for my first 2 years living in wicker park. Once I moved to englewood that view changed a bit but I know that it's just this neighborhood that I'm having issues with. In general I like chicago and what it has to offer. I'm just not in the position to live in one of the good areas but there is a lot of opportunity here and lots to do. I plan on being here for a while, you couldn't really ask for anything more except for shorter winters maybe (and lower sales tax).

My friends that first told me about it described it as a smaller, cleaner, friendlier new york which I think is a pretty accurate statement. But that's from people that had actually been here before. When I told my other friends who had never been here, first thing they asked me was if it was like "Good Times". That's what comes to some peoples minds when you say chicago.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Mikaris01

I know people can get crazy views from the stereotypes which I don't know if you locals know are out there.

I heard it was a nice city from people before I moved here and thought so too for my first 2 years living in wicker park. Once I moved to englewood that view changed a bit but I know that it's just this neighborhood that I'm having issues with. In general I like chicago and what it has to offer. I'm just not in the position to live in one of the good areas but there is a lot of opportunity here and lots to do. I plan on being here for a while, you couldn't really ask for anything more except for shorter winters maybe (and lower sales tax).

My friends that first told me about it described it as a smaller, cleaner, friendlier new york which I think is a pretty accurate statement. But that's from people that had actually been here before. When I told my other friends who had never been here, first thing they asked me was if it was like "Good Times". That's what comes to some peoples minds when you say chicago.

How does one end up moving from Wicker Park to Englewood? It seems so unlikely. There are just so many steps between these two extremes!

[Paxtonian]

Englewood is a place to move FROM, not TO!

[Mikaris01]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

How does one end up moving from Wicker Park to Englewood? It seems so unlikely. There are just so many steps between these two extremes!

It's from having others to take care of. And it's definitely the place to move from, not to unless you have no other choices.

I moved to chicago for business opportunities and took the word of an old coworker that wicker park is where I'd like to be. And he was right, nice place, good mix of people, etc... and I was single and by myself trying to get my freelance business going in the new area.

Then I met a nice lady born and raised in the southside, we started dating and got engaged. So I moved down to be with her and to be a positive male force for her kids living in that environment. She was working 3rd shift to make enough money to take care of her family but because of that, the streets were starting to get a hold on her kids. We're married now, and with our current work situations, any place big enough for our family is way too expensive. I put my business on hold to move in with them because the kids needed that positive father figure asap. But freelancing from home is kind of hard with a house full of kids so it's been a very slow progress making enough money to get ourselves out of here. We don't make enough money to live in a place big enough for 8 people in a nice neighborhood. If I stayed single, I'd still be in wicker park, it's easy just taking care of myself but the finances change a lot when you have to take care of 7 other people.

Plus, my wife's friend owns the building we're in so he's cool if we're late on rent, and he hasn't raised it for the 3-4 years we've been there, doesn't complain about the kid noise, etc..things we definitely wouldn't get anywhere else. And the heat is included. So yeah, it's a tradeoff but it's a bit like quicksand. We absolutely can't afford anything more expensive than what we're paying now.

But that's kind of what I was talking about before. We're only down here because there are no other options with our situation. And I'd assume that's why a lot of people live here. If you didn't have to, why would you be here? People who's whole paycheck goes to paying bills and don't get to have any savings, maybe $50/month can't just get up and move someplace better. So I'm just sticking through it until I can get more consistent work, until then, this is where we have to be.

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by Mikaris01

It's from having others to take care of. And it's definitely the place to move from, not to unless you have no other choices.

I moved to chicago for business opportunities and took the word of an old coworker that wicker park is where I'd like to be. And he was right, nice place, good mix of people, etc... and I was single and by myself trying to get my freelance business going in the new area.

Then I met a nice lady born and raised in the southside, we started dating and got engaged. So I moved down to be with her and to be a positive male force for her kids living in that environment. She was working 3rd shift to make enough money to take care of her family but because of that, the streets were starting to get a hold on her kids. We're married now, and with our current work situations, any place big enough for our family is way too expensive. I put my business on hold to move in with them because the kids needed that positive father figure asap. But freelancing from home is kind of hard with a house full of kids so it's been a very slow progress making enough money to get ourselves out of here. We don't make enough money to live in a place big enough for 8 people in a nice neighborhood. If I stayed single, I'd still be in wicker park, it's easy just taking care of myself but the finances change a lot when you have to take care of 7 other people.

Plus, my wife's friend owns the building we're in so he's cool if we're late on rent, and he hasn't raised it for the 3-4 years we've been there, doesn't complain about the kid noise, etc..things we definitely wouldn't get anywhere else. And the heat is included. So yeah, it's a tradeoff but it's a bit like quicksand. We absolutely can't afford anything more expensive than what we're paying now.

But that's kind of what I was talking about before. We're only down here because there are no other options with our situation. And I'd assume that's why a lot of people live here. If you didn't have to, why would you be here? People who's whole paycheck goes to paying bills and don't get to have any savings, maybe $50/month can't just get up and move someplace better. So I'm just sticking through it until I can get more consistent work, until then, this is where we have to be.

Not really, you can always move to a better southside neighborhood, because Englewood is ground 0. I know people that move from trendy Northside neighborhoods to run down city hoods or suburbs.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by chicago_60611

I wasn't going to respond but...This most be some kind of joke--are you serious? Your question has gotta be the dumbest ever, if you truly feel this way, I'd suggest you never go outside! Inasmuch as Chicago has problems, so does the rest of the world. You gotta face facts--this is the world we live in today, full of crime, racism, poverty and other. Either deal with it or jump off a cliff now, to be honest there is no super safe neighborhood in the world let alone Chicago. Everyday, every street corner, poses a possible problem. Why don't you try just living, and learn to relax. But if you really want to know where the crime is, do a google search for:

chicago everyblock crime.

You will then get a link for the new crime report website. Good luck in trying to be safe.

Naperville and then commute west. I'll waive my 30% of income on housing rule for this guy. I don't know, in my experience, whenever a person is really afraid of urban situations, trouble has a way of finding them -- kind of like the ball in baseball always seems to find the weakest fielder. I knew a guy like this and he ended up being kicked and pistol whipped to within an inch of his life by a bunch of thugs who met a demographic description that most of us would probably classify as urban. In DeKalb no less. I think he lives in Montana now.

If you walk around with a scared look on your face in an urban area, be it on the train or wherever, you're going to have a problem -- probably a big problem. It's just the way of things.

[Gerardo Returns]

Originally Posted by Pursooant

I'm heterosexual (actually closer to asexual, I’m not interested in romantic or sexual relationships at this point in my life, maybe never. I think I would make a much more successful hermit than most other people).



I want to live as close to Hines, not Chicago, as possible but in as safe and as affordable of a neighborhood as possible.

I'm a hermit as well. I'm also on the NW side of Chicago. Stay away from the south. If you can move even to the nearby suburbs, that would be fine as well. It's so quiet and safe there.