Halsted and Evergreen Safety Question (Chicago: apartment, condo, crime)

[gml1187]

Hi I'm looking at an apartment by 700 West Evergreen in Chicago. The condo itself looks very nice and is a good price. I was wondering how safe the area is if I will be walking to the Clybourn/North stop every day. I know Cabrini Green was close to that area but has mostly been demolished. Can any of you give me any advice. Thanks a lot!

[Drover]

That's an interesting area all right. Cabrini Green has been mostly cleaned up but there's still some detritus of the bad ol' days lingering around the immediate area. North of Division is definitely better than south and you're far enough away from the highest concentration of remaining subsidized housing that it should be relatively quiet. But be advised that you'll be in amongst a lot of "mixed-income" housing -- in short, you'd be participating in a social experiment. I wouldn't make a habit of walking around that area late at night.

Here's an article on that development. It's a couple years old but still relevant.

[DADASGIRL]

Every time I read one of these "is it safe" posts in areas that ARE NOT plagued with social ails like unemployment, open air drug markets, slow EMS response, gang strife, drive by shootings, prostitution etc I cant help but to think that the media has succeeded in keeping people paranoid about the "BIG CITY". Granted crime in the city is a fact of life - BUT - a little common sense is all you need to - at the very least - avoid becoming an obvious statistic - NO MATTER WHERE YOU RESIDE.

Your "crime victim awareness" is totally skewed in that you admit to walking to the mass transit stop - as if the crime could only happen during your daily walks. You DO realize that crime COULD happen while on the mass transit too? A drunk driver COULD jump the curb & hit you. A colleague COULD shoot up your workplace. Yeah these are extreme "ifs" that dont happen on a consistent basis but my point is that if you remain street smart then you can bank on avoiding becoming a statistic.

And this is not to say that crime victims were dumb or baiting serial criminals, but if the "chance" that you could be a victim of crime outweighs your reason for being here in the BIG CITY, then maybe you shouldnt be in the city - but anywho - back to my advice:

1) When walking - be aware - no matter what time of day/night. Keep one earbud out of your ear so not to drown out whats going on around you.
2) Keep personal effects discreet - make sure wallets, cell phone, etc are in pockets/purse and not easily "snatch-a-ble".
3) Keep purse/bag taut to the body - avoid a bag that is too oversized for your frame
4) Observe & recognize who resides in your bldg as well as your neighborhood. You dont have to hand out name tags - but know enough about your area to be able to spot obvious differences.

You are also free to take a basic self defense class - not to encourage you to subdue any possible attacker but to give you more confidence in knowing that you could stun somebody so you could get away.