Will Uptown Ever Be Nice? (Chicago, Sheridan: real estate market, apartments, condos)

[Rick_Vaughn]

Just wanted to get people's thoughts on how nice they see Uptown getting in the next few years (I'm talking areas like Sheridan Park, rather than spots that are already nicer like Buena or Margate Park). It seems like it should happen, considering it borders Lakeview and Andersonville and it's close to the lake and the red line.

I knew a pretty prominent developer who said he had always expected nice areas to continue past Lakeview and go up along the lake but it just didn't happen. I know that Uptown's got a bad reputation with supposedly high numbers of homeless people and drug addicts in the neighborhood, but I'm curious to hear what people think the future has in store. I've heard there's been a big push trying to get young professionals and new condos in the area, but is it working?

Lastly I'm considering a place near Lawrence and Beacon--anyone have any info on the area around there?

[MannheimMadman]

As for those few streets in Sheridan Park .. I recently wrote that I looked at a few apartments over there on Beacon and Dover. I very well could have ended up there had my current place not just fell onto my lap. There are some well maintained properties that way, but Malden and Magnolia closer to Wilson just give me the creeps. Maybe I'm a puss, though.

As for being on the up and up, there has been tons of discussion among people on the message board and elsewhere that it would take a new alderman (which uptown does now have) and a few other factors to change it.

However, you've got to displace all the wackos and drug addicts that make Wilson/Lawrence and Broadway their home base. All the SRO and other clinics really have to be gone in order to get full on gentrification to come.

And even then, the economy is still in shambles to the degree that most rehabbing and other repopulating qualities might be a huge challenge. Even if you cleaned up Uptown, would the critical masses up people who might spillover from Andersonville or Lake View to the south actually come?

As of right now, the four little areas of Uptown away from crazy town are really nice. Sheridan Park, Buena Park, Margate Park and that no man's land that Andersonville claims - they're all good for living in.

[Halsted]

Uptown is by no means bad compared to many other neighborhoods in this city.

[It'sAutomatic]

Originally Posted by Halsted

Uptown is by no means bad compared to many other neighborhoods in this city.

I agree. It's not a ghetto in the way that most people define. The odds of being a victim of a serious crime are low compared to other parts of the city. It's just a troubled neighborhood (in a different way) that time has seemingly forgotten, with issues that have been cured from certain other areas in Chicago.

[MannheimMadman]

Who called it a ghetto?

It's only really crappy in its core area, aside from that it's not bad. Only when you compare it to places like Lake View and Andersonville does it seem crappy in some parts.

[Dressy]

It is real crappy still. Unless you do not mind that when every time you go out for a run on a nice day you wind up being yelled at and harassed. Nothing major, just not all gums and bubles. Lots of really harsh things, which hopefully are just the matter of aesthetics.
When I ride a bike on wilson and pass broadway and sheridan I try not to have to stop at a light, I try only look straight, I try not to meet anybodyies eyes. works well, but does feel like it could be a misery to live there.

[Attrill]

I'm in that area pretty frequently and it is best described (as others have) as crappy, sketchy, transitional, etc. It's worlds removed from the worst parts of Chicago, but I'm sure it can be a pain in the ass to deal with if you live there.

I don't see it getting worse any time soon, but I also don't see it improving unless the economy (and thereby the real estate market) improve. It's priced accordingly, and if you can handle the hassles of living there you should go for it and save some money. If not - don't rely on it improving anytime soon. It is what it is, and will be that way for the foreseeable future.

[Vlajos]

It's gotten better and will continue to.

[RingWalk]

It really does house a hugely disproportionate amount of halfway houses/clinics/outpatient treatment centers for the mentally ill and things like that. The Sun Times did a story on it a few years ago, about why the city decided to put whatever it was, 10 of these things or something, all within 8 blocks of each other.

I imagine moving those out would be a good start.

Beyond that I think it is totally ripe to pop, it's a better looking neighborhood than many others that have turned with better architecture, close to the lake and downtown, awesome old houses, good cta access and ripe to become a big(ger) entertainment center (again).

I think in its current state it is pretty nasty. Maybe not "I'm going to get murdered" nasty but definitely "I hope I don't step on a hypodermic needle" nasty.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by RingWalk

I think in its current state it is pretty nasty. Maybe not "I'm going to get murdered" nasty but definitely "I hope I don't step on a hypodermic needle" nasty.

That probably sums it up perfectly.