Near West Neighborhood Comparison (Chicago, Champaign: apartments, safest area, school)

[PsychStudent22]

Was wondering how you all would compare the neighborhoods (Wicker Park, West Loop, UIC/Taylor, South Loop, Pilsen) in terms of safety, transportation, city life, etc. For living or visiting.

[chitownperson]

Wicker Park is generally considered safer than UIC/Taylor, Pilsen. West Loop is not exactly unsafe, but it's still a little more urban compared to Wicker Park, and has a little spill over from the west. UIC/ Taylor and Pilsen are not as safe, as mugging and beatings at gun point are a regular part of life.

I don't know much about the south loop.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by chitownperson

Wicker Park is generally considered safer than UIC/Taylor, Pilsen. West Loop is not exactly unsafe, but it's still a little more urban compared to Wicker Park, and has a little spill over from the west. UIC/ Taylor and Pilsen are not as safe, as mugging and beatings at gun point are a regular part of life.

I don't know much about the south loop.

I don't think muggings and beatings at gun point are a "regular part of life" in Pilsen or UIC/Taylor Street. Maybe between Roosevelt and 16th west of Racine, and areas west of Western, but not in the UIC area or in the parts of Pilsen near Halsted or along 18th Street. I've known people who have been mugged in Lakeview and Wicker Park and River West, but I've never actually known anyone who got mugged in Pilsen or the Taylor Street areas. I'm sure it happens, but calling it a "regular part of life" is definitely an exaggeration.

I'd say that the South Loop is probably the safest area, although Wicker Park, and the West Loop (west of Racine) are about equally safe overall.

Then UIC/Taylor is a little more varied. The part on and north of Taylor Street and west of the Pink Line tracks/Paulina is comparable to Wicker Park in terms of safety. Further west and south - especially south of Roosevelt - it get dicier. Along Halsted between Roosevelt and 16th, the University Village area is generally safe, too.

Pilsen is a little rougher, but it's still generally safe but you might want to not walk around alone after dark on dark streets. But it's also less expensive (sometimes much less expensive) than all the other areas (the UIC area can have some good deals, too, though).

[chet everett]

Depending on how close to campus your are at UIC the benefit of campus police will help with area's safety. Close to Talyor St you get pretty good foot traffic and overlap of CPD which tends to ward off bad guys in the immediate area. West of Racine the sketchiness factor increases...

Overall, in terms of safety and variety of options I think South Loop is the "star" of the neighborhoods listed, but there too the various sub-sections of the South Loop differ widely in how convenient / safe the surroundings are -- apartments closer to Whole Foods or even Jewel have lots more foot traffic than stuff a few more blocks away...

The recent collapse of prices in Pilsen gives little reasonnto recommend it, though if you need some bargain it might have appeal on that basis.

Hipster / bar scene is Wicker Park's strong suite, if those things are important to you it probably trumps the other negatives of the area...

[motob]

Psychstudent22, I recommend you just take a day or two and tour these areas for yourself to decide. Some of the advice you've gotten here is not informed.

There are no apartments near Whole Foods in the south loop.

There is no change in sketchiness on either side of Racine along Taylor because there is no sketchiness on either side of the street. UIC has two campuses, one goes well west of Ashland. Their police can be seen cruising up and down Taylor and Roosevelt all of the time.

Despite the economy some businesses which cater to the young or student types have opened or expanded in Pilsen. Muggings and beatings are not regular part life in Pilsen.

There are projects between Roosevelt, Loomis, Racine and 16th. Be aware, but they're not the worst place in the city by any means.

All of these areas are fine to visit. Fine to live in too. Except the pj's probably. Boils down to what you want.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by motob

Psychstudent22, I recommend you just take a day or two and tour these areas for yourself to decide. Some of the advice you've gotten here is not informed.

There are no apartments near Whole Foods in the south loop.

There is no change in sketchiness on either side of Racine along Taylor because there is no sketchiness on either side of the street. UIC has two campuses, one goes well west of Ashland. Their police can be seen cruising up and down Taylor and Roosevelt all of the time.

Despite the economy some businesses which cater to the young or student types have opened or expanded in Pilsen. Muggings and beatings are not regular part life in Pilsen.

There are projects between Roosevelt, Loomis, Racine and 16th. Be aware, but they're not the worst place in the city by any means.

All of these areas are fine to visit. Fine to live in too. Except the pj's probably. Boils down to what you want.

I completely agree that Taylor Street east of Ashland is all about equal currently. But south of Roosevelt is MARKEDLY different from north of Roosevelt in that same area except east of either Racine or Morgan. There is very little residential available between Ashland and Ogden north of 16th, so getting an exact western border in that part isn't exactly relevant.

But south of Roosevelt is definitely worse due to the projects. This map accounts for the past 4 years or so.

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[gomexico]

I'd probably consider, myself, living in the West and South Loop. Not the other locations. We don't know you and your preferences, lifestyle, budget, etc., and I don't think we want to know those things bout you. So, my suggestion is that you visit these different neighborhoods at various times of the day to see which fits with your priorities.

[chitownperson]

Originally Posted by emathias

I don't think muggings and beatings at gun point are a "regular part of life" in Pilsen or UIC/Taylor Street. Maybe between Roosevelt and 16th west of Racine, and areas west of Western, but not in the UIC area or in the parts of Pilsen near Halsted or along 18th Street. I've known people who have been mugged in Lakeview and Wicker Park and River West, but I've never actually known anyone who got mugged in Pilsen or the Taylor Street areas. I'm sure it happens, but calling it a "regular part of life" is definitely an exaggeration.

I'd say that the South Loop is probably the safest area, although Wicker Park, and the West Loop (west of Racine) are about equally safe overall.

Then UIC/Taylor is a little more varied. The part on and north of Taylor Street and west of the Pink Line tracks/Paulina is comparable to Wicker Park in terms of safety. Further west and south - especially south of Roosevelt - it get dicier. Along Halsted between Roosevelt and 16th, the University Village area is generally safe, too.

Pilsen is a little rougher, but it's still generally safe but you might want to not walk around alone after dark on dark streets. But it's also less expensive (sometimes much less expensive) than all the other areas (the UIC area can have some good deals, too, though).

When I was living near UIC, and had friends going to school there, and there was typically 1 mugging or beating at Gun point a week. There were announcements on campus every time it happened. That would be my definition of "regular".

[chitownperson]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Hipster / bar scene is Wicker Park's strong suite, if those things are important to you it probably trumps the other negatives of the area...

Pilsen has Also become somewhat of a Hipster strong hold. Wicker Parks Hipsters are more like Yupsters these days.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by chitownperson

When I was living near UIC, and had friends going to school there, and there was typically 1 mugging or beating at Gun point a week. There were announcements on campus every time it happened. That would be my definition of "regular".

Oh come on. There are like 30,000 staff and students at UIC, plus probably 10,000 or so unaffiliated people living in the blocks around it, and who knows how many other visitors every day. It's a BIG university. I'm on the alerts email list for Harvard University, and also hear about alerts for the U of I in Urbana-Champaign, and both of those universities send out notices about muggings (or worse in the case of UIUC) several times a month, maybe weekly on average. And neither of them are considered to be in particularly bad areas.

One mugging a week near a major university that also includes a restaurant districts and attractions related to the remnants of an ethnic neighborhood shouldn't be considered unusual or worrisome. Plus, you didn't say just "regular" you said "regular part of life." You might think that is merely a semantic difference, but it's a huge semantic difference. The U.S. is "regularly" involved in foreign wars, but to say that war is a "regular part of life" for most Americans is not an accurate statement by any measure.