Division and Harding Area

[emathias]

Originally Posted by peanutbutterlegs

My roommate and I (both twenty-something Caucasian girls) are moving down to Chicago this summer from Milwaukee , her to find a job and me to go to grad school. After an exhaustive apartment search, we finally got a place on the corner of Division and Harding.

But she's starting to worry about the area we'll be in. The apartment building itself looks safe - it's got a gated courtyard and self-locking doors and whatnot, but she's lived in the suburbs forever and is panicking just a little.

So is Division and Harding a pretty good neighborhood? Is there any places we should know to be aware of or avoid?

Thanks for any advice you can give us!

For the life of me I can't imagine why two people would choose that area. What was the attraction? I think the people accusing this of being a fake post are probably right.

1) It's not near any highways
2) It's not near any CTA rail lines
3) It's not near any Metra lines
4) As near as I can tell, it's not near any universities offering grad programs
5) It's not near any jobs centers nor an easy commute to any

It is on the edge of the north sections of the same "K" streets that make up the notorious "K-town" on the southwest side. It's not actually as bad as the open-air drug markets of the "K-town" in the North Lawndale neighborhood, but it's still a troubled, drug-ridden area with few things that most people want access to.

[Aleking]

I imagine (hope) the OP chose this location because of extreme financial constraints so we should probably pull back on the what were you thinking talk...that said, you can find affordable housing is much more desirable neighborhoods. And as much as everyone talks about crime (which is an issue but certainly mitigated by street smarts and not being involved in drugs) the extreme L distance is an even bigger issue for me....it's just not convenient to anywhere.

[eevee]

Originally Posted by Aleking

I imagine (hope) the OP chose this location because of extreme financial constraints so we should probably pull back on the what were you thinking talk...that said, you can find affordable housing is much more desirable neighborhoods. And as much as everyone talks about crime (which is an issue but certainly mitigated by street smarts and not being involved in drugs) the extreme L distance is an even bigger issue for me....it's just not convenient to anywhere.

You know, it's strange, but I've been seeing ads for this area and further west of the park where the rent isn't that cheap. I saw an ad for a 2 bedroom apartment right at that intersection for $1000/month. That's not particularly cheap considering that I've seen ads for 2 bedroom apartments for about $900 in Lincoln Sq., Andersonville, and the nicer areas of Logan Sq. I rent a 2 bedroom apartment in Uptown (a huge one, BTW) for that amount and even with its issues, Uptown is a better spot than Division and Harding. Granted, I don't know what sort of finishes are included in each location, but no amount of granite, stainless steel, or fancy lights could get me to choose that location. There seems to be a lot of clueless landlords out there (and even more clueless and downright deceptive realtors) who have done far too many upgrades and think they can up the rent to reflect that.

[sarahdeanne]

(If the post is real which the OP's name also has me questioning)

This is what sucks about picking an apt at a distance. It can be done, (use street view, walkscore, crime maps, and forums) but if you just listen to the listing agent go on about whatever he can pull out as a positive and sign a lease you will be in for a big surprise. I was looking at houses in that area yesterday and I would not recommend it to this OP. There is nothing to walk to, and if there was you wouldn't really want to be out walking around very late. If possible go N to logan square or E to UK village you should be able to find something affordable (renting) there.