Before I arrive (Chicago, Burbank, Bridgeview: crime, neighborhoods, live)

[Cosmin]

Hi! I am from Romania, I am 18 years old and I am going to spend this summer in Chicago. The problem is that the family where I am going to stay doesn't have kids my age and doesn't even has friends who do. So I was thinking to meet someone before I go so that I won't have to spend a lot of time looking for friends. I will live around Durkin Park(you can google it). I'm looking forward to hearing from you, here or by pm.

P.S. If this is not the right place for what I am interested in can you please at least tell me where is?

Thanks a lot!

[knitgirl]

No, you definitely don't want to try to meet people on the internet, too many predators out there. Once you get here you should be able to meet other kids.

[marothisu]

Durkin Park is pretty far away from some of the "young" parts of the city. It is near the suburbs of Burbank, Bridgeview, etc..I don't know a ton about the area though, but I suggest getting into the heart of the city..I'm sure they will show you that. Hopefully there are some people your age not far from you. I would also suggest learning what the good areas are around where you are and the bad areas. There are some good neighborhoods around you there, but there are also some not so good ones if you go too far.

[Cosmin]

And where can I search for this good/bad - "young/old" neighborhoods? I'll probably have a car to get around, but it would be better if I won't have to drive an hour or so to meet my "friends to be".

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Cosmin

And where can I search for this good/bad - "young/old" neighborhoods? I'll probably have a car to get around, but it would be better if I won't have to drive an hour or so to meet my "friends to be".

I am not too familiar with where the young people are on that side of town. We can definitely tell you the neighborhoods to stay away from..for example: Auburn Gresham, Chatham, Greater Grand Crossing, South Chicago, Englewood, West Englewood, East and West Garfield Park, Austin, Humboldt Park (most of it), South SHore, North and South Lawndale, etc...these are areas you are going to probably want to stay away from (and others). Ashburn to the north of you is OK but recently more crime has been happening there.

On average though the "hot" areas of the city happen to be part of downtown, north of downtown, and a little west of downtown (and a little bit SW of it too in a few smaller areas). Unfortunately, as you are 18...the bars here only allow you in if you're 21, but in the summer there's a ton of stuff to do in certain areas of the city where you don't necessarily have to be 21+

In the summer, there are a bunch of music festivals like Lollapalooza (although tickets are sold out...huge festival) and if you're into electronica, there's some huge festivals like Spring Awakening, EDM, North Coast (most of it), and Wavefront.

[bluem3hatch]

good lord, why would anyone willingly come here?

[Alacran]

I can be your friend. :3

[Lucky Clover]

Strangers from the internet aren't the best people to meet.

[Link N. Parker]

Dont try to meet anyone from the internet here.

Instead, best thing to do is to go to meetup dot com, and look for/join some of the groups there that share the same interests as you. That way, you will be going to events with other people who, although they are strangers, share those interests as you. At those events, you will probably meet people who you will click with and maybe even form friendships. There are also "european professional" meetup groups so you can even meet friends who are Romanians, Polish, French etc.

[Chicago South Sider]

Originally Posted by tawfiqmp

Strangers from the internet aren't the best people to meet.

Tell that to the people who do online dating.