Hyde Park/U of C - safe?

[TitanRam]

I want some input from other people - A) about Hyde Park and B) did I really cross the line by making this thread?

[Gemini1963]

I am not "some other people," but seriously, DO NOT let strangers on the internet deter you from applying to one of the best law schools in the country. The people who are admitted to and attend the U of C law school, not to mention all the faculty and staff, are not working in some war zone or putting their lives on the line every day. They are just plain old (very smart) people, living regular lives. It's risky driving your car - even if you are being alert, there are tons of people who are either drunk or texting who are not alert - yet you probably accept that risk every day. I am not going to bother trying to imagine or compare statistical probabilities of injury or death driving your car daily versus attending the U of C law school, but I am nearly positive that the latter is much safer.

Good luck.

[TitanRam]

Originally Posted by Gemini1963

I am not "some other people," but seriously, DO NOT let strangers on the internet deter you from applying to one of the best law schools in the country. The people who are admitted to and attend the U of C law school, not to mention all the faculty and staff, are not working in some war zone or putting their lives on the line every day. They are just plain old (very smart) people, living regular lives. It's risky driving your car - even if you are being alert, there are tons of people who are either drunk or texting who are not alert - yet you probably accept that risk every day. I am not going to bother trying to imagine or compare statistical probabilities of injury or death driving your car daily versus attending the U of C law school, but I am nearly positive that the latter is much safer.

Good luck.

I'd probably just live in the graduate student housing and walk anyways. But I am counting my chickens WAY before they hatch, as I haven not even started an application yet; we'll see what I have to play with later this year, but I think I will apply to U of C.

[chicagobear]

Hyde Park is not dangerous. It is a little boring and isolated though.

[mlh27]

I went to school there a million years ago. I felt reasonably safe then, and I believe the crime situation has only improved. It is a little isolated from the rest of Chicago but you're going to be working your butt off for at least the first year, so the silver lining would be fewer distractions from studying. The lakefront on the south side of the city is absolutely beautiful.

[ChiGal7]

I'm pretty sure the Obama's house is located in Hyde Park. We passed it on the way to U of C hospital when the tour bus in front of us slowed to a complete stop in front of it.

Anyway it's a very good school so I'd say go for it if you're interested. I don't know and can't speak for the law school at Northwestern but I'm a graduate student there and growing up close by Evanston where the Northwestern campus is located, it was always my dream to get a degree from there so I'm very biased that it's great.

[llanoestacado]

I am another U. of C. grad from way back who lived and worked in Hyde Park during school and visits every few years since graduating. Hyde Park - Kenwood has definitely improved significantly since I was a student. I am a walker and I would roam all parts of Hyde Park and Kenwood seeing the city life. I loved it. There are tucked away gems all over Hyde Park and Kenwood like houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Madison Park - a group of mostly older apartment buildings with its own private park setting. "Madison Park runs east-west from Woodlawn Avenue to Dorchester ... Park border is one of just a few private residential parkways in Chicago"


At the time, I also knew students who would not venture more than a couple blocks from the U.C. campus because they were paralyzed by fear. They missed out on a lot with their bunker mentality. As a first time weekend-visitor in late summer to Hyde Park looking for housing as a transfer student, the hotel clerk at the front desk, a U.C. graduate student, gave me dire warnings about the street crime in Hyde Park. I vividly remember saying to myself: "What the heck have you gotten yourself into?" as I hunkered down in my little hotel room. Well, to say the least, his warnings were overblown. If you become a U.C. Law student, be street smart and aware of your surroundings (like in any urban area) and you will be fine in Hyde Park.

[Manigault]

Originally Posted by TitanRam

I want some input from other people - A) about Hyde Park and B) did I really cross the line by making this thread?

Hyde Park is safe. Law school happens to be a pretty lonely process so there are other reasons you could feel isolated at the Uof C.

I can tell you personally that Harvard law accepts some students rejected by the Uof C so you have some other, more basic things to consider.

You'll have to understand that as to crime in Chicago some posters consider themselves experts and address each thread. The rise in murders in Chicago is basically gang bangers killing each other. Seeing that the shooters are not that accurate, they also kill bystanders. The Hyde Park area is not one in which many of these shootings happen at all nor is it one habituated by gang bangers.

Consequently, it is a safe urban atmosphere, much like Morningside Heights. At base, graduate students at the campus generally feel safe in the area as they go about their drudgery consistent with the 'spirit of medieval scholasticism'.

Study naked!

By the way, the 'spirit of medieval scholasticism' was a deserved but regrettable description of the law school which first appeared in the eighties. It also made its way to official law school tee shirts.

[Gemini1963]

Originally Posted by Manigault

By the way, the 'spirit of medieval scholasticism' was a deserved but regrettable description of the law school which first appeared in the eighties. It also made its way to official law school tee shirts.

Two other good U of C t-shirt slogans (U of C generally, not the law school specifically) were:

The University of Chicago: Where Fun Goes To Die

and

The University of Chicago: Hell Does Freeze Over

Good luck!