Top 5 Worst Neighborhoods in Chicago (Cicero, Oak Park: roughest, homes, living in)

[Humboldt1]

Why did Lawndale or Austin not make your list?

I think Pilsen is much better of an area. Little Village has alot of crime but also has restaurants and businesses, unlike some of the other areas.

[josurp39]

Before all, please forgive mi English mistakes ´cause I write from Barcelona, Europe and I don´t speak English as well as I wished. You are talking about the worst and most unsafety areas of Chicago. But which are the most richest and safetiest ones ?.

[87vertgt]

boystown if you ask me..... hee hee

[Avengerfire]

For reasons such as the story below I vote Austin #1.

3 dead, 2 injured in Austin area shootings
3 dead, 2 injured in Austin area shootings -- chicagotribune.com (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/blotter/chi-south-austin-violence-web-jul25,0,2195313.story - broken link)

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

For reasons such as the story below I voted Austin #1.

3 dead, 2 injured in Austin area shootings
3 dead, 2 injured in Austin area shootings -- chicagotribune.com (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/blotter/chi-south-austin-violence-web-jul25,0,2195313.story - broken link)

Unbelievable.

[Humboldt1]

Very believable. Welcome to Austin. I have a branch manager who I work with on occasion who lives in the 800 block of Laramie. He claims it is a stable area but reports like this make me question that.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

Very believable. Welcome to Austin. I have a branch manager who I work with on occasion who lives in the 800 block of Laramie. He claims it is a stable area but reports like this make me question that.

That's pretty crazy, that many shootings/deaths within an hour. How does Oak Park keep all that stuff from NOT sneaking in? I have never really "been" to Austin, aside from one time I went to a dudes house to pick up a musical instrument around Austin & Chicago. All I can say is walking from my car to this guy's house was interesting. I haven't got that many stares in a while.

[Humboldt1]

Oak Park keeps much of the riff raff from austin out thru vigilent patrols of oak park and chicago police. Also, the first few blocks of apartments on both sides of austin ave serve as a buffer between the two neighborhoods.

I am sure there is a lot of racial profiling that goes on but seriously if you are driving around in an escalade playing rap music with spinners of your wheels you are a target for getting pulled over.

Austin and Chicago isn't nearly as bad as say chicago and central as you are almost in oak park at austin avenue.

I drive division street from oak park to humboldt park and see it deteriorate block by block to say cicero and then start to get better (not much) as I approach pulaski. It doesn't really start to get much better until you get east of central park (north of grand). East of the park (humboildt) it defintely improves.

[noid_1985]

To be honest I think Oak Park doesn't racial profile people as much as other burbs' such as Brookfield and LaGrange. Blacks in Oak Park are very common especially around the stores on Lake st(Aldi, Dominick's, Blockbuster,etc.). I've driven my 82' oldsmobile through the heart of Oak Park countless of times and I have NOT been harassed (as of yet). So unless you are blantantly disrepectful to the neighborhood in Oak Park "blacks" being targets for racial profiling should be ok.

[oakparkdude]

Austin is the location of some major drug markets due to its easy access (to suburbanites) along the Eisenhower expresswanay. A lot of people drive into Austin to buy drugs, and then drive a few blocks to Oak Park or Forest Park (where its safer to stop), park, and "enjoy" their purchases. As the Tribune article notes, Austin, for a high crime neighborhood, actually has a lower murder rate than many other comparable neighborhoods.