<p>So recently a previous graduate told me that the area around the campus was umm ghetto. He said that some of the cops would harass black students thinking they were from the neighborhood and up to no good. However he was pretty old graduate, actually pretty old since he still thought the SAT was out of 1600. So is this information still true or has the area gotten better?</p>
<p>Depends how far you go from campus. If you stay within the school, it is pretty safe. Technically, UChicago is in the southside, which is not known to be a “high-quality” neighborhood. But Hyde Park is pretty nice and has nice areas. For example, Obama lived in Hyde Park–I believe.
Lol.</p>
<p>It seems that your contact may have a very outdated view of the safety of campus and the surrounding area. There are many proactive steps taken to ensure a safe and comfortable experience for our students in Hyde Park and surrounding areas. Hyde Park is consistently noted among the safest neighborhoods in Chicago. Our campus police force patrols campus and the surrounding area and there are many safety resources, including a Blue Light emergency phone system, busses, and an after-hours shuttle service, that are in place to make sure students feel comfortable traveling in and around the neighborhood.
I live in East Hyde Park (about a 10 minute walk north of the Broadview dorm) and walk to and from my home to work every day, barring rain or snow. I am not the most imposing of persons, but I feel very comfortable in this neighborhood; I have not in 6 years of living here been in a situation in which I have felt unsafe. I actually live across the street from a theological seminary dorm where many nuns live, as a picture of the kinds of people who live in my neighborhood 
Of course there are things about living in a city that you’ll want to take in to account-- being aware of your surroundings and alert, making an effort to take shuttle services or walking in groups, but these are things that make as much sense in my smaller, non-urban hometown as much as in Chicago.
And, yes, the Obama residence is located just on the border of Hyde Park and Kenwood, the neighborhood to our north; he lives at about 51st St. and Greenwood, 6 blocks north of Max Palevsky dormitory (56th and Greenwood).</p>