My D was accepted to LUC for the Business program. It is definitely one of her top choices. But, with all the news about the crime issues facing Chicago, I am feeling a growing concern about the safety of my D if she were to attend. In looking at some data I see that the Rogers Park area ranks in the bottom 25% and Edgewater ranks in the bottom 10% of neighborhoods (my estimation from site visited http://crime.chicagotribune.com/chicago/community). Is anyone else, student or parent, feeling the same? Are there any current students who can speak to their feelings about safety around campus? Thank you.
My son will be attending this Fall. From our visit, the campus seemed perfectly safe – it is in a major city so the normal need to be smart is there. I wouldn’t really be overly concerned.
Chicago is a mess right now but for better or for worse, it’s mostly gang-related and localized. LUC is in a safer part of town and they have a sworn police force that apparently commits to a 90 second response time from the many call-boxes. Again, big city, but I would not be too worried if my daughter decides to go there next year.
@IslandDadinWa - I cannot speak from firsthand experience, but my D is a prospective student at LUC as well. I have a friend of a friend who has taught at LUC for over 3 decades and I asked him about this recently. He said it’s been a bad year in Chicago more generally, but the North Chicago area where LUC is located is quite safe and the school is aware of parents’ and students’ concerns and works to allay those. As in any big city, one has to be cautious, but I would be comfortable sending my child there.
Thank you, @suburbancat
Son graduated from LUC in '14. He lived on campus, off campus and at both campuses as well. He regularly rode the red line “el” back and forth between campuses and had no problems ever. I would not have any concerns sending a daughter to LUC and may be sending son #2 there in the fall! Big city, need to be smart, but loads of opportunity and a gorgeous campus with good security. I don’t have any concerns.
My husband and I are Fordham University grads, and our eldest son graduated a few years ago. If you know anything about Fordham, you know it’s in the Bronx.
I wrote a much longer post than what displayed above, so not sure what happened. The edited version did not post correctly, either, nor can I delete it. If I can, I’ll try rewriting it later.
We have some incidents here and there but the safety is pretty good. there are always patrol cars around campus and emergency phone beacons around campus. On campus, the buildings need a card to get in. especially at night. Even the academic buildings get locked up and you need to swipe a card to get in.
In my semester at LUC, I’ve never felt unsafe on campus.
My son has LUC as his #1 and I"m not worried at all. My high school was in Rogers Park and it was sketchy back in the 80s. There are people living steps from the lake in multi-million dollar homes as well as homeless. You have to be aware, travel in groups, and use your smarts. Have some “throw away” money if you get robbed separate from your wallet etc. It’s a large city and things can happen, but with some street savvy and a little luck, you will be fine. The bad killings and shootings you hear about are largely heroin-ring related and on the south side.
As with any city, there are always risks, but really it’s about being aware of your surroundings and not walking by yourself (at night especially). The campus is completely safe. You just don’t walk that far from campus and you’ll be fine. There really isn’t any reason to walk off campus anyway, since most things happen downtown and there is the train for that. Hope that helps!
The area around the LUC campus actually seems safer than it was when I went to grad school there back in the '80s. The area south of campus that was sketchy when I was there has been cleaned up and gentrified. In fact, my old grad student apartment, in a building three blocks south of campus on Kenmore, just sold for almost a million dollars.