<p>How safe is the campus and Chicago in general?
thnx</p>
<p>Here's my answer on the "Chicago FAQ" thread.</p>
<p>
[quote]
3. I heard that the U of C is centrally located inside of a huge ghetto. Will I be safe on campus?</p>
<p>Technically, the U of C is in Hyde Park and a tad of Woodlawn. HP is a diverse, gorgeous, sleepy little neighborhood that is better than most students make it out to be and yet lacking in comparison to the ideal college town. We border less savory neighborhoods, but students and residents have little interaction between those neighborhoods outside of volunteer programs, like the one I'm a part of.</p>
<p>Staying safe is mostly about being smart. If you are walking alone at night and you see a group walking towards you who don't look like they have any connection to the University, your best bet is probably to change direction or cross the street. Then again, there's no reason you have to walk alone at night, because there are shuttles and door-to-door van services. But if you do walk through (I admit that I have), just be uberaware. The longer I've lived here, the safer I feel. I know that's an odd thing to say, but I think it's part of a certain kind of city identity that I didn't have before I got here.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I should mention that I feel more confident about Hyde Park than when I first wrote this post, but what I wrote still stands. Be aware, but no need to be paranoid.</p>
<p>I heard this before and it always makes me feel better: "Security at UChicago is second to the Vatican"</p>
<p>I live on the Yale campus in New Haven and my child goes to the U of Chicago, so I can speak about both campuses. In general, Chicago is a relatively safe campus as long as you practice common sense. Incidents on the actual campus are rare and after some security scares last year the campus is probably as safe as any in America. The surrounding neighborhood on two sides is generally safe and on two other sides, not so great, but there really is no reason to be walking south or west of campus where the bigger problems are. Yale is far worse for security than U of Chicago. Crime in New Haven goes through phases, but lately has been on a tremendous upswing and I would much rather have my child in Chicago than in New Haven at this time. As unalove points out, escort and van services are available for those who do not want to walk alone, blue boxes are everywhere and the school has the second largest private police department after the vatican.</p>
<p>I was visiting my son at UChicago at the end of June, and even when school was no longer in session, we saw University police cars everywhere.</p>
<p>I live on the northwest side. I haven't felt unsafe down there yet. I feel like he's safer walking around campus than the neighborhood. Or just as safe.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, up here, my Ill. vehicle sticker was stolen off my license plate last night and my spedometer was stolen off my locked up bike last week. The bike was three miles from home, east. That's the biggest crime wave I've experienced in eleven years on northwest side.</p>
<p>don't trust these people... if you walk around at night, you have a high chance of getting mugged... most upperclassmen know someone who has been burgled</p>
<p>Don't trust Absolut3, he's not even a student there. I don't care how many people he may know at Chicago.</p>
<br>
<p>.></p>
<br>
<p>Most people in the whole hemisphere know someone who has been burgled!</p>
<p>Last time I looked Chicago was major US City. Big cities have crime. I lived there 25 years, 15 back-and-forth to the campus in Hyde Park. I was mugged twice in all those years, never in Hyde Park (only in the fashionable north side). I was able to reason with the muggers both times and lost nothing and was not hurt. S1 has an apartment and takes reasonable precautions; he loves Hyde Park. There is a police emergency call box right in front of his apartment, he sees frequent patrols, and he is not "on campus" per se.</p>
<p>Here's how I see it. Yes, technically the campus has more crime, but thats due to a greater amount of people in the city compared to most universities. I would say that just because there is more crime doesn't mean your chance of being mugged goes up. Its like a percentage(more people=more crime; percentage being mugged=stays the same). I'm sure that it might be a little higher than most but nothing outrageous. Thats just my take on the MORE crime thing.</p>
<p>Also, I like to remind myself and others that you can always take safety precautions. Holla at the UCPD and they'll send a patrol car to walk with you home. Or call the Drunk Van for a ride to wherever you're going.</p>
<p>You can't, however, replicate Hyde Park or Chicago. The benefits of living in a neighborhood like this one and a city like this one wayyyyyy outweigh some potentially unwise decisions.</p>