<p>My son is very interested in U Chicago. School sounds great in so many ways BUT I have heard "scary" things about area off campus ie: gangs, violent crimes etc. Can someone please tell me the truth? Is it really that bad?</p>
<p>As Unalove said in the other thread, Hyde Park is great. There are some not-so-great areas to the south, but students just don't go over there. The violence and crime from the "bad" areas doesn't spread to campus. There are certainly incidences of crime and violence as there are in all urban areas, but the school shines when it comes to safety and security--little details and large programs that go far beyond blue light phones.</p>
<p>If you want to get mugged; it's easy. If you don't want to be mugged; well that's easy too. The "safe" and "scary" areas are well defined. You would have to be a fool to accidentally find yourself in a dangerous area. There is absolutely no reason for you to venture so south or west of campus. Unless of course you want to get mugged.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input...</p>
<p>ps I found the link that unalove posted, it was illuminating.</p>
<p>lol, terrygreg, i just realized we had the same topic.</p>
<p>is the school surrounded by a gate?</p>
<p>No. Campus is large and spread out, and it is open and welcoming to the community. I see this as a huge positive.</p>
<p>Think about the social implications of a gated campus in a community for a few minutes, and I hope you'll agree.</p>
<p>There are big scary gothic gates here and there if you like the aesthetic, but they are always open, and there are ways around. Honestly, Hyde Park could hardly be quieter, it is nice.</p>
<p>You can go in and around campus safely whenever, and the neighborhood is as safe as any other if you stay in this neighborhood.</p>
<p>yeah my parents are completely not supportive of me going to UChicago for this very fact. No amount of information consoles them.</p>
<p>Pass these on to your parents: </p>
<p>The University of Chicago doesn't have campus security like most colleges; they actually have a police force, called the UCPD (University of Chicago Police Department). The UCPD is the 2nd largest private police force in the world, only behind the Vatican. The UCPD was actually expanded to protect all of Hyde Park, I believe because the town requested it. The University area is also regularly patrolled by the CPD, or the Chicago Police Department, so it's double covered. There is a very large police presence on campus; they are not there to get you in trouble but to help and protect students. There are always police cars driving around or going around on bicycles. </p>
<p>There are Blue Light phones all over campus and Hyde Park. All students (male and female) are given personal safety whistles (or "rape whistles") when they start school to blow if they don't feel safe. All students and Hyde Park residents know to respond if they hear a whistle, and people do not blow them for fun. Hyde Park residents also have safety whistles.</p>
<p>Streets are well-lit at night, but it's not necessary to walk at night. Campus shuttles run on routes all over campus and Hyde park until 6 AM on weekends and 2 AM on weekdays, and there is a late night shuttle service (or "drunk van") available to take students door to door. There are police escorts and other services available as well. Almost any man on campus is wiling to walk girls home or stay with them until the shuttle or drunk van arrives. People travel in groups because that's the smart thing to do in any part of the country at night, particularly while intoxicated. During the day buses run around Hyde Park until the shuttle service takes over in the evening, so students in dorms further from campus don't need to walk, and other people can easily go to the grocery store or wherever when it's cold or they don't feel like walking.</p>
<p>The U of C had disaster plans before September 11th, Katrina, and the shootings at VA Tech. The plans were updated and re-evaluated after September 11th, but when they were looked at after VA Tech, it was determined that nothing needed to be added or changed. Safety alerts are posted all over campus whenever an incident is reported to the police. You can join a safety list-host in order to get emails of any crime near campus. </p>
<p>The House system on campus is a constant support system for students. The Resident Masters, Resident Heads (mainly these people), and Resident Assistants look out for students, keep an eye on their emotional state (and will intervene if they sense a problem), and take any students to the ER if necessary, as well as provide all around support. I have never heard of an alcohol death in a dorm, for example. </p>
<p>Dorm security is more extensive than other schools I know of. A front desk in every dorm is staffed 24 hours/day--no exceptions. They are not staffed by students, either, so no one gets a free pass. It is necessary to swipe your ID card to get into the dorm, and you must live in the dorm for your student ID to allow you in. You must show your ID to the person at the desk, who after a week or two will know every student in the dorm by face anyway. Any guests must be signed in and out. You must swipe your ID in other areas of the dorm, as well, but these vary by dorm (such as to get to the elevators). You must use a key or your ID to get into your room. You can only get into the dorm you live in without getting signed in by someone who lives in that dorm. I can't go into the dorm named Pierce because that's not the dorm I currently live in, even if I am a student. I would need someone who lives in Pierce to sign me in. </p>
<p>I'm sure there are other things that I'm forgetting.</p>
<p>Real time look: <a href="http://r-cam.uchicago.edu/view/index.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://r-cam.uchicago.edu/view/index.shtml</a></p>
<p>Katia: I know Buffalo pretty well. The nicest, safest parts of Buffalo are roughly equivalent to Hyde Park. That doesn't mean Hyde Park is some kind of urban Utopia. It means that it's a nice neighborhood in a city, with some poor neighborhoods not that far away. If you were comparing it to some utterly wealthy suburb/exurb, like Greenwich CT or Scarsdale NY or Lincoln MA, it could seem urban and dangerous. If you're comparing it to Buffalo, it's like the area around Delaware Park, or near the South Campus of UB.</p>
<p>JHS,</p>
<p>As a resident of Scarsdale, NY, having grown up near Buufalo, NY and having 2 children at U of C, I applaud your comparisons and agree wholeheartedly.</p>
<p>Hey, Terrygreg! - I love the Jim Croce reference. Do people still know of Jim Croce? Am I saying something about myself that I used to know all the lyrics to every song of his but that was such a long time ago, I've forgotten many of them (though not the one about my beloved South Side)?</p>
<p>Anyway, I have a question for Corranged and/or Unalove, whose careful consideration of everything we throw at them has been nothing short of inspirational.</p>
<p>Here's the question: the elder SmilePup is a first year at the U of C and just began assistant teaching at an elementary school one and a half blocks into "the place you shall not go", which is to say south of the Midway. He is there twice a week during school hours, so it would seem pretty safe. But when I walked it with him on the Friday of Family Weekend, it was fairly deserted, and he did relate one slightly "sketchy" (as he put it) encounter with a group of kids (not students at the school where he's teaching, but older kids). So my question is, how dangerous is it really, just a little south of the Midway? Should I look into getting him police escort? Or should I just stop fretting (out loud - there isn't much I can do about what goes on inside my head!), and let him lead his own life, as I'm sure he would prefer? Or perhaps something in between?</p>
<p>A block and a half south of the Midway is fine. Many dorms and campus buildings are on 60th, which is the block after the Midway. Let him make his own decisions like that at this point, unless he is seriously endangering himself.</p>
<p>It's nearly impossible to measure the relative "danger" of a certain area (criminals have feet, you know!) and while I don't think that the neighborhood is that bad, he should still be aware.</p>
<p>My parents both went to schools in neighborhoods far worse than Hyde Park. They still worry about my safety too. It's inevitable, I guess :-)</p>
<p>Thanks guys! </p>
<p>SmilePup 1 assures me he is aware of his surroundings, and I realize that it isn't far off campus. Still, I find myself perseverating about the lurking dangers. And I even grew up in Hyde Park! I will, however, try very hard to let go!</p>
<p>Pretty much everything north of the Midway that is well lit and decently trafficked is safe enough by urban standards. You are not going to do any better at Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, so on and so forth. </p>
<p>South of the Midway is a whole different story.</p>
<p>Careful with those lines, though, says somebody who lives south of the Midway.</p>
<p>As it stands now, 60th-63rd street is loaded with blue lights and with the construction of the new dorm behind BJ, I assume that there will be more student activity south of the Midway (already there's the SSA, the law school, some grad student dorms, etc.) I've walked back to campus from the 63 bus during the day and I've walked at night (in a group) back from the Green Line. Neither of these take excessive amounts of bravery on my part.</p>
<p>Agreed that those who worry about the area s. of the Midway may be thinking of times past.</p>
<p>63, east of Cottage Grove, which once had an EL line (and that's a dated term in itself) is now being redeveloped with modern apartments and condos. The zone well away from Cottage Grove (i.e. well east) is as calm as the Chicago S. Side becomes.</p>
<p>The area west of Cottage Grove is a no-go zone for most folks, as it is a pretty tough neighborhood.</p>
<p>i walked from the 5100 green line stop at 11pm once this summer to cottage grove where i got on a jeffery local and it was the most frightening 20 minutes of my life. passed lots of prostitutes, bums, and groups of people who looked like they had too much free time on their hands. this isn't hyde park, of course, just saying don't walk over there, even during the day.</p>