The Lab Schools sports field (the formal name is Jackman Field) is undergoing a massive re-construction and should be ready by mid September. So soon there will be a lot of middle school and high school kids playing there. Jackman Field is right next to I-House.
The really young kids (nursery to 3rd grade) are at Earl Shapiro Hall which is actually at 58th and Stony Island. I have seen teachers leading them to play on the grass field just outside Earl Shapiro Hall.
Between now until November there will be afternoon soccer games at Midway Plaisance for Lab Schools middle school and high school students. You can see a lot of parents sitting on the sideline on the grass watching their kids play.
There is a skating rink at Midway Plaisance just south of Harper Library. My teenager kid had skated with her friends there at night during winter. I wouldn’t let her go there if I were worried about her being mugged or shot.
Many Lab Schools kids are children of the Chicago elite. It is no secret that the Mayor of Chicago sends his kids to Lab and he lives in Ravenswood. He wouldn’t be doing so if he is worried about the safety of his kids.
Construction has started for the Rubenstein Forum (60th and Woodlawn). Soon the entire 60th Street between Stony Island and Cottage Grove will be UChicago buildings. Midway will be just like an internal (albeit huge) garden amidst UChicago buildings. City of Chicago may as well concede and give Midway Plasiance to UChicago (because right now Midway Plasiance is nominally a public park).
What is the implication of all of the above for the security of the university around Midway Plasiance? The logical conclusion is that Midway is safe and no one needs to worry about bullets flying when you walk from the I-House to the Main Quad.
P.S. My only concern is whether I-House will be ready for students on September 22nd. As of this morning I still see a lot of scaffold outside I-House. But I do have faith in UChicago construction team. Last summer I saw a lot of scaffolding on the Main Quad by early September. Miraculously by Orientation all of them were removed and the campus was in pristine shape. So I think I-House will be ready on Move-in date for all the freshman.
85bears46 - In my opinion, your entry above is very accurate and up to date in its depiction of the I-house and the immediate surroundings. Reading your post, I am transported back to my son’s time at I-House.
I did not realize that the Lab School was upgrading its athletic fields. They were already very nice.
I would add a couple of points that I thought of that may relate to your overall theme.
The Obama Center is about to be constructed about 4 blocks east of I-House in Jackson Park. If it is done right and managed correctly, the Obama Center could come together with the natural beauty of the lakefront, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Lab School, and, of course, UChicago to form a real destination area in the South of Chicago.
For me, another fascinating structure, just completed and part of the Lab School, is Gordon Parks Arts Hall (funded to a great extent by George Lucas-yes that George Lucas–whose wife is a Chicago native). See link below.
“Many Lab Schools kids are children of the Chicago elite. It is no secret that the Mayor of Chicago sends his kids to Lab and he lives in Ravenswood. He wouldn’t be doing so if he is worried about the safety of his kids.”
Rahm’s kid was actually mugged outside his home in Ravenswood a few years ago. He was 17 at the time.
“P.S. My only concern is whether I-House will be ready for students on September 22nd. As of this morning I still see a lot of scaffold outside I-House. But I do have faith in UChicago construction team. Last summer I saw a lot of scaffolding on the Main Quad by early September. Miraculously by Orientation all of them were removed and the campus was in pristine shape. So I think I-House will be ready on Move-in date for all the freshman.”
@85bears46 this year they have an extra week to get 'er done. Move-In not until the 22nd.
I had the opportunity to be in Chicago yesterday for work. I spent today walking around campus. The industrial engineer in me did a little time study. I had the cab drop me off at I house at 10:34am. I then walked around and noticed all the work being done on Lab school and had the same thoughts about the construction on IHouse. This is the first time I saw IHouse, but the outside looked very cool. So I then walked to the quad. Past lab school, past ida noyes, past Rockefeller. Arrived at the Social Science building (aka southeast corner of the quad) at 10:41. So seven minutes while walking at a tourist/sightseeing pace of a 50year old man. I then walked through the quad, looking at the neo-gothic architecture and more ivy then I’ve seen on a building north through Cobb Gate, past the library, past Max P, past the field house to North and checked my watch and it was 10:51 (10 min). I did stop to take a picture of the Yuenity house sign (my son’s house) on the middle tower of campus north and stood stunned at the colors of MaxP (what were they thinking there). I then walked West past Ratner to the very far Northwest corner of Stagg Field. It was now 11:00 am sharp. I walked back to Ratner and turned south. Stopped at the bookstore for five minutes and contemplated buying a raincoat or umbrella and wrongly decided not to. Continued on my walk, through Cobb hall to the center of the quad at 11:15am (15’-5’ bookstore stop=10’). I then walked through Harper, the midway, past B-J to Cathay and my watch read 11:25am. I then walked behind the very brutalist (and IMO ugly) law school, past Harris then crossing the midway arriving at IHouse at 11:37 (12 min).
I’ll pause there and give my assessment of how safe I felt. As I walked around campus, I saw Very nice Merc’s, BMWs, infinities, Lexuses (or would that be Lexii), etc. No graffiti, No trash (beer/liquor bottles, etc.). I did pass a bunch of candles on the sidewalk where I suspect the homicide happened. But in general it did not come across to me as a typical unsafe area. Now for the rest of my day in Hyde Park.
It was now well past noon on my east coast clock and I was hungry so I walked north past I-house and turned east on 57th street. I was politely asked by a man for some matches or a lighter and reached a Subway for lunch. The glass door was boarded up, but still open for business. I ordered my sandwich and listened as the guy who owns the hairdresser next door came in and asked what happened. The owner of the Subway said she was broken into last night. That two other businesses were also broken into recently. So a little crime issue there. I then walked east trying to get to the Metra stop. Had to go South to 59th street and passed Stony Island. It did feel off campus, as opposed to IHouse which did not. Anyway I got on the Metra and am now sitting in Union Station as I type this.
My conclusion on safety. I’d feel ok about my daughter going here. Obviously I’m also fine with my son here. It did not put off that I’m not comfortable vibe that I get in parts of Philly. Where iron bar reinforced windows and constitina wire are common. I saw a tiny bit of graffiti north of campus north, but not too bad. I do get the crime bulletins, and in general almost every time the crime mentioned hospital patient v hospital employee violence or off campus issues. Usually 1or 2 posts per day. Many of those are “item found or information” with items of concern I’d say 3 times aweek there is an armed robbery off campus.
@BrianBoiler Thanks for the vitual campus visit. Can’t wait to be there in two weeks! What is the geography of the crime bulletins? Three armed robberies a week sounds like a lot to me of it’s just Hyde Park. I’m hoping it’s the entire extended UCPD area that someone posted earlier.
It’s the entire patrol area. The trulia site I linked a few threads up does an outstanding job of pinpointing where the violent crimes occur. If you pull it up you’ll notice the areas of concern in Hyde Park are the hospital and the two North corners. It is really quite amazing to me how the keep Hyde Park an Island of safety on that map.
Total 2017 year-to-date violent crime is 14 percent higher when compared to the average for the five-year period 2012 through 2016.
Sources: Chicago Police Department/UCPD
UCPD Patrol Area Violent Crimes
January 1–December 31, 2017 Average YTD 2012-2016 Reported YTD 2017
Murder 7 6
Criminal Sexual Assault 23 29
Robbery 252 305
Agg. Battery & Assault 155 147
Total violent crime 437 487
Total 2017 year-to-date violent crime shows an 11 percent increase when compared to the year-to-date average for the five-year period 2012 through 2016.
Sources: Chicago Police Department/UCPD
A small but consistent number of armed robberies happen. As long as nobody tries to be a hero (a.k.a. dumb), they follow a script. Cash, phone, bag, and the thieves drive away. In the rare cases where students resist instead of handing over their phone and cash, the robber(s) might hit them, but I haven’t heard of serious injuries from an armed robbery during my time here. No thief wants to catch an aggravated assault or murder charge over a $300 phone.
One reason campus is relatively safe is because it’s a driver’s nightmare. Robbers need to hightail it out of the area when they’re done, and campus is full of pedestrian areas, speed bumps, one-way streets, pedestrians etc. This is also why quite a few robberies happen close to the medical campus, which is easy to leave via one of several roads that cross Washington Park.
Other reasons include plenty of lighting, pedestrian traffic at all hours, and the UCPD.
In reference to JBStillFlying’s earlier comment on MaxP…
Those MaxP colors are not easy on the eyes! I understand the design better after researching Ricardo Legorreta, a well-known architect from Mexico known for bright colors and geometric shapes. Still MaxP does not fit with the overall vibe of the campus, even given the many contrasting architectural styles.
@getmoreveggies I’m not crazy about MaxP and my kid refused to consider the dorm due to the color, even after I pointed out that she’d see mostly the inside. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that some prospects aren’t so bad! BTW, no one believes me.
UChicago architecture seems to be “anchored” by the neo-Gothic style and that’s what you think of when visualizing the campus. It’s ok to experiment a bit around that. That whole funky block: Max, Mansuetto, the Reg and of course North - not to mention the gym-turned-dining-hall Bartlett Commons - is an architectural bouquet of the weird. If you ever saw Pierce Tower, which once stood where North now resides - you’d see that they are simply continuing a tradition of experimentation. That seems very much in keeping with the vibe of the campus.
@JBStillFlying my DD followed the idea its better to live in MaxP if you don’t like the colors since you have to walk by it to get to class anyway. Still I found it to be one of the better living situations, with the semi private bathrooms, AC, and location. :)>-
Gordon Parks is really a very nice addition to the overall UChicago architecture. From my very limited understanding of architecture, it is actually Gothic with a post modernist twist/interpretation. If you replace the glass curtain wall with stone, the whole facade will feel right in line with the Main Quad. Yet glass curtain wall gives it a post modernist new look. Most of the classrooms on the second floor are art studio with twenty foot ceiling and wall to wall glass window. What a great place to take your art class. This is what $25 million can do to brighten up the entire Lab Schools complex.
The old Jackman field was just a grass field. Now it will be on par with Stagg Field and the Haydon Track.
It is funny you mentioned the expensive cars on Midway. I was walking along 53rd today and I saw a Cayenne GTS, Panamera 4S and a MB S600 - all of them $100,000 + cars. I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was indeed seeing these luxury cars in Hyde Park. I thought I was in Oak Brook or Kenilworth. This is not 1980’s Hyde Park for sure ;).
While I agree with you on the ease of walking between all the dorms and Main Quad, do bear in mind this is summer. In January when the wind chill is minus 20 degree and there is snow and ice on the ground, the travel time will be longer and much less pleasant.
@CU123 - I agree that the suite style is great! Location unbeatable for class, Reg, gym, busses, restaurants . . . The color might be a bit “off” but when we were out there last year it looked positively cheerful. Not sure how all that orange looks in the dead of winter, however, unless it gets everyone thinking about Spring Break in Cancun or PV! :x <:-P
I think it’s hilarious that Max P people are saying that if you’re living in Max P, at least you won’t have to look at it. Why they painted it those colors is a head scratcher.
My son had MaxP first year, fantastic location! The semi-private bathrooms meant no robe/shower caddy, however the university doesn’t clean/stock them. My son does not clean, much less trek in the snow to go buy cleaning products and toilet paper.