UChicago/Hyde Park = Dangerous?

<p>Uh you can find rape and sexual assault crimes committed at Frat parties all over the country. (I mention this because the campus I attended which was in a very very wealthy community had issues with frats for a while.) You can find these issues everywhere.</p>

<p>I was born and raised in New Haven, so I’m really familiar with the Yale neighborhood and the area around it. Hyde Park and New Haven are somewhat similar in that there is a very clear designation between the campus and the rest of the neighborhood. There are some very dangerous parts of New Haven around the Yale campus, where I wouldn’t want to find myself alone even in the middle of the day, despite having lived there my whole life.<br>
I’ve never felt unsafe walking around campus, even at night. However, I’ll echo the sentiments here who say its always better to walk in a group. You should really try to avoid walking anywhere alone at night, thought that’s true of any urban area. Yes, there are dangerous neighborhoods to the south and west of Hyde Park-I had to drive South of the Midway, down 63rd street, a while back, and while the neighborhood is fairly dangerous, there’s really no reason a student should have to go down there (I was trying to get out to a Southern suburb). If you stay within the campus area and with a buddy when you have to leave it, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be safe.</p>

<p>I live in Chicago (in Hyde Park) and have been living here for 17 years. I can honestly tell you that the IMMEDIATE neighborhood of the campus is beautiful/ safe/ friendly/ walkable at night/ lovely. West of Cottage Grove Street is a little unsafe. South of 61st street is unsafe. I would NOT recommend visitors to UChicago to take Red or Green Line trains to get to the campus. Those trains drop you off in shady areas. If taking public transportation, take the Metra Electric Line instead. Overall I feel very safe in Chicago and in Hyde Park and personally, I think it should not be a make or break decision for prospective students.</p>

<p>aha wow, reading those police reports puts everything into perspective for me.</p>

<p>My dad and I had flown over to Chicago for a one-day trip from New York; to visit a few colleges, primarily UChic and Northwestern.
Both were beautiful, we loved the city. I absolutely fell in love with everything UChicago had to offer; a bastion of intellectual though situated just 10 minutes from a beautiful downtown. Didn’t recieve that same vibe from other urban universities such as NYU, BC,etc.</p>

<p>Anyways, because UChicago was our last stop before going back to Midway to catch our flight, we decided to test out the public transport and take a bus directly from Hyde Park to Midway.
The route went through the far Southside Chicago…and let me tell you, growing up in NY, I’ve been to the “rough neighborhoods” of the Bronx, Jamaica Queens past midnight,etc…but this was really something lol. Not exactly the most pleasant neighborhood.
As far as surrounding neighborhood goes; I do agree with an above poster that a school like Columbia is way ahead of UChicago, and UPenn as well.</p>

<p>Wow, what bus did you take?? The 55, the bus that goes directly between Midway and UChicago, goes through some poor neighborhoods, but I’d never describe them as you did! On the contrary, I had no qualms about my high school daughter taking it by herself when she went to look at the school.</p>

<p>I think it is a bit early to assess safety in the vicinity of the new dorm. Effectively, it is located behind three schools on 60th street – the Law School, the Harris School of Public Policy, and the School of Social Service Administration – and in front of the final block of dilapidated PhD student apartments on 61st. At present, this area seems safe during the day, but marginally unsafe at night. This is because immediately beyond this zone, things get very dicey. By way of personal example, I lived on South Ellis between 61st and 62nd for a quarter, and got loose bricks thrown at me in broad daylight by some high schoolers (apparently as part of their gang initiation). There were also a lot of plain view drug buys that went down immediately in front of my apartment, yet all routine, and never violent. </p>

<p>However, I would wager with the number of students the university will have there between UG’s residing and professional school students attending class, very little crime will be tolerated (especially in light of the relocation of the police station). There seems to be a strong push to make this area an integral part of the university campus, as opposed to just some buildings on the far periphery of the main quads. Ultimately, gentrifying this space is imperative if the school ever wants to have a cohesive campus, rather than UG dorms flung arbitrarily around Hyde Park. There is also the added value that more people will traffic the midway en route to the main campus, cleaning it up a touch as well. </p>

<p>In summary, do not let crime concerns keep you from the U of C, or for that matter, any other elite college (Penn, Yale, Columbia, etc.) Just keep your eyes open, and use common sense. And for the record, I would choose a mixed upper classmen / lower classmen dorm over Max-Pavelsky any day. It will help you acculturate to the school far quicker.</p>

<p>It’s one half mile due south on Ellis from MaxP to South Campus. What’s wrong with MaxP besides being big and, in theory, housing almost half of all first years? I don’t hear anybody in rapture about choosing it, unless it’s a secret love and they want to divert attention from it to increase their chances.</p>

<p>UCA,</p>

<p>Have you been back to UofC in the past few years? As I recall, you graduated a few years back. You might find the area S. of the Midway to be quite changed in the past few years. There’s been quite a bit of new construction in the area, so I don’t think the area south of the new dorm should be described as “very dicey”. SW of the new dorm, across Cottage Grove, yes, dicey, but that’s quite a few blocks away.</p>

<p>I visit NORC regularly, and the streets behind it, 62nd, 63rd, and the feeders going back, are by no means decent at this time. I also don’t quite understand what you mean by construction (besides the dorm itself). Mostly all that has gone on in the area is the refurbishing of tenement here and there – some new paint, some new bricks, but nothing special. I think it would be a bit short sighted to feel carefree, frolicking in the fields safe in the new dorm when such an environment is literally like a five minute walk away. All in all, a UG living in this area must exhibit more caution that one living in the quad area dorms. It is not like putting your life in your own hands, but it might be wise to avoid the 3 AM treks home from the library. It just takes a bit more planning.</p>

<p>While it is definitely wise to take precautions when living in the dorms more south of the Midway, I don’t want to scare anyone in to thinking that you absolutely can’t come home or walk by yourself if you make a late night of a party or a library visit. I mean, yes, you will be a target for crime if you are walking around inebriated at 2am counting the money in your wallet and singing loudly along with the music coming from your visible iPhone, but really, that kind of action is equally unsafe in rural Kansas as it is on Chicago’s south side. With a bit of common sense, recognition that you’re living in an urban environment that is, yes, close to areas that are relatively low-income and do have crime, but a willingness to take advantage of safety resources made very explicitly available to students, you’re going to be just fine.
One thing students deciding to live more off campus should know is that the University offers free shuttle buses, leaving from the Reg and traveling predetermined paths around Hyde Park, which stop at different locations every 20 minutes with very good regularity. These are very safe and reliable means of transportation, and are a good way to get home at night, especially if you will be living in Burton-Judson or South Campus- one such shuttle, the South Route, stops specifically in these areas, as well as the graduate housing in the surroundings and near Breckenridge and Blackstone a bit to the North. Safe Ride, another ride service, is also a good means of transport (although can take a bit longer to come, especially on high-traffic nights, like Fridays and Saturdays, and so is more often used if you don’t know where the nearest shuttle stop is or you’re out way too late for the shuttles to run) and will pick you up from wherever you are and take you wherever you’re going in the Hyde Park area. Finally, the UCPD offers an umbrella service by which a UCPD officer will accompany you home either on foot, by bike, or in a car (usually in a car) if you feel like you are being followed or are just generally uncomfortable walking alone at any time. Really, as long as you take advantage of the transportation options available, you’ll always have a safe and reliable means of transport in and around Hyde Park, regardless of where your dorm is located.</p>

<p>How are the other “off campus” housing options for non street-smart freshmen, i.e: Blackstone, Breckenridge, Stony Island, McLean, Shoreland?</p>

<p>Shoreland is no longer available for incoming freshman. All of the dorms above are pretty safe. They are within the safety perimeter. However, street smart is strongly encouraged. Many people are saying how dangerous the South Campus is going to be. I disagree. When you stuff some 800 students in one place, it is going to be mighty safe (just don’t go too far away from that place).</p>

<p>Of those you’ve mentioned, I’d really only consider Stony and Broadview truly “off campus”. Blackstone and Breck are a bit further from campus than normal, and Maclean, although in a residential area, is only about two blocks north of Ratner and Max Palevsky.
Stony Island, Broadview, and to some extent Maclean are all in areas where a lot of students (undergrads or grads) live anyway- the areas around them are highly residential, lots of apartment buildings and stuff, and could very rarely be considered sketchy places to live. Breckenridge is not really an off-campus dorm- it is a bit further away, and close(ish) to Blackstone, but in actuality is across the street from the International House and about a block or two from the Lab Schools and Ida Noyes Hall. Of all of those you listed, Blackstone is the least of your worries- Blackstone is in upper 6figure-lower 7figure row house and brownstone territory, so your neighbors, while some in apartments, are usually the Hyde Park professional crowd and the occasional professor who’s been here forever and was gifted a nice house by the University back in the day to encourage them to live closer to campus.</p>

<p>Thanks for the good info.</p>

<p>This thread is almost 4 years old…how are things now? improved? Areas to avoid the same? UofC is in my D’s top two. Thanks so much!</p>

<p>Hi MomofKat,</p>

<p>I’m a first year, and my mother (naturally) had similar concerns. I ensure you that I have never felt unsafe on or near campus, day or night. Of course, to insist that it is entirely safe to wander around would be naive. Generally, south of the midway (beyond BJ and South Campus dorms) becomes more dangerous, especially at night. However, I know several students who live off campus south of the midway and haven’t had problems. </p>

<p>People do get mugged; it’s inevitable. However, there is an extensive “Blue Light” system (posts with emergency buttons automatically alerting the UCPD for help), and, at night, there are UCPD patrollers everywhere willing to accompany you back to the dorm if you feel at all unsafe. Hyde Park itself is a very lovely and safe neighborhood.</p>

<p>I would say that, yes, there are some safety concerns. The university has done a great job, though, at mitigating such issues.</p>

<p>I am also concerned about this.</p>

<p>Compare it to crime rates at other similar urban campuses. You will find UChicago safer than most.</p>

<p><a href=“https://incidentreports.uchicago.edu%5B/url%5D”>https://incidentreports.uchicago.edu</a> - You can check out the daily incident reports here. This was also a major concern for me when I was deciding, but then I saw that most of the crimes seem to pertain to laptops/cell phones being stolen (which happens in pretty much all campuses) and, as idad pointed out, you’ll find similar if not worse stats for other universities located in urban areas. I’ve never felt unsafe walking around campus, and while I tend to stay within the 60th to 55th range, that’s where you’ll be spending most of your time while you’re in housing. Even then, those that live north of 55th and south of 60th tend to be pretty safe. I have heard of a few muggings, but they’re certainly not commonplace.</p>

<p>There are threads on this topic all the time. I don’t know why a four-year-old one got resurrected suddenly, but since it’s now up and active while people are deciding where to go to college, here goes (again):</p>

<ol>
<li> Objectively, you are not going to find any good evidence that the University of Chicago campus or Hyde Park in general has more street crime in any meaningful way than you would find at or around equivalent urban universities. That includes Harvard, MIT, Yale, Penn, Columbia, Brown, Berkeley, Georgetown, George Washington, USC, Johns Hopkins, and, yes, Northwestern, too. Some of them, including Harvard, seem maybe to have a little more crime, but that doesn’t seem to bother people about Harvard.</li>
</ol>

<p>The kind of street crime that happens at all those places isn’t the end of the world, either. It’s not rape, murder, or mayhem; it’s bike thefts and the occasional mugging or pocket-picking where someone loses $20. In the last 40 years, exactly one University of Chicago person – a grad student – lost his life in a street crime incident. The perpetrator was a one-man crime spree from miles away; he was caught within days after a massive manhunt. In a city with an awful murder rate, the violent death of a University of Chicago grad student near (not on) campus (and south of campus, not in Hyde Park) was big, big news.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Rural or suburban universities may have less street crime. Bikes and laptops still get stolen, but muggings may never happen. Yet there are other, equally serious dangers there. University of Chicago students rarely drive drunk, or ride in a car with a drunk driver, mainly because they don’t use cars much. Out in the boonies, don’t fool yourself that your kid isn’t going to be in a car with a drunk driver from time to time. And people drink more because, frankly, there’s less that’s interesting to do besides drink. What’s more, the rate of mishaps with farm equipment and farm animals is extremely low in Hyde Park, and people don’t fall down hills or gorges much.</p></li>
<li><p>No matter where they go to college, the real risks to students come not from the “townies” in the surrounding community, but from each other. The vast, vast majority of the terrible things that happen to students are done by other students. And that DOES include rape, murder, and mayhem, unfortunately, as well as lots of those stolen laptops. And in that regard, the University of Chicago, while far from perfect, is probably better than 99% of other colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>To speak plainly, what makes Hyde Park seem “dangerous” to some is not that there is some objective high level of threat, but simply that, not Hyde Park itself (which is affluent and diverse), but nearby neighborhoods are inhabited exclusively by low-income people of African and Mexican descent. And while one has to walk some meaningful distance to get from any of those neighborhoods to the middle of campus, there are no walls or moats, and it’s a free country, so if you are around the University of Chicago sometimes you see poor people who are Black or Hispanic. Not breaking any laws or anything, or even hanging out usually, mostly just passing through. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Some people get freaked out by that, and feel threatened. It’s not rational, but it may be a real feeling. Most of the people who feel that way are whites or Asians who come from suburban or rural places where you don’t see non-white poor people that much, at least ones you don’t know personally. Most of the people who feel that way get over it in a few weeks or months, but some never do. (People who are familiar with the nice neighborhoods in Brooklyn, like Park Slope, will immediately recognize Hyde Park as pretty much a nice neighborhood in Brooklyn, but less crowded, with more trees and fewer hills, and in Chicago.)</p>

<p>If you think you are the kind of person who can’t get over it, you probably should consider going elsewhere for college, because it’s no fun to feel frightened and uncomfortable where you live. If, however, you are like most people, you will laugh a year from now when you remember how much energy you wasted worrying about whether Hyde Park was dangerous.</p>