UChicago Immediate Neighborhood in Hyde Park

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
41

<p>The story I heard was that the University systematically worked to eliminate all of the bars except Jimmy’s sometime in the 70s, although a couple more have opened since. Also, there’s some bizarre rule that lets individual precincts declare themselves “dry”. A few years ago, the University wanted to develop a hotel on the site of a vacant private hospital in a great location in the middle of Hyde Park, and about 40 neighbors torpedoed the whole project by making it impossible for the hotel to get a liquor license.</p>

<p>I do have the sense that, at least in the past, the University affirmatively didn’t want things like fast food or bars. Recently, they may have been counting too much on the Olympics bid to jump-start non-academic development.</p>

<p>As for Ann Taylor, etc. . . . Anyone who ever spent five minutes on the Penn campus knew that an upscale women’s clothing store could thrive there. The proposition that women at the University of Chicago are ready to support upscale boutiques . . . that would take a LOT of research.</p>

42

<p>JHS: “Someone at the University of Chicago should investigate the concept of the food truck.”</p>

<p>There were a few food trucks earlier on during the Fall Quarter, but have vanished for Winter, it seems.</p>

43

<p>JHS - I was using all those of examples of what’s right on Penn’s campus. Does UChicago even have one store (let alone 3 or 4) like this? I think there’s some stuff on 53rd street, but nothing within a mile of campus, from what I know.</p>

<p>Again, I’m not saying the campus should have everything, but just some of the 5 key factors I listed above. Outside of coffee and books, there’s not much near the immediate campus.</p>

44

<p>Cue7, I’m certainly not disagreeing with your accurate observation that Penn has a lot of glitzy retail right on campus, and the nearest equivalent retail at Chicago is a half-hour CTA trip away. I was just saying, semi-seriously, that there may not be quite as much demand for glitzy retail at the University of Chicago as there is at Penn.</p>

<p>You really did use the wrong example before. It may not be reasonably priced, but at least students can buy a toothbrush nearby without worrying about it too much. Dressy shoes? A suit? A tie, or silk scarf? A cute skirt? It’s not a question of walking a few extra blocks, you pretty much have to get on something with wheels even to begin looking for stuff like that.</p>

<p>Another example: When my daughter was there, neither she nor, as far as I know, any of her friends ever got a haircut in Hyde Park. They went to Belmont, or Wicker Park. And these weren’t super-stylish women or anything. They just never heard of, or found, anyone in Hyde Park whom they would trust to cut their hair. I know for a fact that’s not an issue at Penn.</p>

45

<p>JHS:</p>

<p>Agreed, at least there are a couple on-campus convenience stores (expensive as they are). In my day, we didn’t even have that. </p>

<p>For a skirt, or some flip flops, or a pair of jeans, UChicago students are out of luck. I agree that Penn may have more demand for higher end items than UChicago, but, certainly in terms of wealth and a desire for status material goods, the undergrad culture is changing significantly. </p>

<p>As a case in point, New Trier sends 20 students a year to UChicago, Harvard Westlake sends 10, other suburban Chicago high schools probably send scores more, as do traditionally affluent areas that traditionally looked the other way when considering UChicago.</p>

<p>Not to make too many assumptions about this, but I imagine the spending habits of UChicago and Penn students are converging, and are closer than they have ever been. Students, however, should be aware of the pretty significant divergence between the two neighborhoods.</p>

<ul>
<li>Note, in the future, I think Hyde Park will get better. Like the rest of the university, though, they’re just discovering the initiatives most schools started 15 years ago.</li>
</ul>

46

<p>You may be able to get a toothbrush at the bookstore, but you probably can’t fill a prescription there… that is one of the things D1 had to do at college frequently that I had not thought of before she attended.</p>

47

<p>intparent:</p>

<p>There are many, many, many holes in the area immediately surrounding UChicago, from not being able to fill prescriptions to not being able to get a pair of flip flops nearby.</p>

48

<p>The problem with bringing in retail, especially stores like clothing, is that there won’t be enough customers. Walk by Akira, it seems empty most of the time. And sometimes it is hard for the university to develop anything because it seems like the community opposes anything the university does.</p>

49

<p>I know there are hospitals near by. I assume students can go there to see Doctors if they get sick. </p>

<p>Where do the students fill prescription? Inside the hospitals?</p>

50

<p>There is a pharmacy inside the hospital</p>

51

<p>Hospital pharmacies are notoriously expensive, and sometimes insurance won’t cover RXs filled there because of this.</p>

52

<p>I filled my prescriptions at the CVS.</p>

53

<p>Social Media Feeds UChicago Food Truck Growth: <a href=“Information Technology Services at UChicago”>Information Technology Services at UChicago;

54

<p>It’s possible that, no matter how many high-end restaurants/bars/retail stores the university tries to bring to Hyde Park, students will be more eager to explore the even better options downtown or in other Chicago neighborhoods - at least, this is the impression I get from my friends. And to be honest, if Hyde Park had plenty of high-end amenities, they would be bringing in plenty of other residents from the South Side, which is something the university would not be comfortable with. As far as basic amenities go, clothing might be an issue, but late night food, groceries, and toothbrushes certainly are not. Grab some from any of the marts on campus (Bart Mart, Midway, etc) that are open until 3am. Grab some Subway, chips, ramen, Chef Boyardee’s, etc. You have flex. There’s a CVS and a Walgreen’s, a Treasure Island and Hyde Park Produce close to campus - and distance is not a problem at all with free buses and late night shuttles (everyone has smart phones now; you never have to wait in the cold). These are located near the apartments that most students live in, who probably need these more anyway. Hyde Park Produce also delivers groceries.</p>

55

<p>I could have almost written rlmmail’s post (#38), including the shrug.</p>

<p>During my own time in Cambridge, I thought the most special things about Harvard Square were the bookstores and Out of Town News. Buying groceries required careful planning to avoid ending up with more than I could carry on the long walk back to my grad dorm. I usually went downtown for clothes, and remember buying a suit for job interviews at a suburban mall. The restauraunts in Harvard Square weren’t all that great either–if we were going to bother going out, we’d usually go elsewhere. I did get haircuts there, though.</p>

<p>I’ll add Caltech to the schools I’m familiar with where the “ammenities” like grocery stores and pharmacies as well as clothing stores, bars, etc. are at least as far away from campus as UChicago. And going anywhere not in walking distance pretty much requires a car.</p>

<p>UChicago students have lots of activities on campus to choose from as well as the whole city of Chicago. If getting to some of it requires a bus ride, as a parent, I just can’t get too upset about that, and I’m certainly not going to cry if DS finds it inconvenient to patronize high end clothing store chains. I’m just happy the DS chose a school 1. where a car isn’t necessary, and 2. that isn’t one of those places out in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do on weekends but drink.</p>

56

<p>Motherbear and Cue7, I used to work in Harvard Sq. over 20 years ago. I loved hitting the used bookstores at lunch, and there were lots of them. Now they are all gone. As noted, it’s very difficult to get basic groceries (or for that matter underwear). Cue7, google may be right about late night dining in all of Cambridge (a very big area with several commercial districts), and there are probably some places, at least, in Harvard Sq., but I suspect most of them are closed by midnight. (As it happens, I drove through Harvard Sq. on Mass. Ave. at 10 PM last night after a concert, and a lot of places were closed, though there were quite a few people out. I saw two Chinese restaraunts and an Au Bon Pain open, as well as a frozen yogurt shop. This is only a small glimpse of the Square, but it’s not exactly Rush Street, even when the students are around. As motherbear notes, Harvard students frequently go elsewhere for dining and entertainment.</p>

<p>Harvard Square can also draw heavily from wealthy nearby areas (both adults and especially HS students). Places like Belmont, Arlington, Winchester, and Lexington. It is also a major public transportation hub. I don’t see how Hyde Park could possibly do this. Kids at MIT can just go to Boston on the T. Ditto for kids at BU or BC. But of course kids in Hyde Park can do the same thing (a little further) with CTA to the Loop, Magnificent Mile, Near North Side, or Rush St. I’m sure the students at Penn and Brown are grateful for the on-campus retail and dining, but does that make up for being in, say, Providence rather than Chicago? </p>

<p>Cue7, yes, the items you listed are common wants of some young people. But I’m not sure that every student body is as generic as you seem to assume. My sense is that the student bodies at UChicago and MIT, for example, are significantly different with respect to some of the items on your list than the student bodies at Penn, Brown, and definitely different than the University of Florida. While I don’t see it as a great thing, per se, that Hyde Park retail and dining don’t rock your world (or mine either for that matter), I think it’s nonetheless a testament to the overall context of UChicago–both in terms of its student priorities and in terms of its location in an amazing city–that it’s just not a very big deal that there isn’t a GAP or REI or one of those other Harvard Square/suburban mall type stores in Hyde Park. In addition, I don’t think I’m as mystified as you as to why Hyde Park lacks these things. It just doesn’t seem to fit with the surrounding demands or the competition from downtown. If Brown or Penn were in Chicago, is it possible they might not have found it so important to lure chain stores to their campus gates?</p>

57

<p>Rlmmail:</p>

<p>You asked: “If Brown or Penn were in Chicago, is it possible they might not have found it so important to lure chain stores to their campus gates?”</p>

<p>My answer is, that depends on WHERE in Chicago those schools would be located.</p>

<p>Look, a big issue with UChicago is that, yes, virtually everything available in a world-class city is available to UChicago students, BUT, to be frank, students need to be tolerant of considerable travel times. Some possible scenarios:</p>

<p>Say a student in South wants to go to the world-class art institute. According to Google, via public transportation, this is a: 40 minute one-way trip on a weekday.</p>

<p>To get to the shops around north michigan avenue, the trip would be about 45 minutes one-way as well. </p>

<p>Say a student wants to go to the northside for dinner/a show/whatever. According to Google, via public transportation, this is a: 55-60 minute one-way trip.</p>

<p>Say a student wants to go to a Bulls game or Blackhawks game. Via public transportation, this is a: 60 minute one-way trip.</p>

<p>It’s not unreasonable for college students to want to make use of all these big-city resources. The fact that, for the most popular areas (outside of maybe Chinatown) that UChicago students would like to frequent take between 40 -60 minutes (one-way) is worthy of consideration. Frankly, it makes Hyde Park feel a bit isolated and like an island.</p>

<p>A huge reason for this is that there is no subway stop right near UChicago, unlike what you see at Harvard, Penn, Columbia, etc. This sad fact really changes the accessibility of resources for UChicago students, especially those without a car. </p>

<p>So, to answer your question, if Brown or Penn were in Hyde Park and the closest Gap was 55 minutes away via public transport, then yes, I think those schools would plan differently. </p>

<p>UChicago students eager to enjoy the big city need to have considerable tolerance for long travel, and should be aware that it can be a long, long trip to get to some of the most popular areas of the city. Couple this fact with the reality that Hyde Park is still generally a sleepy, residential neighborhood, and you begin to see a very different neighborhood than Cambridge or West Philly or Morningside Heights. </p>

<p>College students at UChicago are in a more muted neighborhood AND with considerably longer commute times to get to popular amenities (be it rows of bars, the museums, etc.).</p>

58

<p>Re: transportation & Hyde Park attractions</p>

<p>I get out into the city every 1-2 weeks, and it takes about 35 minutes to get downtown. But I usually go to the Near Northside since there’s a lot of concert venues in the area, and that takes about an hour. Chinatown is about 20 minutes away, and a popular destination for dinner. These times really don’t seem unreasonable to me. The school just isn’t located in downtown Chicago, but what can one do at this point? Maybe growing up in the suburbs has just dulled my sensitivity to transportation times.</p>

<p>Also, Hyde Park has decent restaurants and retail offerings on 53rd street. I live 2 blocks from CVS, which is where these places start to pop up, so I really can’t complain. There’s an awesome record store, the Harper Theater, some decent restaurants, Treasure Island & Walgreens, and the lake of course. And on campus there’s the Smart Museum, Logan, and the Court Theatre, which all have pretty awesome exhibits and performances.</p>

<p>I would certainly prefer to live in Morningside Heights than Hyde Park, but that just seems like a very lofty standard, considering Columbia’s location was far and away the #1 reason I wanted to attend. My personal tastes: NYC >> Chicago. Being 30 minutes away from downtown Chicago >> Boston/Cambridge/Philly.</p>

<p>Somewhat related: Here’s an Onion article making fun of Boston that I found funny.
<a href=“http://www.theonion.com/articles/pretty-cute-watching-boston-residents-play-daily-g,31554/[/url]”>http://www.theonion.com/articles/pretty-cute-watching-boston-residents-play-daily-g,31554/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

59

<p>Calexico:</p>

<p>Getting downtown (e.g. to North Michigan Ave.), door-to-door in 30 minutes is really good. How do you do that?</p>

<p>When I was at UChicago, going say, from Burton Judson to downtown never took less than around 40-45 minutes. I’d usually walk north to 55th st (about a 10 minute walk), wait a while for the bus, catch the bus, get to the red line, take the red line north, get out at my stop, and walk to wherever I wanted to go. </p>

<p>Total, that’d take me about 40-45 min. Now that Pierce is closing, I don’t imagine that travel times will be much shorter for anyone on campus. Thoughts?</p>

60

<p>I live in Maclean, 2 blocks away from the 55 & Ellis stop. So the 55 east to S Hyde Park, then the 6 up to Jackson & Michigan. I know some people take the Red Line, but it’s pretty rundown and slow, and the Garfield Red Line station isn’t very safe. </p>

<p>I think I got the Chinatown time wrong though; Google Maps says it’s 40 minutes away, which I believe since the Red Line is sloooooow.</p>