<p>Newmassdad, my D goes to Chicago; I have spent a lot of time there. I am (and she is) very enthusiastic about the university. It is a great place. And, as I said, Hyde Park is lovely. But if you are not comfortable living and working at a great university in a great city that happens to be near some very poor neighborhoods, then you might as well know what the situation is upfront. </p>
<p>(Columbia, by the way, is nowhere near as impacted by poverty as Chicago. It is towards the northern end of an near-unbroken swath of affluence that extends all the way down past Greenwich Village. You can essentially walk the length of Broadway comfortably heading south, and you can get on the subway on campus. At Chicago, you visit the un-chichi neighborhoods on your way to the El.)</p>