Chicago, IL

[PrescribedBurn]

Chicago is very bikable, though less so downtown than in places like Hyde Park. There is a fantastic path that runs along the lakeshore-about 7 or 8 miles from HP to Millenium Park or so (but the path goes way north beyond that. You can take bikes on buses and trains (not sure about the El, though), though there's usually a limit-bus bike racks have room for 2 bikes, I think. Bikes are popular on campus, lots of bike racks. Bike theft (or theft of parts) can be an issue-you really need a U-lock or something of that caliber, and I would recommend a used bike rather than anything fancy, but you should be ok.

Soul Veg is another veg restaurant that my friends like, but it's down on 75th. For grocery stores, I love HPP. Treasure Island is a bigger store that I don't like that much, but I'll go there for some things. There's also a weekly farmer's market on 61st for most of the year.

Getting downtown is easy, but the fastest route will depend where you live. The most common ways to get downtown are the Metra (fast, but only goes up to the Loop and runs less frequently, usually once per hour), the 6 bus (gets you to the river, takes maybe 30 min), and the Red Line (usually a quick bus from campus to the stop, then the Red Line runs way up north). There are other options, such as the 2, 4, and Green Line, which may be convenient depending on where you live and where you are going.

[superbygk]

PrescribedBurn already answered some of these questions, but I'll just add a couple of things:

I bike regularly in the city of Chicago. It is one of the more bike friendly cities in the US. Generally you can bike on most roads, and a good number of them also have bike lanes/bus lanes, so that is helpful. In winter it is tough to bike because it's so cold and it snows sometimes, but generally you can get many places biking. It's also really nice to bike along the Lake during the summer as PrescribedBurn said =).

There is bike thievery, but I don't think it's too common. I had my bike seat stolen once when someone cut the spiral lock that anchored my seat to my U-locked bike. Generally, though, if you have a U-lock it is very difficult for someone to cut it, so you will be pretty safe.

Overall, a bike can be a practical thing: it can save you money in the long run and sometimes you can get places faster than if you decided to take the train or bus.

[PhDreams]

Yes, you can take your bike on the El but it's something like one per car.

[InquilineKea]

Oh wow I see - thanks for all the information! I wonder if I should take my bike to get the groceries or not.

How do car-less people usually get their groceries in Chicago anyways?

Edited February 2, 2012 by InquilineKea

[PhDreams]

I walked. I guess it depends where you live. I also know that some carless friends of mine would just rent a car (I-go..car sharing, etc) and go once of month for the heavy items, but just go weekly (walking, biking, cta) for items like fruits and veggies. Public trans is pretty good here too. That's just another option.

[Behavioral]

A lot of Chicagoans also use delivery services (like peapod) if they don't live conveniently near a supermarket or if it's (in a typical winter) too cold to go out.

[PrescribedBurn]

If you live in HP, there are also buses and shuttles that run around the neighborhood that can be nice when you have groceries. But I usually just walk.

[purpledinosaur]

Good to know! I will probably walk to get groceries like I do here, since there seem to be several good grocery choices in the area.

[AudioEnvy]

I asked this a few months ago, but this thread was really dead at the time, so I am going to ask again. Do any of you guys have any suggestions for where to live for St. Xavier University? It is in Mount Greenwood, which I have heard definitely isn't the liveliest area. I don't necessarily need to be in the center of Chicago activity, but I would definitely like to live somewhere where 1) There is at least sooome interesting close by things to do, and 2) Easy transportation downtown, for when I do want to experience all that.

Would you guys suggest just staying the Mount Greenwood area, or is there somewhere else that would have the things that I listed above, but also be fairly close/easy to get to St. Xavier?

[superbygk]

don't know anything about mount greenwood, but if the school has a metra rail stop nearby it might be possible to live in the city and commute out. that being said, it's definitely not the ideal, since the metra chicago station(s) are all in one location near downtown. if you happen to find a place to live near the metra stations, great, but if not, that means you'll either need to take the bus/cta train and transfer to the metra, or walk or bike to it, and that can get inconvenient.

i suppose another option is to drive out to mount greenwood from chicago if you have a car. contrary to most folks' initial impression, driving in chicago isn't a nightmare (unless you're downtown near the loop/during rush hour), and there are neighborhoods where you can park on the street for free (note: if you register your car at a chicago address, you will need to pay for a city sticker; if you are from out of state and keep your out of state license plate, you won't have to purchase the sticker). if you have a car and you can find an apartment in a neighborhood with free street parking, then commuting shouldn't be much of a problem (to be fair, i don't know how far mount greenwood is, though). hope that helps.

[DorindaAfterThyrsis]

Hey, dudes.

Thanks for all the info so far in this thread. Very helpful!

I'm considering accepting my UChicago offer (visiting campus at the beginning of March will help me solidify my decision), but just wondering if someone can help clarify a few terms that keep popping up in this thread and put them in context for me.

- I've been living in Toronto for the past 8 years, so I'm no stranger to winter. Typical "cold" days here mid-January/Fenruary get down into the -15ish celsius range (colder with the wind chill)....is this similar to Chi-town, or is it colder there?

- In terms of "safety", I'm not sure what to think with all the mixed reaction here. I've lived in a Big Bad City (in a neighbourhood some would consider sketchy, but that I love) for close to a decade, so I'm assuming that Chicago can't be as "unsafe"/scary as this thread makes it seem.....but maybe I'm just naieve? Or maybe Toronto is just a very safe city? Can anyone provide some context about this issue of "safe" vs. unsafe neighbourhoods? I'm tempted to believe (like a poster mentioned a while back) that "rough" is often being used here to mean "non-white".....but I don't really know for sure. Long story short: I'm a pretty tough cookie, and not scared of much.....do I need to start being scared before I move to Chi-town? I will most likely live in Hyde Park (at least for a year, while I get to know the city better), but I'm open to other neighbourhoods.

- I'm a vegan, so I'm happy to hear that there seem to be good produce markets around campus. Yay for a farmer's market!! Anyone know of any services similar to this one that serve this Hyde Park area? I'm kinda militant about eating local/organic and really love this company and don't want to go back to eating supermarket veggies (the horror!), so finding a similar gig in Chicago would be ideal and would make the transition much smoother!

- I'm a (fanatic? rabid? insane?) commuter cyclist, so I'm very pleased to hear about the bikability and low bike-theft rates (Toronto is NOTORIOUS for bike theives). I bike year-round here in T.O. (unless it is literally impossible to do so because of snow), and I imagine I will continue to do so in Chicago if I end up there....any thoughts/insights on the terrain of the city? Is it hilly? Flat? Does the lake front bike path get me downtown? Are drivers in the city generally pretty bike-aware? How long does it take to get from Hyde Park to downtown via bike (I'm generally pretty fast)?

- I'm entering grad school after a career as a professional modern dancer. I know Chicago has a great dance scene (one of the reasons I'm seriously considering UChicago), but if anyone has any insights about the best places to take class (professional level....not "adult" recreational) in either modern/contemporary and/or ballet, I'd be much obliged.

[purpledinosaur]

Yay for vegans!!

I don't live in Chicago, but I'm considering accepting at U of C as well and I emailed one of my profs to ask about the neighbourhood. A quote from his email: "As regards crime, it in fact has a bit *less* crime than most neighborhoods in the city, including some of the posh ones on the North Side. In any big city, of course, one has to be savvy and aware, but I really don't feel that Hyde Park is any less safe than other places we've lived. I also say this as a highly protective father of two little kids -- if I had any worries about their safety, we would move out of the neighborhood in a heartbeat."

When I visited in November I absolutely loved it and felt perfectly safe in Hyde Park; about as safe as I feel in Montreal. I'm sure the rest of the city is different, but I really liked Hyde Park. It was also warmer than Montreal at the time.

[emilyrobot]

Hey Dorinda, congrats on your acceptance, and I hope you enjoy your visit to the city in March! Let me see how helpful I can be about your questions.

As far as winter goes, since you're coming from Toronto, I don't think you'll be shocked by the cold. -15 C isn't unheard of here, especially in Jan/Feb, but that would be below average. The wind makes it worse, especially by the lake, but if you know how to dress for the weather (and I assume you do!) you'll be fine. Something to be thoughtful about, though, is the heat of the summers--people focus on the cold of the winter here, but the summers are HOT and (this is the killer) HUMID. Especially in July and August, you can expect days over 32 C, higher with the heat index. I don't know if this is comparable to the summers in Toronto or not.

As far as safety is concerned, I don't think you need to start being scared in Chicago, just remember to bring your city sense with you. Lock your bike wheels to your bike frame--don't just lock the frame to a pole--pay attention to your surroundings, let yourself get to know the city etc. There are for sure parts of the city that people call "dangerous" because they're non-white neighborhoods. There are also part of the city that people call "dangerous" because they are! It pays to be skeptical of other peoples' conception of safety, but, IMO, part of being a tough cookie in a major city is trusting your own good sense. Maybe it's just me, but the real danger in living in Hyde Park is getting caught in the "Hyde Park bubble" and not getting to know the rest of the city.

About food, a quick google turns up this http://chicago.doortodoororganics.com/about/ which may suit your needs. I can't vouch for it personally, though. Eating local in the midwest in the winter is going to be pretty limiting, but you'll have some good options for organic. Something to consider in the spring/summer/fall is a CSA share. I don't know if they have those up by you, so forgive me if I'm telling you stuff you already know but a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share works like this: you sign up for a season with a local farm, and in exchange you get a box of fruits and veggies each week containing whatever happens to be ready for harvest. Some of them deliver to your door, others you might have to go and pick up on a given day from a drop spot in your neighborhood. I've had some good experiences with this, and it's kind of fun to not know what you're getting week-to-week. Options vary in terms of how much shares cost, how long the season is, what kinds of things are available, whether you pay week-to-week or all at once etc. Some of the farms will offer you the opportunity to visit the farm at some point during the season, which I've never done but sounds fun. Google around for options and reviews and see what works for you!

Chicago is a great city for biking, in part because it's so damn flat--the closest thing you'll find to a hill here is a bridge. The lakefront bike path will take you downtown, as well as into the neighborhoods on the North Side. In addition, many major streets have marked bike lanes, which makes commuting by bike easy. Drivers are pretty aware of bicyclists, especially on the streets with marked lanes. The most common accident is getting "doored" when folks in parked cars open their doors into bike lanes without checking behind them. The city has been really invested in making biking safe and accessible, which is really nice. Good information about biking in the city can be found here http://www.cityofchicago.org/cityinfo/cdot/bikemap/keymap.html including maps of trails and bike lanes and information about taking your bike onto buses and trains. The city is also piloting more "protected bike lanes" which will make things even easier for cyclists: more info on that here http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/bike/news/2011/jul/kinzie_protectedbikelanecompleted.html

I wish I could be helpful with the dance thing, but I really have no idea. The Joffery offers classes, and Ruth Page is well-known enough to make it onto my (totally non-dancing) radar. The Old Town School of Folk Music probably skews more recreational than you'd like, but it's a cool resource if you think you might want to take a few classes on break dancing or like, Indonesian folk dancing or something for fun. Take a look at this article in Time Out to give you a good starting place for more research http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/dance/66360/top-ten-dance-studios

Good luck with your decisions!

[DLo]

Hey, I recently got into UIC and have started thinking about which neighborhood to live in. I've heard many students live in Wicker park/bucktown but I'm leaning more towards living near Lakeview (close to southport or ashland). Does anyone do the commute from Lakeview to UIC or know how manageable it is?

[emilyrobot]

Hey DLo, congrats on your acceptance!

Living in Lakeview, you'd probably take the Ashland bus to campus? It would be kind of a long bus ride. Or maybe take the Brown line and then transfer to the Blue? It would probably be about an hour each way on public transit and more like 20 minutes driving/biking. That seems like a lot to me? But everyone has a different tolerance for commuting times. What is it that appeals to you about Lakeview? There might be other neighborhoods where you can have the stuff that you like and have a shorter commute.

[Sarah.rah5]

Hi, I was accepted into UIC, and while I haven't made up my mind yet, I'm strongly considering it. Is there anything you can tell me about the University Village area?

Thanks!

[superbygk]

I didn't live in UV, but I went to UIC and passed through that area all the time. There are a lot of students living there. It's a nicer student area (with cleaner and newer buildings and higher rent). I feel like it's a mish mash of undergrads and graduate students (I'm not sure how you feel about living near undergrads, as us grad students usually have a reputation of being elitist when it comes to that). It's not really near any nightlife, but it is located close to downtown and Chinatown. Only downside is that it's not really all that close to a CTA train stop (you might want 15 maybe 20 minutes to the nearing one depending on where you live in UV).

[newleaf]

@Purpledinosaur and @Dorinda and anyone considering UChicago

I had the lovely experience of being at Uchicago the last academic year. It is a tremendously beautiful place academically. It ends there. I lived a block away from campus in student housing.

I had my apartment complex broken into twice

2 people shot and killed within a block and a half of me...within a week. (Gang related, no students hurt)

My license plate almost ripped off across the street from campus

My car keyed...3 times

My car broken into (nothing to steal in it...haha bitches)

Although the university hires the second largest private police force in the country, I would submit that they are largely inept. The one and only time I used a police car drive-along to escort me, I was literally ditched by the officer after she followed me for all of 2 blocks, had to call HQ, and filed a formal complaint (I am not the type) and the officer was disciplined for potentially compromising student safety.

On the notion of random crime, kids are held up at gun point occasionally, stuff goes missing on campus often, break-ins are common, and girls get fondled at night. And sometimes in the day. As a girl, I did have a few close calls. Walking as a group doesn't help, even groups get attacked sometimes with random violence. Last year there was a group of like 5 students who were attacked and a few went to the hospital.

The school does everything it can to protect students, and there is a very convenient shuttle system that makes it so that the majority of kids don't have to walk after 4 pm. Those routes are set and come often. There is also a point-to-point shuttle system that operates. It was the subject of a shitload of ire last year and a bunch of people formally complained to the university with stories that they would call the shuttle, and 45 minutes later the shuttle would roll up. Or not show up at all. If you're super interested, google "uchicago safe ride".

There is a good grocery store with great produce (hyde park produce), and a lot of relatively shitty restaurants that charge about 20% more than they should. The food on campus is OK.

I was only there for a year so I was happy to make the most of it. The crime and stuff is more an inconvenience than a a serious threat to safety because its basically people wanting money, and the intellectual environment is so luxurious and stunning, it made it worth it for me. Visit it, check it out, and see if you think it will be worth it for you.

[PrescribedBurn]

I'm sorry to hear about your experience, newleaf. While those things do happen here, I am surprised you had so many issues, as I don't think your experience is typical. I've lived in HP for more than four years now and have never had a single incident, and neither have many people I know. I have rarely felt unsafe here. It can certainly be scary to hear about the muggings and violent crimes in the area, but it's really not atypical for an urban area- Hyde Park is actually one of the safer neighborhoods in the city by crime statistics. It happens, but it's still relatively rare considering the number of people who live here.

[GregCantRead]

Hi, I was accepted into UIC, and while I haven't made up my mind yet, I'm strongly considering it. Is there anything you can tell me about the University Village area?

Thanks!

Hi Sarah--

Congratulations! I used to live and work near UIC, and it's not all that thrilling. It's right on the Blue Line, so it's easy to get to, depending on what kind of commute you're looking for. A friend was going there, and strangely most of the people in her program lived in Logan Square, which isn't close to UIC at all, but it's only about a 30 minute train ride.

University Village is a little bland for my taste. It's near Little Italy and just north of Pilsen, which has a lot of galleries, a few decent bars, cheap housing, and some really good Mexican restaurants. But, my car got stolen (and found in a week) and my apartment was broken into when I was living on the west side of Pilsen.

it's easy enough to get to other places, but University Village has never really been a destination for me.

[GregCantRead]

On 2/13/2012 at 4:40 PM, DLo said:

Hey, I recently got into UIC and have started thinking about which neighborhood to live in. I've heard many students live in Wicker park/bucktown but I'm leaning more towards living near Lakeview (close to southport or ashland). Does anyone do the commute from Lakeview to UIC or know how manageable it is?

Hey D--

Congratulations! Emily's right about the Brown-->Blue. The area around Southport and Addison (just north of the Brown Line stop) is cute and has a great coffee shop and movie theater. There's a new grocery store, and the neighborhood's a little more family-oriented than others I've lived in. I haven't found it to be particularly diverse, which--for me--is a little off-putting, and I didn't have an easy time getting around town.

From what I remember, apartments are around the same price as Wicker Park or Bucktown, but you don't have to deal with the crowds during Cubs games and there are a ton of great restaurants off the Blue Line.

[ckonscider]

Hi all -- Does anyone have any experience with the University of Chicago's graduate student housing? They seem to own a good number of buildings, but are they nice apartments? They have no interior photos posted and I can't seem to find much info online. Would you recommend going through them or looking to rent from another company?

Also-- if you would recommend going through them, do you know which buildings are best?

Thanks!

Edited March 1, 2012 by ckonscider

[Eggleston]

I don't have much experience with graduate housing because I was an undergrad at the UofC, but I'd recommend looking for an apartment (graduate housing or otherwise) in the north or eastern portions of Hyde Park close to the lake, just because it's easier to get downtown. It's basically a matter of walking a few minutes to the bus or Metra (if you live by the lake), versus a 15+ minute walk from the inner/Western parts of the neighborhood, which can be annoying, especially in Winter.

Anything off of 51st Street is probably a good bet, because a lot of the buses that go downtown stop at 51st and Lake Park and continue their routes north. There is also a Metra stop there, the 51st/53rd stop.

If you're looking to live close to a grocery store, eventually anything off 51st will be a pretty good location given that the Whole Foods at 53rd/Lake Park should open in 2014. In the meantime, there is Treasure Island at 55th and Lake Park, Hyde Park Produce at 53rd and Kimbark (good place to go if you're vegetarian and/or live in Western/Central Hyde Park), or Village Foods, which is at 51st/Lake Park but closing once the new construction for the Whole Foods complex takes over.

If you want to get a non-UofC apartment instead, you should look at marketplace.uchicago.edu and http://www.uchicagoapartments.com/.

[EllieOfAquitaine]

Hey there!

I got into UChicago this week. I was wondering if I should bother bringing my car at all. It sounds like it's not necessary. Also, my friend is waiting to hear back from Roosevelt. If she does get in, is there a safe neighborhood between both schools you would recommend living in?

[Another Sisyphus]

Would anyone recommend a neighborhood between UChicago and UIC?