CHICAGO | General Developments

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

^^^ Yeah, I'm not saying it's "low crime", I'm saying it's just one of the middle 50% of Chicago neighborhoods that are neither high nor low crime. I mean it's robbery rate is similar to that of Lincoln Park (which obviously attracts that kind of crime because it's a good place to find Chad's and Trixies to stick up). People have this ignorant judgey attitude all the time about this or that neighborhood in Chicago and 95% of the time they literally don't know shit.

That said I literally wrote down the license plates and makes and models of three different heroin dealers cars as they made drops to junkies in front of an abandoned building I'm renovating tonight. I have a direct line to the TAC department and I'm sure those assholes will be getting a surprise traffic stop soon enough.

I remember posting this a few years ago about South Lawndale. I think it gets a bad rep because of some gang stuff that goes on and maybe being near North Lawndale. That being said though it's basically similar to Rogers Park in violent crime rate. If you are OK with Rogers Park and afraid of South Lawndale, then it's probably time to go there. To be honest, I love parts of South Lawndale. Definitely one of the more cultural parts in the entire city.

[SIGSEGV]

South Lawndale is fine, but just across the tracks is not nearly as nice:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8554...7i16384!8i8192

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

South Lawndale is fine, but just across the tracks is not nearly as nice:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8554...7i16384!8i8192

Hah - SO true. I remember showing a friend of mine when he moved to Chicago, who is originally from Mexico City, 26th street. He loved it - you know, so many shops, restaurants, etc - decent or good residential streets. Well maintained buildings. We drove into North Lawndale exactly in the area you just linked to - talk about a massive change in one snap of the fingers. Just incredible. Literally in a block it went from a nice residential street to vacant lots, boarded up houses, and a few houses with obvious drug dealers/gang bangers just hanging outside. That is literally the only reason I would think twice about taking the Pink Line stop to where you linked to at night - the South Lawndale portion is totally fine to me. North Lawndale though around there? oof..

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Median household income in the Chicago area is 68.4k. Standard industry practice for affordable is: (30% of 68.4k)/12 = $1710/month.

https://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/illinois/chicago/

Those units are in the range of affordable for the typical Chicago household. They aren't affordable for a lot of people, and I agree that you can quibble with whether or not somebody should be spending 30% of their income on housing alone. As it stands, most households are paycheck to paycheck and thus unable to save for retirement -- the single biggest contributor to that problem is housing costs and an industry standard to benchmark affordability that is out of touch with modern reality.

But the median rent is nowhere near $1710/month according to the census estimates. It's about half that.

[10023]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

But the median rent is nowhere near $1710/month according to the census estimates. It's about half that.

But where? I would imagine median rents along the North Side Red Line, Brown Line or Blue Line within a reasonable commute of downtown are higher than that.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by 10023

But where? I would imagine median rents along the North Side Red Line, Brown Line or Blue Line within a reasonable commute of downtown are higher than that.

The medin rent in Chicago is $1029 including utilities according to the latest ACS figures. Less than 10% of all rental units are more than $2000. That's pretty damn cheap.

Is everyone supposed to be able to live in the most expensive areas of the city? That is utterly ridiculous and will never happen.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

The medin rent in Chicago is $1029 including utilities according to the latest ACS figures. Less than 10% of all rental units are more than $2000. That's pretty damn cheap.

Is everyone supposed to be able to live in the most expensive areas of the city? That is utterly ridiculous and will never happen.

Of course not, Vlajos. But I have serious doubts that the ACS's figures are even close to accurate, at least not for almost anywhere with a fairly reasonable crime rate, of course. No way you can get a rental for anything less than $1000 plus utilities pretty much anywhere north of Bronzeville and west of the Dan Ryan. Perhaps those numbers are heavily skewed by CHA subsidized housing along with SRO's? Not sure. But something's amiss here.

Aaron (Glowrock)

[emathias]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Agree with your main point that people think the crime in South Lawndale is worse than it actually is. Some of your numbers for other CAs are slightly off for 2018 via the following: https://data.cityofchicago.org/Publi...ijzp-q8t2/data . I do think anywhere downtown deserves an asterisk due to the sheer amount of daily people who aren't residents there (office workers, tourists, etc) being way more than the resident population.
...

Yeah, because of all the visitors, downtown crime stats appear inflated on a per capita basis. In the past month there have been two murders in River North, but both were committed by non-residents and the victims were non-residents, too.

Originally Posted by marothisu

I remember posting this a few years ago about South Lawndale. I think it gets a bad rep because of some gang stuff that goes on and maybe being near North Lawndale. That being said though it's basically similar to Rogers Park in violent crime rate. If you are OK with Rogers Park and afraid of South Lawndale, then it's probably time to go there. To be honest, I love parts of South Lawndale. Definitely one of the more cultural parts in the entire city.

I like South Lawndale a lot. I wish I was better about getting there more often.

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

South Lawndale is fine, but just across the tracks is not nearly as nice:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8554...7i16384!8i8192

Those tracks, though, are a very effective barrier.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by glowrock

Of course not, Vlajos. But I have serious doubts that the ACS's figures are even close to accurate, at least not for almost anywhere with a fairly reasonable crime rate, of course. No way you can get a rental for anything less than $1000 plus utilities pretty much anywhere north of Bronzeville and west of the Dan Ryan. Perhaps those numbers are heavily skewed by CHA subsidized housing along with SRO's? Not sure. But something's amiss here.

Aaron (Glowrock)

Nope, a buddy of mine was actually renting a fairly nice 2 bedroom 2 bath duplex down on Halsted just South of Armitage up until two years ago for $1000/mo. I just had a conversation with a co-worker of my wife who owns her childhood home (frame 2 flat with a coach house) in Ukranian Village for $800/mo per unit.

There are affordable units all over the place in Chicago, you can find them everywhere. The thing is those deals only ever show up on the market for a split second or never go on the market because they are owned by long time owners who don't give a crap about making the maximum profit and just want to rent to someone they know or trust to avoid issues. The one in Ukranian Village, for example, is rented out entirely to people who only speak Ukranian and who come through that community.

The irony is that THOSE are the units that rising taxes, fees, and city code cases eliminate. Eventually the long time owners who are just fine making $2400/mo on a building they own cash are forced to liquidate it or raise the rents because the city comes along and slaps a bunch of bullshit violations on it (you have no management sign and I bet you have an attic apartment!!!) or starts sending them a $300 ticket every month because someone keeps piling garbage around their trash cans.

[aaron38]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Hah - SO true. I remember showing a friend of mine when he moved to Chicago, who is originally from Mexico City, 26th street. He loved it - you know, so many shops, restaurants, etc - decent or good residential streets. Well maintained buildings. We drove into North Lawndale exactly in the area you just linked to - talk about a massive change in one snap of the fingers. Just incredible. Literally in a block it went from a nice residential street to vacant lots, boarded up houses, and a few houses with obvious drug dealers/gang bangers just hanging outside.

How does that happen? North Lawndale has better transit access than South. More options to get to work should mean higher land values, a more stable community.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by aaron38

How does that happen? North Lawndale has better transit access than South. More options to get to work should mean higher land values, a more stable community.

The race riots (and racism), which led to structural declines and complete disinvestment, to say nothing of the physical scars. South Lawndale wasn't as impacted, though it's obviously still struggled. The BNsF metra tracks might as well be the Berlin wall. Different gangs, different cultures, and if you historically have lived in one of those communities you simply don't cross that line.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Yeah, but it's a fake news that Albany and Cermak is some sort of violent crime hotspot.

Last year the entire South Lawndale community area had 9 homicides. For comparison West Town had 7, Near North (i.e. River North, Streeterville, etc) had 7, Near West had 7, Humboldt Park had 16, Rogers Park and West Ridge both had 7, etc etc etc.

This is not a war zone, this is not out of line with other "acceptable" areas. The vast majority of neighborhoods in Chicago have a handful of murders a year, a handful of neighborhoods account for the bulk of murders city wide. It's basically just Austin and the adjoining areas and Englewood and the adjoining areas that are free for alls. Everywhere else is either quiet or has less than one murder a month.

So far in 2019 Little Village has two homicides tied with Avondale, Irving Park, West Town, Near North, and the Near West Side (West Loop). I wouldn't go to any of those places if I were you!

I live in LV (between Kedzie and central Park), and have for the last 4 years. I suspect everyone else on this forum posting about how it's this or that does not (in fact they're usually the ones posting about buying some multi million dollar condo in Lakeshore east that just came in the market). Statistics don't tell the full story. I've had a rock thrown at my car while driving. I've watched some "warriors" type fight, complete with a tire iron. A cop has been shot on my block. There have been dozens of other shootings over that period of time within a few blocks of where I live. Unless someone goes to the hospital or is killed they don't make the news. Some have hit innocent people, many happen in broad daylight. Here's 2 more from yesterday alone. 1 PM.


https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2-...e-28th-street/

Johns and prostitutes getting in fights over money in the street. Don't even get me started on the trash. There's gang grafitti on the damn tree trunks. Ive had bangers on motorbikes try to run me over on the sidewalk, and otherwise try to intimidate me whole walking home from errands. I never know whether it will be the time a gun finally gets pulled on me. I've found shell casings while gardening. And forget about having anyone come visit you.

Comparing LV to the West Loop is beyond disingenuous and you know it. And that's why you "invest" there and encourage other people to live there, but don't do so yourself. Theres a profit motive in everything you say, even using the forum to advertise listings. I don't have that conflict of interest when I say things here.

I should say there are lots of things I love about the neighborhood and the community and there are reasons I live here, but it only looks "ok" statistically when compared against the some of the absoluteworst neighborhoods in the country (and sadly parts of Chicago fit that criteria)

[Busy Bee]

Hold on while I get some popcorn

[Vlajos]

Denying the census estimates is truly bizarre. I see for rent signs around Lincoln Square and two bedrooms are usually listed around $1200, studios and 1 bedrooms less. I know of a two flat with a 3 bedroom listed at $1600. People see those stupid rents from zumper and other silly apartment sites and think they are representative of the market.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Denying the census estimates is truly bizarre. I see for rent signs around Lincoln Square and two bedrooms are usually listed around $1200, studios and 1 bedrooms less. I know of a two flat with a 3 bedroom listed at $1600. People see those stupid rents from zumper and other silly apartment sites and think they are representative of the market.

It's not bizarre when you've been looking for places recently like I have, Vlajos. I've investigated a number of the "cheaper" options, only to see either the 9'x7' "bedroom" not even big enough to put a queen bed into, or a kitchen from circa WWII, fridge in a closet, stove the size of a child's play stove, etc... etc... Not saying there aren't deals to be had of course, but given that the majority of people use online listings to do their searching, at least at the beginning, these types of one-off situations aren't easily accessible by most people.

Aaron (Glowrock)

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

I live in LV (between Kedzie and central Park), and have for the last 4 years. I suspect everyone else on this forum posting about how it's this or that does not (in fact they're usually the ones posting about buying some multi million dollar condo in Lakeshore east that just came in the market). Statistics don't tell the full story. I've had a rock thrown at my car while driving. I've watched some "warriors" type fight, complete with a tire iron. A cop has been shot on my block. There have been dozens of other shootings over that period of time within a few blocks of where I live. Unless someone goes to the hospital or is killed they don't make the news. Some have hit innocent people, many happen in broad daylight. Here's 2 more from yesterday alone. 1 PM.


https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2-...e-28th-street/

Johns and prostitutes getting in fights over money in the street. Don't even get me started on the trash. There's gang grafitti on the damn tree trunks. Ive had bangers on motorbikes try to run me over on the sidewalk, and otherwise try to intimidate me whole walking home from errands. I never know whether it will be the time a gun finally gets pulled on me. I've found shell casings while gardening. And forget about having anyone come visit you.

Comparing LV to the West Loop is beyond disingenuous and you know it. And that's why you "invest" there and encourage other people to live there, but don't do so yourself. Theres a profit motive in everything you say, even using the forum to advertise listings. I don't have that conflict of interest when I say things here.

I should say there are lots of things I love about the neighborhood and the community and there are reasons I live here, but it only looks "ok" statistically when compared against the some of the absoluteworst neighborhoods in the country (and sadly parts of Chicago fit that criteria)

I don't spend much time West of Kedzie in Little Village so I can't speak for what you experience, but I've never once been harassed by anyone other than white SJWs in my half of the area. I don't want to get into a "street cred" pissing match, but I've had full on boulders thrown through my car window while it was parked less than a block from Diversey and Milwaukee. I was actually shot at once while talking to a gangbanger I was trying to get to move out in the same area. You make it sound as if these things don't happen in other parts of Chicago. And no, it's not silly to say this type of stuff still happens in the near West community area, there are still some very seedy pockets West of Ashland that are just as bad as anywhere in Little Village.

Also, like I said in my previous post, I'm not under the delusion that nothing seedier happens here than in Logan or elsewhere. I just broke up three separate heroin deals in front of a construction project of mine last night (saw the junkies waiting and then just started walking directly towards them as the dealer pulled up causing them to drive off). I pick up used needles and condoms from the hookers constantly from behind that building. It's much more out in the open here than in Logan, but that's largely because people here are cowed into letting it slide because it's so prevelent and because they are afraid. At some point the only way that changes is when you stop accepting it.

As far as your comments about me not living here or using this forum to promote places for personal gain, well I don't have much to say about that. I will say that I don't use this site to promote shit, I just have the balls to do what I say. I say Little Village is awesome because I think that is true which is why I buy here. I only bring up what units I have available because there are a lot of liars on here claiming there is nowhere affordable to live. If you are actually unable to find something affordable, then rent from me because the fact is there are affordable places and I know because I own some.

Again, my words and beliefs are consistent with my actions. I don't just claim there is affordable housing or want to "create affordable housing", I actually go out and do it. I keep that whole building at Albany and Cermak affordable because I like having a place to offer people who can't afford my other properties. The vacant apartment I have now was actually occupied for two years by someone I had to move out if the way who was living in the burnt buildings I just renovated. I paid her $2500 for her trouble and rented her that unit at a discounted rent of $700. So much for me being an evil gentrifier.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by glowrock

It's not bizarre when you've been looking for places recently like I have, Vlajos. I've investigated a number of the "cheaper" options, only to see either the 9'x7' "bedroom" not even big enough to put a queen bed into, or a kitchen from circa WWII, fridge in a closet, stove the size of a child's play stove, etc... etc... Not saying there aren't deals to be had of course, but given that the majority of people use online listings to do their searching, at least at the beginning, these types of one-off situations aren't easily accessible by most people.

Aaron (Glowrock)

i lived in one of those places with a kitchen built for a hobbit (what was once likely a far larger unit that got subdivided). to me it was a fair tradeoff to live a block from the lake, for well under 1k (complete with a deck, full size bedroom, and lots of great light and hardwood). if youre smart about organization its doable, and ive never had anyone complain about the cooking that came out of it



if you have a family i could see it not really working tho.

[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

I live in LV (between Kedzie and central Park), and have for the last 4 years. I suspect everyone else on this forum posting about how it's this or that does not (in fact they're usually the ones posting about buying some multi million dollar condo in Lakeshore east that just came in the market). Statistics don't tell the full story. I've had a rock thrown at my car while driving. I've watched some "warriors" type fight, complete with a tire iron. A cop has been shot on my block. There have been dozens of other shootings over that period of time within a few blocks of where I live. Unless someone goes to the hospital or is killed they don't make the news. Some have hit innocent people, many happen in broad daylight. Here's 2 more from yesterday alone. 1 PM.


https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2-...e-28th-street/

Johns and prostitutes getting in fights over money in the street. Don't even get me started on the trash. There's gang grafitti on the damn tree trunks. Ive had bangers on motorbikes try to run me over on the sidewalk, and otherwise try to intimidate me whole walking home from errands. I never know whether it will be the time a gun finally gets pulled on me. I've found shell casings while gardening. And forget about having anyone come visit you.

Comparing LV to the West Loop is beyond disingenuous and you know it. And that's why you "invest" there and encourage other people to live there, but don't do so yourself. Theres a profit motive in everything you say, even using the forum to advertise listings. I don't have that conflict of interest when I say things here.

I should say there are lots of things I love about the neighborhood and the community and there are reasons I live here, but it only looks "ok" statistically when compared against the some of the absoluteworst neighborhoods in the country (and sadly parts of Chicago fit that criteria)

good post

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by glowrock

It's not bizarre when you've been looking for places recently like I have, Vlajos. I've investigated a number of the "cheaper" options, only to see either the 9'x7' "bedroom" not even big enough to put a queen bed into, or a kitchen from circa WWII, fridge in a closet, stove the size of a child's play stove, etc... etc... Not saying there aren't deals to be had of course, but given that the majority of people use online listings to do their searching, at least at the beginning, these types of one-off situations aren't easily accessible by most people.

Aaron (Glowrock)

The issue is that in some of the more established hoods like the one Vlajos talked about is there's a lot of listings not online. The same thing in my fiances old neighborhood in Astoria (Queens). If you have the ability to, actually walk through the neighborhoods you are looking to move to and look for For Rent signs. Many of these might not even be online or hard to find online. Sometimes that's how you truly get better deals in some areas.

Estimates like Zumper are inaccurate as they only are about what they have as their own listings. The US Census is based on a lot more scientific grounds and way more complete data wise. Though there could be a caveat in that someone could be renting 1 place for the last 15 years and the landlord barely raised rent.

Anyway, it might be worth your while to walk around and look for For Rent signs if you are having trouble. I remember some friends of mine back in 2013 had a 3 bed + den near the Irving Park Blue Line for $1500/mo total. Entire floor of the 3 flat. Big..their kitchen was like half the size of my entire Gold Coast apartment. Even a few years ago, I met a few friends of a friend who had a renovated 3 bedroom in Andersonvile for $1800/mo total. These things are definitely out there

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Anyway, it might be worth your while to walk around and look for For Rent signs if you are having trouble. I remember some friends of mine back in 2013 had a 3 bed + den near the Irving Park Blue Line for $1500/mo total. Entire floor of the 3 flat. Big..their kitchen was like half the size of my entire Gold Coast apartment. Even a few years ago, I met a few friends of a friend who had a renovated 3 bedroom in Andersonvile for $1800/mo total. These things are definitely out there

^ 2013 was a LOOOOONG time ago in Chicago's rental market