Is the humboldt park area of chicago a safe place to live?
I currently live in milwaukee in a fairly safe neighborhood. I am thinking of moving to chicago and i have read some reviews that humboldt park is really improving. Is it a safe neighborhood for a single young white woman?
7 Responses
traveler
29 Jan 2010
steffo
29 Jan 2010
I used to live there for 3 years. I just moved about 3 months ago. If you’ve never been exposed to the city life it might be difficult. There are a lot of people hanging out on the corners, there is a lot of noise. I lived there I was single, and pretty much kept to my self, I never had any problems.
discoballz82
29 Jan 2010
many chicago neighborhoods seem to be going from "shady" or "ghetto" to "up-and-coming". the humboldt park/logan square area is full of beautiful historic buildings and the park itself is quite large and nice to look at on a sunny day. the neighborhood’s demographic is changing SLOWLY. i would imagine that a single white woman from wisconsin that is new in the city might be a little intimidated by the neighborhood. google "citizen icam" to get the most recent crime stats for whatever area you plan on moving to. i would recommend ukranian village, wicker park, or even bucktown as alternate options. they’re all within minutes of humboldt park, and offer more variety in bars, restaurants, boutiques, etc.
Marc W
29 Jan 2010
It depends where in the neighborhood. The eastern portion of Humboldt Park is improving rapidly; the western portion is still a bit dicey at night. It is definitely improving, and the park itself is now safe during the day, but in terms of the neighborhood I don’t know if as a single white female, you’d really be comfortable there. Since you live in Milwaukee, a good comparison might be the area south of the Third Ward. Improving, but still "in transition."
If you’re looking for a neighborhood that’s cheap and upcoming but a little further along in its development, you might try Ukranian Village, just south of there, around Damen and Chicago. That’s a similar type of neighborhood but a little more gentrified – unfortunately without as nice a park as Humboldt Park is, though.
Tommy
29 Jan 2010
I would put Humboldt Park on hold and take a look at the Garfield Park area just SW of there. It is slowly re-vitalizing itself into a very nice area.
manonthestreet1
29 Jan 2010
It’s "improving" but it’s not totally there yet. By improving I assume people mean cute little shops, a Starbucks maybe. If that;’s what you mean, then no. It’s still a heavily ethinc Puerto Rican neighborhood. That being said, I personally think it’s cool. Are there trouble spots? Sure. But I do see "young urban professional" couples walking and jogging in the park .. in the daytime of course. There still is a little gang activity. I think moving there depends on what kind of "single young white woman" uyou are. If you’ve lived in Chicago for most if not all of your life, you know how to handle yourself and can deal wtih it. but someone moving here for the first time… I dunno. There are other places that are a little more conducive for a first-time single woman moving to Chicago. I’d keep looking a bit.
weeniewotsit
29 Jan 2010
I’m a white woman who used to live in Chicago. I worked at a high school and there were many of our kids who lived there and who were involved with gangs. Wouldn’t recommend living there. I lived in Old Irving Park, and it was ok.
I would say its an up and coming area. Some streets are better than others. Kind of depends where you are located but as a whole its not completely safe but if you are smart about being in a city it could be fine.