Route Advice: Wilson to Loop

[gallerystorage]

Unfortunately, it seems I was highly mislead by the Chicago Apartment Finders as to the safety of the Wilson Red Line stop in the evening. I just moved to Chicago from out of state, and will be attending grad school (evening classes) in the loop at the Art Institute.

Any suggestions how I could get to from the Art Institute to Wilson/Beacon via bus, leaving the loop around 9:15-9:30 pm, while avoiding the Wilson train stop? Or, if nothing else, a resource where this could be found? The online CTA bus maps are a mess.

[wordguy]

Unfortunately, it seems I was highly mislead by the Chicago Apartment Finders as to the safety of the Wilson Red Line stop in the evening. I just moved to Chicago from out of state, and will be attending grad school (evening classes) in the loop at the Art Institute.

Any suggestions how I could get to from the Art Institute to Wilson/Beacon via bus, leaving the loop around 9:15-9:30 pm, while avoiding the Wilson train stop? Or, if nothing else, a resource where this could be found? The online CTA bus maps are a mess.

A single bus will bring you practically to your doorstep. The #145 Wilson-Michigan Express operates northbound along State Street from Harrison to Lake Street at 10 to 15 minute intervals. However, the last bus leaves State and Adams just a few minutes after 9:30 PM.

Any time after that, you'd do well to use the #22 Clark which runs northbound on Dearborn. It's a safer walk east from Clark Street along Wilson than it would be going west from Broadway.

[Busjack]

Demonstrates that one should scope out the neighborhood before renting. Uptown has always been a rough neighborhood, probably the most on the far north side, although it appears that Rogers Park is now getting there.

[jajuan]

Unfortunately, it seems I was highly mislead by the Chicago Apartment Finders as to the safety of the Wilson Red Line stop in the evening. I just moved to Chicago from out of state, and will be attending grad school (evening classes) in the loop at the Art Institute.

Any suggestions how I could get to from the Art Institute to Wilson/Beacon via bus, leaving the loop around 9:15-9:30 pm, while avoiding the Wilson train stop? Or, if nothing else, a resource where this could be found? The online CTA bus maps are a mess.

If you're one who finds that the CTA online system maps to be cluttered, I would suggest you use the CTA Trip Planner powered by Google Maps before going to class. You enter your start point and destination, and you have an option of entering either the time you'll be starting your trip or your desired arrival time. You'll be given 2 or 3 options of how to get to your destinations with the suggested routes you can take with bus arrival times and transfer points. Each option gives you a map of your complete trip, showing your start, destination, and transfer points along with the locations of the bus stops at each point. It's less cluttered than the CTA online maps because it only shows the portions of the routes that you'll need to complete your trip overlayed on a map of the neighborhoods you'll pass through during your trip.

[Buslover88]

Uptown has always been a rough neighborhood, probably the most on the far north side, although it appears that Rogers Park is now getting there.

Don't forget the Avondale/Logan Square area .

Any suggestions how I could get to from the Art Institute to Wilson/Beacon via bus, leaving the loop around 9:15-9:30 pm, while avoiding the Wilson train stop? Or, if nothing else, a resource where this could be found? The online CTA bus maps are a mess.

A way that you could get home from the Loop is to take #145 or other expresses, like other members here have suggested.

[gallerystorage]

I'll have class until 9 most weeknights, so I should be able to catch one of the last 145's.

Unfortunately, I did ask around before signing the lease. Go figure that nobody had the gumption to tell me I'd be in the ghetto. Oh well. This should work! The Clark/Wilson intersection is actually closer anyway.

Thanks!! Awesome advice all around.

Think it'd be ok to take the train from Wilson toward downtown during the day and/or rush hour?

[jajuan]

I'll have class until 9 most weeknights, so I should be able to catch one of the last 145's.

Unfortunately, I did ask around before signing the lease. Go figure that nobody had the gumption to tell me I'd be in the ghetto. Oh well. This should work! The Clark/Wilson intersection is actually closer anyway.

Thanks!! Awesome advice all around.

Think it'd be ok to take the train from Wilson toward downtown during the day and/or rush hour?

You should generally be alright taking the train during the day because there are more people out. The only major issue you'd probably have to worry about is the chance of crowds on the train especially during rush hour periods. Uptown is an odd neighborhood in the since that you have rough spots mixed in between what are generally quiet spots in the area. The main spots that seem to be bad are concentrated along Broadway and Sheridan near the Red Line from what I've seen. I seen a stark contrast between spots north of Foster where Edgewater generally begins and those south of Foster.

[MVTArider]

.... Uptown is an odd neighborhood in the since that you have rough spots mixed in between what are generally quiet spots in the area. The main spots that seem to be bad are concentrated along Broadway and Sheridan near the Red Line from what I've seen. I seen a stark contrast between spots north of Foster where Edgewater generally begins and those south of Foster.

Question: Is a lot of Chicago that way? I remember from riding X54 it seemed like there were rough looking spots and then some decent spots sort of mixed up. (I'm assuming the places with security screens/bars on every piece of glass qualify as rough looking.) Also what is the area around route 63 (Midway to Red Line and crossing '3 King Dr'/Green line) like? It didn't strike me as upscale but It didn't look like it was a dead area/high crime zone either. To clarify I mean stuff like its not safe to walk down the street or high chance of being robbed, soliciting, drugs, etc. not just the occasional shoplifter or something. I'm also not trying to be discriminatory or racist or anything, just like to know a little more about where i've been. :)

[nextstopchicago]

I'll have class until 9 most weeknights, so I should be able to catch one of the last 145's.

Unfortunately, I did ask around before signing the lease. Go figure that nobody had the gumption to tell me I'd be in the ghetto. Oh well. This should work! The Clark/Wilson intersection is actually closer anyway.

Thanks!! Awesome advice all around.

Think it'd be ok to take the train from Wilson toward downtown during the day and/or rush hour?

I think you're being a bit of a drama queen here. You live close to Clark/Wilson. My friend who is middle management for the financial analysis company Morningstar lives in a $400,000 condo on that block. I live pretty close, and walk in that neighborhood all the time. I like the Nigerian restaurant on the south side of Wilson. It's a little slow. (All right, it's one of the slowest restaurants I've ever eaten in.) I'm not necessarily saying you should or shouldn't walk to the el, and you should find your comfort zone, ride the bus by all means, etc.

But nobody steered you wrong, and certainly nobody should have told you it was a ghetto. It's not.

[Kevin]

But nobody steered you wrong, and certainly nobody should have told you it was a ghetto. It's not.

Update Update seems to present a different picture.

[Busjack]

Question: Is a lot of Chicago that way? I remember from riding X54 it seemed like there were rough looking spots and then some decent spots sort of mixed up. (I'm assuming the places with security screens/bars on every piece of glass qualify as rough looking.) Also what is the area around route 63 (Midway to Red Line and crossing '3 King Dr'/Green line) like? It didn't strike me as upscale but It didn't look like it was a dead area/high crime zone either.

Big chunks of the inner city are that way, and it depends on the neighborhood, and whether it is going down or being gentrified.

Take 63rd as an example. Around Midway it was mostly central European, and houses built in the 50s, but a good portion is now inhabited by persons of Middle Eastern origin wanting to be near the Bridegview mosque (we assume). There is sort of a mix near Western, then it turns Black from there. The Englewood area is tough and mostly deserted, but they did just open the new Kennedy King College at Halsted. However, it certainly isn't the shopping district it was when I remember it in the 70s. There is a bypass around 63rd and Halsted, and the two streets were turned into transit malls, but now there is little traffic on either and the bypass bypasses nothing. The area under the L is rough. On the other hand, the area east of Maryland where the L was torn down is coming back; the preacher at the church at Dorchester who instigated having the L torn down also runs a development corporation that has built new housing (especially east of Woodlawn).

The thing that surprised me is that buses such as 47, 55, and 63 on the south side go through so many neighborhoods that one used to one end does not recognize the passengers on the other. Someone on a Yahoo group posited that there are actually 3 passenger loads on the 47.

Getting back to Uptown, while I noted that it was one of the historically rougher neighborhoods on the far North Side, you have the opposing trend of some gentrification, and of course, Clarendon and Marine Drive were better off. Truman College is at the L stop, and while there has been some redevelopment (a Goldblatt's is now a Borders), I haven't heard anything about the Wilson Yards project (a Target store and other development on former CTA property at the station) going forward. Maybe gallerystorage can tell us if that lot is still vacant.

[nextstopchicago]

Update Update seems to present a different picture.

Yeah, cause god knows there's nothing like a yuppie blog with news of a cute new coffee shop and a dog park right in the area we're talking about to convince people it's a ghetto.

As I said, drama queens may think so. If you're frightened, that's normal these days. We live in a nation of cowards, starting with our president, willing to give up our freedom because they're cowering in the face of threats our grandparents would have laughed at.

But the bottom line is that Uptown is not a ghetto, and a couple incidents of shots fired doesn't change that. It has problems, but it's not anything like a ghetto.

[Tcmetro]

Same thing here in Phillips, Minneapolis. It is still a rough neighborhood, but it is changing. 10 or 15 years ago seeing a white person would be rare, but there is a lot of gentrification going on (mainly due to the Light Rail and Midtown Greenway) so it is not uncommon. Phillips is pretty cool right now but it is going to become an extension of Uptown Minneapolis in 20 years .

[Buslover88]

Question: Is a lot of Chicago that way? I remember from riding X54 it seemed like there were rough looking spots and then some decent spots sort of mixed up. (I'm assuming the places with security screens/bars on every piece of glass qualify as rough looking.) Also what is the area around route 63 (Midway to Red Line and crossing '3 King Dr'/Green line) like? It didn't strike me as upscale but It didn't look like it was a dead area/high crime zone either. To clarify I mean stuff like its not safe to walk down the street or high chance of being robbed, soliciting, drugs, etc. not just the occasional shoplifter or something. I'm also not trying to be discriminatory or racist or anything, just like to know a little more about where i've been.

Okay, some of Chicago is that way. As for #X54, from south of Grand I want to say all the way to Roosevelt is a rough area (trust me, i've been through there, it wasn't good). Also, for #63, anywhere west of Kedzie is good.

I think you're being a bit of a drama queen here. You live close to Clark/Wilson. My friend who is middle management for the financial analysis company Morningstar lives in a $400,000 condo on that block. I live pretty close, and walk in that neighborhood all the time. I like the Nigerian restaurant on the south side of Wilson. It's a little slow. (All right, it's one of the slowest restaurants I've ever eaten in.) I'm not necessarily saying you should or shouldn't walk to the el, and you should find your comfort zone, ride the bus by all means, etc.

But nobody steered you wrong, and certainly nobody should have told you it was a ghetto. It's not.

Actually, the part around Sheridan and Wilson is bad. Haven't you not seen all the reports about that area?

Yeah, cause god knows there's nothing like a yuppie blog with news of a cute new coffee shop and a dog park right in the area we're talking about to convince people it's a ghetto.

As I said, drama queens may think so. If you're frightened, that's normal these days. We live in a nation of cowards, starting with our president, willing to give up our freedom because they're cowering in the face of threats our grandparents would have laughed at.

But the bottom line is that Uptown is not a ghetto, and a couple incidents of shots fired doesn't change that. It has problems, but it's not anything like a ghetto.

... This isn't even the place for those kind of rants. Why do you keep calling people names just because they're scared for whatever reason?

[jajuan]

Okay, some of Chicago is that way. As for #X54, from south of Grand I want to say all the way to Roosevelt is a rough area (trust me, i've been through there, it wasn't good). Also, for #63, anywhere west of Kedzie is good.

Actually, the part around Sheridan and Wilson is bad. Haven't you not seen all the reports about that area?

... This isn't even the place for those kind of rants. Why do you keep calling people names just because they're scared for whatever reason?

I have to agree with you Tim. I pass through Uptown to visit friends and while the areas near Wilson/Clark may be generally quiet, those near Sheridan and also along a stretch of Broadway are worn down compared to the block that nextstopchicago describes. Walk anywhere east of the Wilson stop of the Red Line and you see worn down buildings, people who are homeless, and alcoholics and on occasion drug addicts. Though I'll agree that Uptown is far from being the ghetto compared to other areas of the city, you still have to admit that not all of Uptown is as squeaky clean as the condo area where nextstopchicago's friend lives. So calling people drama queens because they aren't comfortable with that contrast is overstepping the bounds and uncalled for. Those apartment guides do trump up the best areas of some of these north side neighborhoods while neglecting to mention the areas that are not so bright. It's understandable on their parts because they want people to rent apartments, but if I were from out of town, I'd probably feel the same way as gallerystorage. Now I won't go as far as to say he was outright lied to about the area, but he wasn't given the whole truth either.

It's easy to say venture around before renting and signing a lease, but with the way people of questionable conduct and character are spreading out beyond the usual boundaries of what were considered bad areas in the past, it's easy to move somewhere and still have some spots near you take a downward turn after you move in.