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Do these look like good aparments in Chicago?

I'm moving to Chicago in a month or two and I'm trying to find a place online before I move. I've got a dog and a cat and I'm hoping to find a studio or one bedroom under $800/month, in the city (not suburbs), but still relatively safe. I found a few apartment listings on Craigslist that fit everything I want AND include free heat and water in Rogers Park. I'm thinking there's gotta be a catch... is the neighbourhood really bad or something? I've heard some people say Rogers Park is perfectly safe while others seem to think it's kind of sketch. Are these places probably located in a really bad part of Rogers Park? I don't mind dirty or ugly or small amounts of petty crime like radio theft, I just don't want to get shot or harassed by drug users, lol. Here's one of the listings I'm talking about: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/740743791.html

Public Comments

1. I personally think that is a cute studio home. Far as the area is concerned you should try googling it. Use catch phrases like crime rate and then the county. But it looks like you've got a good deal.
2. Some parts of Roger's Park are okay and others are a little sketchy. The area close to the lake usually okay, but it varies block by block. There used to be a website maintained by the Chicago police department where you could look up crime stats by zip code and see exactly what has happened on what blocks . . . you may want to do a bit of googling and see if you can find it.
3. This may be what you are looking for. I would come to Chgo for a couple days to check this and potentially other places out. Years ago I found the neighborhood I liked and then drove around looking for "For Rent" signs taped to the front door. Roger's Park is so big that there's an East Roger's Park and West Roger's Park. Both have good neighborhoods but both have poor areas. East Roger's Park does have some serious crime areas but by driving around you can determine this by what's happening on the street. Check for garbage, unkept apartments, and people hanging around. Also, the apartment shown at the above site looks like it is ok with a paint job. It also looks like a re-hab job with new windows and heater vents. Are those living room windows wide enough for an a/c unit. It will get hot enough there so that you will want one. Ask the realtor for window widths or take a tape measure with you when checking it out.
4. As long as you know, Rogers Park is trying to turn itself around but it's slow going sometimes. Also, there is no good grocery store around which is very inconvenient unless you have a car. And in that neighborhood, your car better be in a gated parking lot. You get what you pay for in this city.
5. Rogers Park is a very, very mixed bag. There's some areas that are safe next to areas that are very sketchy. And they're right next to one another. If you can't visit, you might use Google Street View to look around the neighborhood, particularly along nearby Clark Street (the main arterial.) I haven't been up to that neighborhood much, but I remember the area around Ridge, Clark, and Howard to be a little sketchy. You might consider a little further south, in Lincoln Square or even Lakeview, if you can find something around $800 in Lakeview. Those areas are a bit more stable.
6. From the description in your question, Rogers Park should suit you pretty well. The crime rate is tolerable; meaning since there are no crime free areas anywhere, if you're gonna have to deal with any crime at all, Rogers Park is not an outstandingly bad area. Occasionally you'll hear of the average incidents you would find in any big city neighborhood. However, in my opinion the things you should know about if you already don't are: 1) Roger's Park IS in Chicago but, it is in the far-flung north-east corner of it. City wise you'll be at a bit of a distance from everything else. For example, Downtown won't be the relative hop-skip you'd have in other areas such as the trendy Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Hyde Park, Lakeview, or Andersonville. On the flip side though, it may be tough to find a spot for under $800 in those areas, but it's worth looking. Rogers Park is a mere few blocks away from the inter-galactic distances of the suburbs. To Chicagoans, convenient proximity is life support. But, as in most Chicago areas, public transportation runs pretty decently from Rogers Park should the need arise. I know don't if this will be a factor for you, but since you stressed living within city limits, I thought you should be aware of the distances involved. 2) The next thing is the Realtors' ability to blow up a room with a camera. The apartment doesn't look bad, but I'm sure it's not the biggest space in the world. In fact, for that price I know its probably on the small side. With both a dog and a cat as room mates, it's something to consider. The apartment is definitely liveable, I can see why you chose it. All in all, Rogers Park isnt a bad find. You would do well there, but I'd say while you're still shopping, keep your eyes open for places closer to the downtown area for convenience sake, if that matters to you. Happy searching!
7. I live in Rogers Park and have been for many years. It's definitely gotten nicer although I never considered it bad. I think the worse neighborhood is around the Howard Street El. I love the neighborhood though. It's close to major stores and transportation and the people are very friendly. I have never gotten harassed for drugs but I will admit that when I used to walk down Clark in the mornings, the prostitutes would be out there fighting over men. I have actually been approached a few times when I've gone out looking more on the casual side but this is normally in the evening. I hear there is crime but I have never had or seen anything bad happen. They did a really good sweep a couple of years ago on Howard where there seemed to be a lot of drug activity going on. That apartment though looks nice. It's cute.
8. Roger's Park isn't bad, but it's not great. I've has some friends that lived there, and while it is not the cleanest, flashiest neighborhood, they never had any problems with safety.
9. This listing is in West Rogers park which has had some problems lately. There are still some decent sections there. I'd go there in person and check it out for myself, in the daytime AND the nighttime. And the fact that you're right across the street from a park is a bit troublesome too, seeing as how most of the troublemakers like to hang out in the park a lot. It's where a lot of the fighting and worse happens. I've been to this area but only in the daytime and it's OK then. But like I said, go through there at night if you can BEFORE you move in. Below are links to three blogs about Rogers Park. They are updated almost daily and include incidents of trouble. Read through them and you might get an idea of what's going on there. I tried to include the good and the bad. UPDATE: I've added a link to a site called Everyblock Chicago, which lists every neighborhood and what goes on there, new business licenses applied for, events and yes, crime stats. Type in "Rogers Park" and see the info that comes up.