People who hear the University is on the South Side of Chicago often conjure up visions of drive-by shootings and nightly gang battles. My parents were really worried about me going there, but I had my heart set on it (and I didn't give them so much choice in the matter). It wasn't nearly as bad as they feared. Or maybe they were worrying about the wrong things...
The University is located in Hyde Park, a small protected island suburb, heavily police patrolled by both University and city police. I lived there for five years, often walked alone at night (which the University does advise against) and was never offered any violence. Not that all of my friends were quite so lucky, but there really was less violence than one would expect from such an urban setting.
It's pretty impressive that Hyde Park was so peaceful, given that it's more racially integrated than many college towns. What tension there was, was mostly quiet. The many police cars helped, of course.
It's a trade-off; maybe I would have been a little safer in the middle of suburbia, but it was so incredible being near a major city. We were only fifteen minutes drive from downtown Chicago, after all, and that meant that the Art Institute, Grant Park, malls and clubs and lots more were in easy reach.
That's a picture of my best friend, Lisette (she hates this photo, and since she's in Hollywood now working as an actress, it really probably isn't fair of me to put it up -- but what else are old friends for?) out in Lincoln Park, near the Lincoln Park Zoo. We had a 4th of July picnic there, and visited the zoo. I wish I could remember who was there that day -- James and Nova (now in L.A. too, I think), Greg, Paul of course (my boyfriend at the time). A beautiful day. Was time really slower back then? Maybe it was just living near the water...