Hyde Park

Understand

Neighborhoods

Kenwood developed into one of Chicago's most upscale suburbs after the Civil War, and its Kenwood Historic District between Cottage Grove & Blackstone and 47th & 51st is a treasure trove of mansions representing virtually all the fashionable architectural styles of the late 19th century (including an excellent collection of early houses by Frank Lloyd Wright). The mansion owners are of interest too — their ranks include Nation of Islam leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, the Obama family, and the city's oldest Jewish community. Former residents range from the infamous Leopold and Loeb, Muhammad Ali, the fictional Dalton family from Native Son, and the founder of the Nation of Islam, Elijah Muhammad.

The central Hyde Park neighborhood is the biggest draw, dominated by the University of Chicago. During the 1950s, desegregation fueled extensive "white flight" from this area, transforming the racial make up of nearly the entire South Side from all white to all black. Here, however, the University of Chicago leveraged its financial power, political clout, and social engineering brainpower to muscle through the city's first "urban renewal" project. This project, unflatteringly referred to by many neighborhood residents as "urban removal," used eminent domain powers to demolish urban housing developments, to remove nightclubs and bars, and to make the neighborhood more suburban in character (and to decimate the commercial strip on 55th St west of the railroad).

The project was paternalist, classist, and evicted many if not the majority of the neighborhood's low-income residents, but the end result of the University-driven "renewal" project is that Hyde Park is to this day one of the nation's most durable mixed-income, mixed-race neighborhoods, and is home to one of the only significant white communities for miles on the South Side. Hyde Park maintains its unique characteristics in its unique isolation from the rest of the city: no convenient L service, giant Washington Park to the west, frigid-in-the-winter Midway Plaisance to the south, and persistent redevelopment projects pushing to the north through Kenwood and to the south through Woodlawn.

Today, Hyde Park is full of amazing bookstores, leafy streets, the siren song of cheap greasy food, and great museums.

Woodlawn, to the south of the Midway, south of the university, is characterized by urban blight. With high levels of violent crime (especially by the 63rd St Green Line stops), blocks worth of vacant lots, and lacking in commercial activity, Woodlawn is well off the beaten tourist path. But Jackson Park (as well as the areas of Woodlawn close to the park) is perfectly safe, and a beautiful place for a walk. 63rd St still has a few remaining businesses from its salad days, but is not a great place to hang out after dark.

Get in

By bus

You can get to Hyde Park by taking several CTA buses from downtown Chicago. Routes #6 (Hyde Park Express) and #4 (Cottage Grove) are common choices. The 55/Garfield bus is a very cheap and efficient way to travel between Midway Airport and Hyde Park. It passes by the University of Chicago and terminates at the Museum of Science and Industry. To get from place to place within the area, CTA offers several useful neighborhood routes between the University and other points in the district, the #171 between the University and the Museum of Science and Industry being the most useful.

By train

The Metra Main Electric Line is the most efficient public transport between the Loop and Hyde Park. It is a quick, comfortable 15- to 20-minute ride and costs $3 for a one way trip. Be sure to check the train schedules ahead of time, however, because it runs infrequently during off-peak times. Key stops are at Kenwood/47th St, Hyde Park 53rd St, 55th-56th-57th St, and Univ. of Chicago/59th St.

Alternatively, the CTA Red Line and Green Line link the Loop with Garfield Avenue in Washington Park. Although more convenient — they run more frequently, and operate 24 hours a day — the two stops are too far from Hyde Park to walk and are in rough neighborhoods. But the very frequent 55/Garfield bus will take you straight from either of them to anywhere along 55th St.

By car

Coming south on Lake Shore Drive, it is most convenient to take the southbound exit at 51st St/Hyde Park Blvd for a drive, or the 57th St exit for the Museum of Science and Industry and the University. Coming from the southeast on the Chicago Skyway, get off early at the Stony Island Ave exit and follow it north. From the Dan Ryan Expressway, you'll definitely want to take the 55th St/Garfield Blvd east exit, which will take you into the heart of Hyde Park through Washington Park.

A car is not a bad way to see Hyde Park, especially if you plan to cover a lot of territory. Free on-street parking is generally easy to find. The most difficult area to park is without question the area around the University of Chicago, where the street parking during the day is limited and policed with an iron fist by the University Police. Even in this area, however, it is usually possible (if a bit frustrating) to find metered parking, or to just pay at one of the big university or hospital lots. Try looking on the Midway, or on a less safe street to the south of the university. It can also be difficult to find free parking right by the Museum of Science and Industry during tourist season, but there is always room in the museum's pay lots.

By bicycle

Hyde Park is a fairly easy 7-mile ride (11 km) from the Loop using the Chicago Lakefront Path. You may cross under Lake Shore Dr at either the 51st St pedestrian bridge or the 55th or 57th St underpasses. The 57th St underpass will take you to the Museum of Science and Industry, of which the main body of the University of Chicago campus is 3 blocks west.

Hyde Park is quite accommodating to cyclists; many students and faculty at the University ride around the neighborhood, making bikes fairly visible entities.

Stay safe

Hyde Park and Kenwood are some of the safest neighborhoods in the mid-south side of Chicago, with relatively low violent crime rates. Nevertheless, the two neighborhoods are surrounded by tough neighborhoods with reputations for crime and poverty. It's not recommended to go west of Hyde Park/Woodlawn on foot into the Washington Park/Englewood neighborhoods, which is where most of the danger lies. Gang activity has decreased substantially in the early 2000s, however. Robberies and theft are more common. Criminals know that where there's a university, there's a student walking around with a fancy smartphone and an expensive laptop in their backpack. As of October 2013, the University of Chicago Police recommend that people in the area "avoid using cell phones or other electronics while on the street." The University of Chicago publishes violent crime statistics on its website.

The university has taken pains to protect the area by installing plenty of lights along the Midway and increasing its police presence. The university fields the second largest private police force in the world (the first being the Pope's), with full police powers. That means there are twice as many police in Hyde Park than any other neighborhood around.

Go next

• The famous Museum Campus and McCormick Center are just north in Chicago's Near South.
• Chicago's Bronzeville, the historic Black Metropolis, is just a stone's throw away from Hyde Park, and well worth a visit for its huge role in African-American history. In particular the DuSable Museum of African-American History (which is just across the street from the University of Chicago Hospital) is very easy to visit when in the University area and should not be missed.
• Oak Woods Cemetery, outstanding Memphis-style barbecue, and some of the best blues in the city are located a few miles south on Cottage Grove in Chatham and Greater Grand.
• If you are up for a little drive, head south to the historic planned industrial community of Pullman, on the Far Southeast Side, and afterward grab some incredible smoked shrimp at the 95th St bridge.