Exciting Area around Campus

Cue7
Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:11:15 +0000

To continue the Hyde Park vs. West Philly theme going - JHS, I completely agree. There’s a vibrancy around the UPenn area that is just not felt at all around the U of C. From what I’ve heard from Penn grads from the late 90s, walking around campus now (especially around the 40th and Walnut area) is completely different than it was in the recent past.

The change in the neighborhood has done wonders for Penn - I think most students that visit campus are pleasantly surprised.

I’m just not sure why Hyde Park is the way it is, but it is crazy that the actual neighborhood has not developed much at all in the decade since I’ve left campus. There was a little development around 55th street, but there is still no buzzing hub of activity, like you find at Penn (either around 40th and Chestnut or 36th and Walnut areas).

Is part of it because the University itself is more controlling of the Hyde Park area? At least at Penn, I was always close to a CVS, a lot of shops (Gap, Urban Outfitters, etc.) a bunch of different fast food options (Chipotle, McDonalds, Cosi, etc etc.), bars and campus hangouts, etc. There’s a TON around the university.

I’m just not sure why U of C doesn’t go in this direction. One big reason, maybe, is because at the end of the day, Chicago is primarily faculty-driven, and Penn is more student-driven. What I mean is, if you polled many U of C faculty members, they probably really like the Hyde Park area. It’s much more of a residential, quiet, and pleasant area - lots of good sit down restaurants, virtually no loud bars or crowded movie theaters, etc. I’d imagine that Chicago, being a faculty-driven university, would work to keep it this way and keep the faculty happy.

This contrasts Penn, where at least during my time at the school, I was surprised by how the students seemed to have a bigger voice, or at least, the administration (starting with Rodin) worked harder to make sure student needs are met. Also, spatially, Philly is just very different from Chicago - it’s not hard at all for faculty to live in Center City and just commute the 10 minutes into West Philly. In Chicago, living outside Hyde Park can easily mean a 35-45 min commute.

This is just speculation though, but it does seem striking to me that Hyde Park has really not changed much in 15+ years, and West Philly has changed dramatically.