Devils are in the details.
Most of the crime happens in the poorer inner South Side neighborhoods; next up are the poorer West Side neighborhoods. The violence occur in pockets in each case. Chicago news usually tells us, the audience, what neighborhood the killings occur, but national & international news always fail to mention where it happened therefore causing a very misconstrued perception of the city. It paints the entire city as a war zone - it’s simply a highly inaccurate portrayal.
I highly doubt people on the North Side in neighborhoods like Lincoln Park and Ravenswood, or the Southwest neighborhoods of Beverley and Garfield Park would agree with the national perception of Chicago being a “Chiraq.” (Maybe Spike Lee’s new movie will put the pressure on the gangs to stop using guns and instead to use tree branches.)
Hyde Park, located on the South Side, being an inner neighborhood is probably the safest neighborhood when compared to the surrounding communities (for various reasons - higher property value, more education by its residents, more professional workers etc.). North Side is relatively safe, with Rogers Park getting some crime, and Lake View - as of late - being a stop by for insidious characters. Uptown is probably the most seediest part of the North Side, with drug addicts wondering around, prostitutes etc. West Side has its crime with Humboldt Park, which is practically the Englewood of the West Side, but that, in past years has gotten better due to gentrification.
In saying all that, the South Side isn’t all bad. Auburn Greshman is probably my favorite South Side neighborhood (great food) with architecture reminiscing vaugely of grander, prouder days. Depending on ones upbringing, the South Side, if we exclude Hyde Park, is either a shock or just “plain old South Side.” I’d suspect many of the kids applying and attending UChicago aren’t use to such a reality. Welcome to the real world, kids. Where Greenwich Village isn’t really “hardcore” and not all neighborhoods are as hip as Williamsburg, Brooklyn.