Interesting article. I'm not sure if there is an easy way to fix that neighborhood, but something has to be done. I'm not sure if there is a correlation, but crappy housing (that very few students live in) and crime right off the NIU campus cannot be good for enrollment. I kind of wish some millionaire could just buy that parcel of land, bulldoze the apartments and restart the entire neighborhood.

DC Link!

it always struck me as odd that such a low population density was so close to campus. i understand at one point that was the "outskirts" of town, but there is so much open area, that it doesnt make sense for students to walk who live further out.

What did they do with University Village? Even the football players who lived there were scared to live there.

DeKalb created this mess. I lived at the University Village in the early 1990s. Everybody knew the gangs were moving into Phase 2 with their problems. We told the cops who was dealing, the timing of drug buys and the non residents staying at their buddies apartment full time. The city did nothing and cops told us they were hunting for bigger fish. The owners were getting money from the government for subsidized housing and letting the place get run down.

Crane Drive is named after one of the original owners. How about publishing the owners names and find out their opinions?

(06-23-2016 09:32 PM)NIU75 Wrote:  DeKalb created this mess. I lived at the University Village in the early 1990s. Everybody knew the gangs were moving into Phase 2 with their problems. We told the cops who was dealing, the timing of drug buys and the non residents staying at their buddies apartment full time. The city did nothing and cops told us they were hunting for bigger fish. The owners were getting money from the government for subsidized housing and letting the place get run down.

Crane Drive is named after one of the original owners. How about publishing the owners names and find out their opinions?

University Village has been sold ( deal closed earlier this month ). The previous owners, including the Cranes, let the buildings suffer and had a horrific management company in place. Part of the City of DeKalb's approval involves a new management company and a multi million $ renovation of the complex

Isn't university village one of the areas that they shipped a bunch of the people from Cabrini Green? Rehabbing that is not going to fix the issue.

(06-24-2016 11:45 AM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  Isn't university village one of the areas that they shipped a bunch of the people from Cabrini Green? Rehabbing that is not going to fix the issue.

think that is Dekalb folklore. now touching the kish... thats true. i was trapped in dekalb for 10 years after graduating.

(06-24-2016 12:39 PM)thehappyhuskie Wrote:  

(06-24-2016 11:45 AM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  Isn't university village one of the areas that they shipped a bunch of the people from Cabrini Green? Rehabbing that is not going to fix the issue.

think that is Dekalb folklore. now touching the kish... thats true. i was trapped in dekalb for 10 years after graduating.

Touching the Kish is absolutely true. I don't think it applies to when the Kish jumps it's banks though, like on move in day in '07.

(06-24-2016 12:39 PM)thehappyhuskie Wrote:  

(06-24-2016 11:45 AM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  Isn't university village one of the areas that they shipped a bunch of the people from Cabrini Green? Rehabbing that is not going to fix the issue.

think that is Dekalb folklore. now touching the kish... thats true. i was trapped in dekalb for 10 years after graduating.

No, it is not DeKalb folklore, it is fact.
Specific files had to be shared with DeKalb city and county police, but publicizing that reality is viewed as being racist.

(06-24-2016 04:35 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(06-24-2016 12:39 PM)thehappyhuskie Wrote:  

(06-24-2016 11:45 AM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  Isn't university village one of the areas that they shipped a bunch of the people from Cabrini Green? Rehabbing that is not going to fix the issue.

think that is Dekalb folklore. now touching the kish... thats true. i was trapped in dekalb for 10 years after graduating.

No, it is not DeKalb folklore, it is fact.
Specific files had to be shared with DeKalb city and county police, but publicizing that reality is viewed as being racist.

That whole section is from inner city and the closing of certain housing projects was the cities attempt to break up some of the high concentration of crime. Problem is (and of course this isn't a general statement regarding everyone) just because you get relocate an issue doesn't mean violent cats are going to stop being violent. It's happened with most all suburbs. Maywood/Bellwood/Broadview is a prefect example. Maywood in the 80s and 90s was a great town and now, per capita, holds one of the highest violent crime rates in the state. My team goes to NIU every homecoming in the attempt to keep some of the nonsense in check. Last year, on homecoming night alone, we pulled seven illegal firearms and every drug from heroin to GHB. Most of which had ties to the housing projects. It broke my heart to the point that I could never again go on campus in a work capacity. In my opinion NIUs ability to recruit some of these inner city kids who might not quality to play anywhere else was what made the university so special. And many of which, who I still keep in close contact with, used it as an opportunity to get out of a bad situation. But what's happening now is people taking advantage of an under equipped police force and community to profit illegally. And it's not just inner city Chicago. Many doing this are some of the white (supremacist type) trash from Indiana. Very sad situation.

(06-24-2016 08:21 PM)Suptroop Wrote:  

(06-24-2016 04:35 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(06-24-2016 12:39 PM)thehappyhuskie Wrote:  

(06-24-2016 11:45 AM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  Isn't university village one of the areas that they shipped a bunch of the people from Cabrini Green? Rehabbing that is not going to fix the issue.

think that is Dekalb folklore. now touching the kish... thats true. i was trapped in dekalb for 10 years after graduating.

No, it is not DeKalb folklore, it is fact.
Specific files had to be shared with DeKalb city and county police, but publicizing that reality is viewed as being racist.



That whole section is from inner city and the closing of certain housing projects was the cities attempt to break up some of the high concentration of crime. Problem is (and of course this isn't a general statement regarding everyone) just because you get relocate an issue doesn't mean violent cats are going to stop being violent. It's happened with most all suburbs. Maywood/Bellwood/Broadview is a prefect example. Maywood in the 80s and 90s was a great town and now, per capita, holds one of the highest violent crime rates in the state. My team goes to NIU every homecoming in the attempt to keep some of the nonsense in check. Last year, on homecoming night alone, we pulled seven illegal firearms and every drug from heroin to GHB. Most of which had ties to the housing projects. It broke my heart to the point that I could never again go on campus in a work capacity. In my opinion NIUs ability to recruit some of these inner city kids who might not quality to play anywhere else was what made the university so special. And many of which, who I still keep in close contact with, used it as an opportunity to get out of a bad situation. But what's happening now is people taking advantage of an under equipped police force and community to profit illegally. And it's not just inner city Chicago. Many doing this are some of the white (supremacist type) trash from Indiana. Very sad situation.


And you wonder why NIU enrollment is at a ten year low and ISU is at all time high. Reality is perception. Parents do not want their kids going to our NIU.

Illinois St total enrollment for 2015 was 20,807. NIU total enrollment for 2015 was 20,130. That seems pretty similar. ISU has more undergrads and NIU has more grad students.

Yea I would def. hesitate sending my kid (once I have some) to NIU. Has only gotten worse since I graduated in 2010.

(06-24-2016 09:25 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Illinois St total enrollment for 2015 was 20,807. NIU total enrollment for 2015 was 20,130. That seems pretty similar. ISU has more undergrads and NIU has more grad students.

The point is that NIU in 2007 had 25,254 students. We have lost almost 5000 students in ten years. In that same time frame ISU has grown.

http://www.niu.edu/institutionalresearch...3_2014.pdf

NIU has also had a non University Village guy come into a class room and shoot students. NIU also has had a non University Village guy Rape, Kill, Burn and cut into pieces a girl who had only been in Dekalb for six months! The cost of NIU isn't the bargain it once was. I have no doubt that NIU's attendance will rise again, it is a school on the rise not decline!

(06-25-2016 04:47 AM)dekalb222 Wrote:  NIU has also had a non University Village guy come into a class room and shoot students. NIU also has had a non University Village guy Rape, Kill, Burn and cut into pieces a girl who had only been in Dekalb for six months! The cost of NIU isn't the bargain it once was. I have no doubt that NIU's attendance will rise again, it is a school on the rise not decline!

thank you. that is, time and time again the reason i hear from students in high school and at other state schools as to why they didn't pick NIU. i've heard it at least a dozen times, but thats a pretty good reflection on what the larger population perceives.

(06-25-2016 04:47 AM)dekalb222 Wrote:  NIU has also had a non University Village guy come into a class room and shoot students. NIU also has had a non University Village guy Rape, Kill, Burn and cut into pieces a girl who had only been in Dekalb for six months! The cost of NIU isn't the bargain it once was. I have no doubt that NIU's attendance will rise again, it is a school on the rise not decline!

Despite your pollyanna thinking, the University Village existed decades before you even knew what NIU stood for and the sad state that place is now in defines a decline in the community and university area. Just because two of the most heinous crimes committed didn't involve someone from there doesn't change the perception out there or the increase in crime. Whether you want to blame Springfield or whoever for the budget troubles, economy, etc., the simply reality that NIU has cut and continues to cut certain academic areas doesn't reflect a school on the rise. Yes, things will someday get better, but right now chances are things can and will get worse.

Whatever perception you or others has about NIU did not stop 20,000 kids from attending in 2015. This University Village crime perception is with mostly the locals. Most people in the West Suburbs and city have never heard of University Village but they all know about the shootings in the classroom. Also, I have been in Dekalb for 45 years and know a little bit about NIU and Dekalb. Sorry but, NIU is and will continue to be a good school. The cost, the fact that many are not going to college and Kishwaukee College and many other Junior Colleges have a lot to do with declining attendance.

Dekalb is one of the safer cities/towns in the state of IL. Yes of course there's crime. But what major college campus in America doesn't have issues within its surrounding areas. Townies and students will always butt heads on issues. When I chose to go to NIU coming from a big city where crime is the norm Dekalb was and still is a breath of fresh air. People will always complain. I treat everywhere I go the same. Be aware of your surroundings. Don't be so spaced out into your electronics that you don't notice life around you. Yes there's been section A housing near NIU campus for years. Doesn't necessarily mean that's where the crime stems from. There are rich kids that sell drugs and commit crimes on or near campus too. The best thing Dekalb can do is remove section A housing from the vicinity of student housing. Never understood how there could be Section A house in the same building as non section A. Or how these buildings would be across the street from a Fraternity house? Always found that weird, but I have never had bad experiences warranting calling the police on my neighbors unless they were obnoxiously wasted. NIU's enrollment isn't hurt by this though. College is more expensive than it's ever been, and companies aren't handing out raises like they use to. The economy is still recovering. Money is the enrollment issue, not the city of Dekalb.

(06-26-2016 02:21 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  Whatever perception you or others has about NIU did not stop 20,000 kids from attending in 2015. This University Village crime perception is with mostly the locals. Most people in the West Suburbs and city have never heard of University Village but they all know about the shootings in the classroom. Also, I have been in Dekalb for 45 years and know a little bit about NIU and Dekalb. Sorry but, NIU is and will continue to be a good school. The cost, the fact that many are not going to college and Kishwaukee College and many other Junior Colleges have a lot to do with declining attendance.

Never suggested that the "University Village" situation is keeping people from the west suburbs and city away from NIU. I've lived here just as long, initially at the University Village when the residents included many young faculty, a lot of Huskie assistants or Olympic sport coaches, nurses, teachers and virtually zero "low-income" residents. Once its status changed, so did the make-up of the residents. NIU's undergrad enrollment last year was just over 18,000 and yes, the shootings and negative perception (which isn't based on the Village) kept far more people away than the cost and places like Kishwaukee College. As previously noted, if not for NIU's grad programs from Hoffman Estates, Naperville, etc., NIU's enrollment would be far less than ISU's, where the undergrad population has risen significantly. That's significant because grad students are less likely to attend athletic events than undergrads. Did not and never will say NIU is a bad place, however, it is a place that needs to address a number of problems, some of its own creation, which have contributed to the decline......but suggest everything isn't rosy, and you're branded as just being negative.