I work in DeKalb and decided to take Glidden back home today. Stopped by 7-Eleven for gas at the corner of Hillcrest and Glidden. Holy hell does that area need some serious work. Lukulos is gone, the apartment buildings behind Burritoville seemed to be in disrepair. The "strip mall" (If you want to call it that) across from Burritoville looks awful. Not to mention that there were elementary children walking the streets next to people screaming at each other at 7-Eleven. With the sreaming going on I really did not feel safe in that area.



The area does not seem to be for students anymore. I graduate in 2010 and always thought the area could have been better, but I never once thought of it as scary. Had you blind folded someone and dropped them off at that corner there is no way they would ever guess that NIU was blocks away. I know DeKalb has a commission to help fix Glidden North, but man.....it's going to need a lot of work. I think they should look into that strip mall and go from there. It's sad to say but Burritoville is the only thing holding that neighborhood together.

Making my first trip to Ypsi next Saturday, I hear from what people tell me that area will make DeKalb look like an uppity NW burb

(09-19-2018 06:55 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  I work in DeKalb and decided to take Glidden back home today. Stopped by 7-Eleven for gas at the corner of Hillcrest and Glidden. Holy hell does that area need some serious work. Lukulos is gone, the apartment buildings behind Burritoville seemed to be in disrepair. The "strip mall" (If you want to call it that) across from Burritoville looks awful. Not to mention that there were elementary children walking the streets next to people screaming at each other at 7-Eleven. With the sreaming going on I really did not feel safe in that area.



The area does not seem to be for students anymore. I graduate in 2010 and always thought the area could have been better, but I never once thought of it as scary. Had you blind folded someone and dropped them off at that corner there is no way they would ever guess that NIU was blocks away. I know DeKalb has a commission to help fix Glidden North, but man.....it's going to need a lot of work. I think they should look into that strip mall and go from there. It's sad to say but Burritoville is the only thing holding that neighborhood together.

You were probably in the most dangerous area of DeKalb. No way in hell would I ever get out my car in that area.

(09-19-2018 08:23 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(09-19-2018 06:55 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  I work in DeKalb and decided to take Glidden back home today. Stopped by 7-Eleven for gas at the corner of Hillcrest and Glidden. Holy hell does that area need some serious work. Lukulos is gone, the apartment buildings behind Burritoville seemed to be in disrepair. The "strip mall" (If you want to call it that) across from Burritoville looks awful. Not to mention that there were elementary children walking the streets next to people screaming at each other at 7-Eleven. With the sreaming going on I really did not feel safe in that area.



The area does not seem to be for students anymore. I graduate in 2010 and always thought the area could have been better, but I never once thought of it as scary. Had you blind folded someone and dropped them off at that corner there is no way they would ever guess that NIU was blocks away. I know DeKalb has a commission to help fix Glidden North, but man.....it's going to need a lot of work. I think they should look into that strip mall and go from there. It's sad to say but Burritoville is the only thing holding that neighborhood together.

You were probably in the most dangerous area of DeKalb. No way in hell would I ever get out my car in that area.

Not too long ago I use to stumble home drunk through that area lol.

(09-19-2018 08:23 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(09-19-2018 06:55 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  I work in DeKalb and decided to take Glidden back home today. Stopped by 7-Eleven for gas at the corner of Hillcrest and Glidden. Holy hell does that area need some serious work. Lukulos is gone, the apartment buildings behind Burritoville seemed to be in disrepair. The "strip mall" (If you want to call it that) across from Burritoville looks awful. Not to mention that there were elementary children walking the streets next to people screaming at each other at 7-Eleven. With the sreaming going on I really did not feel safe in that area.



The area does not seem to be for students anymore. I graduate in 2010 and always thought the area could have been better, but I never once thought of it as scary. Had you blind folded someone and dropped them off at that corner there is no way they would ever guess that NIU was blocks away. I know DeKalb has a commission to help fix Glidden North, but man.....it's going to need a lot of work. I think they should look into that strip mall and go from there. It's sad to say but Burritoville is the only thing holding that neighborhood together.

You were probably in the most dangerous area of DeKalb. No way in hell would I ever get out my car in that area.

Probably won't until it is fixed up. It really was bad.

(09-19-2018 09:34 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  

(09-19-2018 08:23 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(09-19-2018 06:55 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  I work in DeKalb and decided to take Glidden back home today. Stopped by 7-Eleven for gas at the corner of Hillcrest and Glidden. Holy hell does that area need some serious work. Lukulos is gone, the apartment buildings behind Burritoville seemed to be in disrepair. The "strip mall" (If you want to call it that) across from Burritoville looks awful. Not to mention that there were elementary children walking the streets next to people screaming at each other at 7-Eleven. With the sreaming going on I really did not feel safe in that area.



The area does not seem to be for students anymore. I graduate in 2010 and always thought the area could have been better, but I never once thought of it as scary. Had you blind folded someone and dropped them off at that corner there is no way they would ever guess that NIU was blocks away. I know DeKalb has a commission to help fix Glidden North, but man.....it's going to need a lot of work. I think they should look into that strip mall and go from there. It's sad to say but Burritoville is the only thing holding that neighborhood together.

You were probably in the most dangerous area of DeKalb. No way in hell would I ever get out my car in that area.

Probably won't until it is fixed up. It really was bad.

Isn't University Village all Section 8 housing now? That's probably your answer.....

(09-19-2018 06:59 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Making my first trip to Ypsi next Saturday, I hear from what people tell me that area will make DeKalb look like an uppity NW burb

Ypsi isn’t bad around campus if I remember correctly. I thought it was nice last time I was there. Unfortunately the area that’s bad in DeKalb is adjacent to campus.

By the way, Rosatis is nice too. Lots of work needs to be done in the area however.

(09-19-2018 09:48 PM)golf4501 Wrote:  

(09-19-2018 09:34 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  

(09-19-2018 08:23 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(09-19-2018 06:55 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  I work in DeKalb and decided to take Glidden back home today. Stopped by 7-Eleven for gas at the corner of Hillcrest and Glidden. Holy hell does that area need some serious work. Lukulos is gone, the apartment buildings behind Burritoville seemed to be in disrepair. The "strip mall" (If you want to call it that) across from Burritoville looks awful. Not to mention that there were elementary children walking the streets next to people screaming at each other at 7-Eleven. With the sreaming going on I really did not feel safe in that area.



The area does not seem to be for students anymore. I graduate in 2010 and always thought the area could have been better, but I never once thought of it as scary. Had you blind folded someone and dropped them off at that corner there is no way they would ever guess that NIU was blocks away. I know DeKalb has a commission to help fix Glidden North, but man.....it's going to need a lot of work. I think they should look into that strip mall and go from there. It's sad to say but Burritoville is the only thing holding that neighborhood together.

You were probably in the most dangerous area of DeKalb. No way in hell would I ever get out my car in that area.

Probably won't until it is fixed up. It really was bad.

Isn't University Village all Section 8 housing now? That's probably your answer.....

I really feel that the area had a better student vibe...even 10 years ago. Not saying it was great then, but now it doesn't even feel like NIU or even the rest of DeKalb.

It's been slowly getting worse and worse. Did Lukolos close for good?

In the mid 90's that area was jumping (in a positive way). Spent many of nights in that pocket and had some amazing times. Sad to see it go down hill.

Every Friday and Saturday night the police puts up flood lights all over the area and send half the force to this area after having 8 weekends with shootings in a row last year. I guess it's been working since I haven't received a safety email this year yet but now it feels like a war zone. At one point they did call in the national guard to help out.

(09-19-2018 10:03 PM)Dtownboys Wrote:  

(09-19-2018 06:59 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Making my first trip to Ypsi next Saturday, I hear from what people tell me that area will make DeKalb look like an uppity NW burb

Ypsi isn’t bad around campus if I remember correctly. I thought it was nice last time I was there. Unfortunately the area that’s bad in DeKalb is adjacent to campus.

By the way, Rosatis is nice too. Lots of work needs to be done in the area however.

Thanks, that's good to hear! I cant believe after all this time I never made it up there, I think it always just looked too depressing on TV.

Drunkenly getting a calzone or gyro from Lukolos was one of my favorite college pastimes.

I do remember the 7-11 always having shady characters just hanging around.

(09-19-2018 06:55 PM)Big_Man Wrote:  I work in DeKalb and decided to take Glidden back home today. Stopped by 7-Eleven for gas at the corner of Hillcrest and Glidden. Holy hell does that area need some serious work.

I had a friend once get mugged at that 7-11. He ended up in the hospital with a concussion and some other unfortunate issues.

(09-19-2018 10:12 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  Did Lukolos close for good?

Yes. I recall it was a smoothy place when I was in college....then some burger joint.....then Lukolos which is now closed for good.

Is Huskies Pizza still there in the plaza with Jimmy Johns?

This is quite sad. I graduated 6 years ago and I used to hang out in that area all of the time, most of the time being drunk. It was not the greatest but at no point did I feel unsafe. And to think, greek row and LOTS of off campus student housing is right in that area....

Getting rid of the riff raff and revitalizing that area should be a top priority for NIU and DeKalb. This does not help when NIU is trying to increase enrollment.

(09-20-2018 07:36 AM)RedandBlackAttack Wrote:  Is Huskies Pizza still there in the plaza with Jimmy Johns?

This is quite sad. I graduated 6 years ago and I used to hang out in that area all of the time, most of the time being drunk. It was not the greatest but at no point did I feel unsafe. And to think, greek row and LOTS of off campus student housing is right in that area....

In the same boat (although it was 8 years ago). I never felt unsafe, but that area has been pointing downward for a while. Which is really sad because a lot of the off campus housing for students are nice and in that area.

I wasn't a frat guy, but I'm sure that doesn't help with recruiting for the Greeks either. You go to almost any other college and the greek area is kept up pristinely and look like multi million $$ homes. Not so much at NIU. Sad. They almost need to level a lot of the area and start from scratch. Maybe a developer will come in some day.

(09-20-2018 08:29 AM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(09-20-2018 07:36 AM)RedandBlackAttack Wrote:  Is Huskies Pizza still there in the plaza with Jimmy Johns?

This is quite sad. I graduated 6 years ago and I used to hang out in that area all of the time, most of the time being drunk. It was not the greatest but at no point did I feel unsafe. And to think, greek row and LOTS of off campus student housing is right in that area....

In the same boat (although it was 8 years ago). I never felt unsafe, but that area has been pointing downward for a while. Which is really sad because a lot of the off campus housing for students are nice and in that area.

I wasn't a frat guy, but I'm sure that doesn't help with recruiting for the Greeks either. You go to almost any other college and the greek area is kept up pristinely and look like multi million $$ homes. Not so much at NIU. Sad. They almost need to level a lot of the area and start from scratch. Maybe a developer will come in some day.

This should be a top priority for NIU and the city of DeKalb. I'm sure this stuff does not please DeKalb residents, and the image it gives NIU is causing some parents to send their kids elsewhere. A couple years ago, I talked to some parents who refused to send their kids to NIU for this reason.

(09-20-2018 08:42 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(09-20-2018 08:29 AM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(09-20-2018 07:36 AM)RedandBlackAttack Wrote:  Is Huskies Pizza still there in the plaza with Jimmy Johns?

This is quite sad. I graduated 6 years ago and I used to hang out in that area all of the time, most of the time being drunk. It was not the greatest but at no point did I feel unsafe. And to think, greek row and LOTS of off campus student housing is right in that area....

In the same boat (although it was 8 years ago). I never felt unsafe, but that area has been pointing downward for a while. Which is really sad because a lot of the off campus housing for students are nice and in that area.

I wasn't a frat guy, but I'm sure that doesn't help with recruiting for the Greeks either. You go to almost any other college and the greek area is kept up pristinely and look like multi million $$ homes. Not so much at NIU. Sad. They almost need to level a lot of the area and start from scratch. Maybe a developer will come in some day.

This should be a top priority for NIU and the city of DeKalb. I'm sure this stuff does not please DeKalb residents, and the image it gives NIU is causing some parents to send their kids elsewhere. A couple years ago, I talked to some parents who refused to send their kids to NIU for this reason.

Maybe the new president and team will see this as a problem, unlike her predecessors.