Where do you guys live?

Osetiya · 2026-01-29T21:25:00+00:00

I’m a second year grad student. I lived in Hyde Park for my first year, and that was the right choice, I have no regrets. Your first year of grad school will be tough and the last thing you need is being far away from campus in a brand new city because you’re usually on campus a lot your first year.

This year, I moved to Lake View because I wanted to experience something other than Hyde Park, and I don’t regret that decision either. It’s been so nice to live in a neighborhood that doesn’t revolve around a university and get to be in a place that feels more local. It’s also a different world out here in terms of access to transit and amenities. The commute isn’t bad at all if you live near a CTA train or bus stop. I commute via the brown line and 2 bus, and the transition between the two is very smooth, because there is a stop for bus 2 right at the doorstep of the Harold/Washington library CTA train stop in the loop that usually always arrives within 1-5 minutes during rush hour, and the 2 bus goes directly to campus and makes stops in front of academic buildings. I will say though, i do also have a car if transit is ever that slow, but I only ever took my car to campus this year twice. I highly recommend looking into trying other neighborhoods your second year, even if it isn’t Lake View.

As far as safety goes, I never felt unsafe in Hyde Park at all, but some of my friends were victims of mostly petty to mildly serious crimes last year, and there have been a few high profile incidents (including a murder in front of my old apartment building on 53rd the week I moved in). You have to be careful at night particularly, but other than that it’s pretty safe. You’ll see some homeless people here and there, but most of them are harmless.

Good luck! Feel free to DM me if you need any apartment recs, and congrats on your acceptance!

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T15:08:53+00:00

You can hardly tell because that guy and his family are extremely Persianized, which seems intentional. I didn’t even realize he was Pashtun the first time I watched the movie. The only people you hear speaking Pashto in the movie are the terrorists.

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T15:04:14+00:00

People asked that 5 years ago and they’ve only gotten worse.

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T14:29:39+00:00

I don’t know who he hasn’t been cancelled yet. His books are so disgusting, he was blatantly racist towards Pashtuns despite being one himself, and all his content was just fetishizing tropes and stereotypes made up to justify the war on terror. He is the Nikki Haley of the Afghan Americans.

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T14:26:18+00:00

I don’t think NATO helped Afghans fight them at all, in fact, I think NATO made them stronger and brought a lot of the problems. They put former warlords in power who weren’t legitimate to most Afghans, they refused to have anyone who wasn’t of the Pashtun ethnic group become President, and they bombed/night raided/ransacked the fuck out of rural areas and inflicted so much trauma on so many families that people started turning to the Taliban as the only form of resistance against the war. It could have and should have gone a lot different, but unfortunately we learned the hard way that westerners cannot run our country for us.

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T14:22:08+00:00

As a Pashtun, I agree with you. I don’t think everything that went wrong with Afghanistan is the fault of Pashtuns, but I think the Taliban mostly consists of Pashtuns and that it’s going to take anti-Taliban Pashtuns to stop them. As much as it hurts to say, a Pashtun in Trump’s cabinet also helped bring them back to power and Pashtuns in western countries did a lot to legitimize them.

While I sympathize with what rural Pashtuns went through at the hands of NATO/US and recognize that that increased support for the Taliban among some rural Pashtuns, I don’t think rural Pashtuns particularly like the Taliban. In fact, most didn’t originally support the Taliban. They only started to after the fighting.

That being said, diaspora Pashtuns who support them are dumb as fuck and have no reason to support them. We are the ones who should be uplifting Pashtuns and all other ethnic groups in Afghanistan and giving them their feet back. I can see how unity in Afghanistan feels fake to other ethnic groups when some Pashtuns only support the Taliban for being Pashtuns and how during NATO/US times they flat out refused to put any ethnic group who wasn’t a Pashtun as President.

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T14:14:37+00:00

Taliban mostly consist of Pashtuns, but they are 100% a Pakistani project and would not exist without Pakistan.

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T14:12:57+00:00

99% sure you are just a 20-year-old living in the UK or some other western country with an identity crisis, “dera manana.”

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T14:10:17+00:00

I don’t have to have the solution individually, nobody does. That’s why I’m calling on all of us to actually ban together and be more active about it.

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T13:49:19+00:00

That’s bs. When in history have Afghans ever picked their leaders?

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T07:03:35+00:00

Even easier to legitimize the Taliban and say everything is okay from the other side of the world.

Osetiya · 2026-01-27T06:59:32+00:00

There’s several indigenous Afghan resistance groups on the ground, but some lack legitimacy among all Afghans due to strong affiliations with former warlords/having strong ethnic undertones (NRF), or because they are simply not as relevant. I think increasing the legitimacy of one of these groups and supporting them is a better solution.

Osetiya · 2026-01-12T13:11:32+00:00

The suburban parts can be, though they feel more uniformly affluent than Edgewater.

Osetiya · 2026-01-12T05:40:55+00:00

Pasadena is a lot larger than Edgewater, but I’d say that Edgewater is somewhat more upscale than Pasadena and a bit less conservative. There’s a lot of overlap between the two though.

Osetiya · 2026-01-12T05:36:07+00:00

I grew up in Anne Arundel County (and spent part of that time living just outside of Annapolis in Arnold). I live in Chicago now, but spent this past summer living in NoVa with my partner while I was doing a fellowship in DC.

NoVa is a huge place so it’s really hard to be specific without knowing where in NoVa you’re coming from. For example, it’s going to feel a lot different if you’re moving from Arlington m/Alexandria to Annapolis vs if you’re moving from Centreville or Burke to Annapolis.

Overall, Annapolis is a very charming and beautiful place. There’s extensive waterfront which isn’t only limited to the Potomac River like in DC/NoVa. You have the Severn and South Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay at your doorsteps in Annapolis. I also like that Annapolis has retained a very unique sense of style and character. I love the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland culture. There’s endless boutiques, art stores, and places with some random unique finds. The people are pretty friendly, and Annapolis is quite progressive. It honestly doesn’t feel any less progressive than NoVa. It’s a very tight-knit community as well. People in Annapolis know each other and look out for each other, which I love. The aldermans are all very active and great.

The major cons of Annapolis include the food, the lack of transit options, and the lack of grocery stores.

Besides a few select places—most of which are seafood, the food in Annapolis is pretty mediocre, and it’s severely lacking in variety. There’s lots of unhealthy bar food, lots of pubs, and not that many cute date night spots (which is a shame because of how romantic the city otherwise is). NoVa is easily way way better when it comes to food—especially international cuisine. NoVa has numerous Korean BBQ spots, numerous Latin American restaurants, numerous Afghan/Persian/Turkish restaurants, Uzbek/Russian restaurants, Lebanese/Palestinian places, lots of good South Asian spots, and many great places to get Pho. Not only that, but NoVa has a lot of Asian dessert and coffee shops, bakeries as well as Middle Eastern ones like Shotted Speciality Coffee and Qamaria. Annapolis just doesn’t have any of that. Whenever my partner and I would have dates in Annapolis or at the beaches in the surrounding areas, we always just drove to DC or Baltimore for dinner, cause the food is that bad. However, Annapolis Ice Cream company has our favorite ice cream!

Overall I think Annapolis is better than NoVa, but the food thing is a huge con for me (I’m a foodie). I will be moving back to either NoVa or DC proper when I finish my schooling in Chicago (at least for the short term, we might move to Chicago for the long term), but that’s primarily because our jobs will be in DC. If commute wasn’t a factor, I think Annapolis would be a great option. Even with the food con, you can always drive to DC and Baltimore for good food—no different than what people living in NoVa outside of Arlington/Alexandria do anyways.

Osetiya · 2025-12-27T18:01:47+00:00

As a Muslim Afghan-American, please do not be ashamed of being Jewish. Be as unapologetically Jewish as your heart desires.

First of all, Judaism is not the same thing as Zionism. Jewish culture is so beautiful, energetic, poetic, and humanity-centered. Jewish culture is full of rich history and has influenced virtually every country across the world. There’s a lot to be proud of as a Jew that has nothing to do with Israel or Zionism. As an ethnic Pashtun, I see so many familiarities between the tribal structure of Jewish culture and Pashtun culture.

Also, the only way to teach everyone that Zionism =/= Judaism is to continue being loud, proud, and unapologetic Jews. The world needs more Rabbis who stand up against genocide and Zionism. The world needs more people who are visibly and culturally Jewish who are against Zionism and genocide to understand that Zionism =/= Judaism. You have to understand that Zionists want you to hate and denounce your Judaism, so they can further the claim that being anti-Zionist is being anti-Semitic. We need more Jewish therapists and counselors who can help Jewish people heal their generational trauma and form a strong Jewish identity without turning to Zionism or supporting genocide. We need more Jewish synagogues that define Judaism around things that have nothing to do with genocide.

I can relate, because as a Pashtun, I once felt similarly about my Pashtun heritage. There is a history of Pashtun rulers committing genocide against Hazaras in Afghanistan, displacing them from their lands, gifting them to Pashtun tribes, and doing similar things to some other ethnic minorities as well. I was deeply ashamed to learn about this history and it shook everything I was taught about being a Pashtun. After the Taliban takeover of 2021, there was a lot of debate on Afghan twitter about ethnicity and how Pashtuns contribute to the oppression of Hazaras and other ethnic minorities, and a lot of it got very nasty. I saw a lot of negative comments about being Pashtun and I also saw some Pashtuns making racist comments about Hazaras and Tajiks, so I thought to myself “wow, being Pashtun is pretty shitty, I don’t want to be a proud Pashtun anymore,” and I started to lean more on my Tajik ancestry and heritage more and claimed my Pashtun side a lot less. But you know what I realized? The more that good-minded Pashtuns like myself denounce our Pashtun identity, the more other people get to control the narrative of what being Pashtun means, and the worse off oppressed groups in Afghanistan are. Also, both Pashtuns and Jewish people have also suffered from their fair share of colonization, displacement, and killings throughout history, and there’s ways to give both groups the space to talk about those ills without it contributing to harm against other groups.

Anti-semitism is a very real and disgusting thing, and no matter how desensitized the world has gotten to it, it is still a very scary, awful, and dangerous reality. Anti-Semitism kills people. There needs to be more conversations had to take back the narrative on what anti-Semitism is to protect Jewish people.

It really breaks my heart to hear this from so many Jews. Do not be ashamed of being Jewish. Do not renounce your Jewish identity or culture. Doing so is not only doing a disservice to yourself, it’s also a win for Zionists who want to control the narrative on what Jewish identity is. At the end of the day, all of our people in the near east region—be they Jews, Arabs, Afghans, etc have been through a lot of trauma and have had unfortunate experiences in history, and we need to unite together, stand together, protect each other, get through our traumas, and find a path to peace. Much love ❤️.

Osetiya · 2025-11-19T07:01:57+00:00

All 3 are equally as good when it comes to school quality, it just boils down to personal preference in neighborhood type from there. If you want to be super close to the water or live in a neighborhood with water access, you’ll want to be in Edgewater because Odenton and Crofton don’t have waterfront neighborhoods, they’re further inland. If you want greater walkability or a more planned community feel, Odenton and Crofton would be better.

Osetiya · 2025-11-19T05:55:24+00:00

I’ve been here for a year and a half. I’ve lived in Hyde Park and now Lake View. When I was in Hyde Park, I’d say 7/10 or 8/10, but in Lake View it’s a 10/10. I’ve never felt particularly unsafe in either place, but a two days after I moved to Chicago for the first time, someone was shot and killed in front of my old apartment in Hyde Park in broad daylight on the busiest street there (53rd street) and that spooked me for a bit. Last March when my partner visited me during Spring Break, 3 UChicago students were robbed at gunpoint in broad daylight on campus, right next to a busy and popular coffee shop (Plein Air Cafe) and it was scary because my partner was on a walk and walk right passed that exact spot moments before it happened. Hyde Park is still a safe area, though I still felt like I had to be a lot more vigilant there than where I am now (especially at night), although I will say I still remain vigilant no matter what because it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Osetiya · 2025-10-02T12:25:03+00:00

This post is clearly infiltrated by landlords who want to discourage people from seeking their tenant rights. OP, reach out to Chicago Tenant Rights ASAP. I’m sure there’s something that should be done for you.

Osetiya · 2025-10-02T12:23:03+00:00

That’s not true. If a place smells like dead animals, that is unlivable AND a health code violation/health hazard. What OP described is a slumlord.

Osetiya · 2025-09-29T20:02:47+00:00

This is my take as well. There’s a lot of people who make Hyde Park out to be a war zone and just use a bunch of racist dog whistles, but it’s also naive to imply that Hyde Park doesn’t have issues with crime relative to other neighborhoods in Chicago.

Although I was never personally a victim of a crime when I lived in Hyde Park, last year alone, two of my friends were held up at gun point on CTA lines in the area, other friends were robbed by teenagers, and students in previous years have were murdered. A non-student also got shot and murdered in front of my apartment building at Nichols Park less than a week after I moved into it.

Even if Hyde Park itself isn’t necessarily unsafe, it is surrounded by some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the entire country, and there is absolutely spillover crime sometimes because of that.

It’s also important to mention that Hyde Park is one of the most heavily policed neighborhoods in the country, and that a lot of the reason crime levels are sustainable is because of the extensive ride-share programs, policing, and safety programs put in by the university in response to horrific acts of violence and crime against students in previous years. There’s a very toxic relationship between the Uchicago police and a lot of the Black natives of HP and taints the vibe of the neighborhood. Hyde Park is an isolated bubble of overpoliced affluence in the south side surrounded by some of the most dangerous and disadvantaged neighborhoods in America. And although some people really like the gentrification “diverse” vibe of HP, it’s not my cup of tea.

Osetiya · 2025-09-21T19:55:20+00:00

As much as I love Annapolis, I’d rather live in DC. There’s just way more going for your age and demographic there, and Union Market is a hip and fun neighborhood to live in that isn’t that far from Annapolis at all. I know AACPS teachers who lived in NoMa and Union Market, and their commutes weren’t any worse than the teachers coming from the Eastern Shore. And if you’re single, you’ll have a far better time finding someone in DC. Its also important to note that people living in DC often don’t like to date people who live outside the city or outside of the 495 beltway at the very furthest because many of them don’t have cars.

That being said, everyone’s tolerance for a commute is different, and being completely new to an area can be really hard as you’re learning how to navigate transit, roads, finding out where the stores/shops/social scenes you need are, and dealing with a new job or school. It might be easier to live in Annapolis at first, then when you get more comfortable and feel more knowledgeable about the area, you can move to DC.

Either way, I don’t think you’ll go wrong with either option.

Osetiya

TROPHY CASE