That is sort of a difficult question to answer in that some people might think one extreme and others the other extreme. Not only does it depend on the what category you consider dangerous but the amount, relative to say
your home city (so you have a point of reference). For instance, if they have a lot more muggings, that may concern a touring cyclist but the amount of auto thefts may not be as important to the cyclist.
All that said, using RWGPS' heatmap over the last 30 days, it appears a route north from Munster, IN, (just across the IL/IN border) along Hohman Ave. to near Whiting, IN, then bike paths to Chicago has significantly more volume than ACA BR66. This may add ~5 miles overall though. Additionally, this difference may just be due to local preferences so take it with a grain of salt.
Here is a route that combines ACA's and the above:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/47984969 (Route CLIL-N).
If you still want to ride but are concerned about potential issues, I would suggest you ride early on a Sunday/holiday morning or if unable to do that, then just past morning rush hour. I believe that statistically less violent crimes occur in the morning.
Another option is to just call the local police departments and feel them out. While they will have coach their responses, you should be able to glean some info from them. You could also ask them if there is a crime database available to the public for their area and/or what time/day they would ride.
Overall though, I would say you are probably OK if you just ride through without stopping. Of course, things could happen even in the very "safest" neighborhood so you have to decide what level is OK for you.
Tailwinds, John
