Moving to Zion for a year (Waukegan, Gurnee: apartments, for rent, houses)

[tomalier]

I just got a job offer from Zion. I am moving from Oregon so I have no idea how the area will look like. I am looking a place to stay (apartment or shared room) for a year with a budget of $400 per month. I tried to look online such as craiglists etc but I couldn't really find a lot of choices and information. I also got some suggestions that I should try to look up the towns nearby such as Waukegan, Gurnee. However I don't have a car and I have to bike or depend on the public transportation. Would it be convenient without having a car (I work near the lake side)? And by reading other people's thread, I also learn that there are some rough area in Zion. I was wondering with a budget of $400, it is possible to find a decent place in Zion or near Zion?
Thanks a lot.

[chet everett]

For $400/mo you are looking at a very crummy pool of options. Shared rooms / boarding houses will be what you are looking at. I think even the surviving SRO type flop houses in Waukegan chrage more than $100/wk, so you really ought to rethink your budget...

I also would warn that weather in Illinois tends to be harsh, I would work hard on a backup plan to your bicycle -- subzero temperatures, rain, snow, ice, exteme winds are all going to make winter commuting positively dangerous. Zion is not well served by public transit, only a handful of bus routes, few of them have more than a small number of riders...


What sort of job is this? I imagine that the salary justifies relocation, you might want to have a more realistic budget for housing and a commuting plan that is more compatible with our climate.

[pvande55]

I doubt if you could find anything livable for $400/month. You will probably have to expand that. Public transit also includes the Metra-UP North line which serves Zion and runs to Kenosha and Waukegan. Depending on your schedule that may be an option. The train station is within walking distance of the under-decommissioning Zion nuclear station, where I assume you would be working.

[TempesT68]

Zion does have some pretty crappy areas and on that budget, you'll likely be living there. Your only options would to maybe be able to pull off a crappy apartment with a roommate or rent a room type of deal. You could possibly go without a car if you are right by work or luck out with bus service that runs by there, but like mentioned the winters are brutal and having a car is almost a necessity in an area like that.

[trailerguy]

I agree with the others: You are not going to find anything more than marginally habitable for under $400. There are quite a few very decent apartments in the area in the $600 area. Zion has some nice areas, but you want to come here and scout it out before committing yourself. You will regret living in Lake County without an automobile. The Pace bus service is sparse and unreliable. The Metra train runs along the lake shore; most of the trains terminate in Waukegan. Only a few make the stops north to Kenosha. Beach Park and Winthrop Harbor (immediately south and north of Zion respectively) are much nicer and not much more expensive. Waukegan is a big city, close to 100K pop. It has some bad areas, mostly on the south side, but most of it is quite decent and affordable. Gurnee and Antioch are very nice, but quite a bit more expensive and unthinkable without a car. Traffic on the main roads moves very fast and there are no bike lanes. There are nice dedicated bike paths, but they are recreational and not very useful for commuting. I've lived in Oregon. I like Lake County much better. (I mean the state of Oregon; I've never been to the town of Oregon IL.)

[tomalier]

I am coming from a college town, rent is cheap here thus I don't know about the price range for renting in Zion. I am working at the biological station, it is close to the lake. I will look at Beach Park and Winthrop Harbor. Thank you so much for all these suggestions.

[chicagojlo]

I would really suggest trying to renegotiate your salary if this is all the rent you can afford on what they offered.

[Trazieone]

your job dont have relocation assistance? and if you could only afford $400.00 a month, maybe you should rethink this job. you got to be worth more than to be able live in a descent apt. but times these days really suck.