Wicker Park / Bucktown - or - Little Italy???? (Chicago, Evanston: neighborhoods, to live)

[nowyouareoneofus]

I'm moving to Chicago at the end of August.

I spent some time in Little Italy (south loop???) at my girlfriends place and it was pretty wonderful....and I turned the corner and I was pretty much downtown (so it looked like).

I am probably going to spend a LOT of time in Wicker Park / Bucktown seeing shows at the sub-t , beat kitchen , etc...

I will be working downtown.

I don't want to spend 45 minutes going to work every day!

Would it better to go with little italy/south loop (is that right?) to be closer to work , and just head over to bucktown, wicker park for my show catching?

[Drover]

I guess that just all depends on YOUR personal preference between being closer to the loop or closer to the venues you intend to frequent. That said, this might help clarify things for you:

1) Which part of downtown will you be working at? If it's the north part, such as near the Clark/Lake stop, you will actually have a shorter commute from the Wicker Park/Bucktown area (for instance, it would be 4 stops from Damen/Milwaukee stop versus 8 from the Medical District stop). If it's closer to, say, the LaSalle Street stop, then your commute will be shorter from Little Italy.

2) Trains from the Northwest part of the Blue Line (Bucktown/Wicker) are inevitably more crowded than the ones coming from the Congress line (Little Italy area), meaning if you live in Bucktown/Wicker Park and try to leave during peak rush hour times, you may have to let one or two trains pass before one arrives where there is enough room for you to board. That can add 10-15 minutes to your commute. The closer you live to downtown, the more of an issue this is; it will happen a lot more often at the Ashland/Division stop than at the Western/Milwaukee stop.

3) Even if you choose to live near Little Italy, the Blue Line runs on the Congress and O'Hare branches 24/7 and will drop you off right in front of the Double Door, Subterranean and/or The Note, so you'll still have relatively easy access to those venues. The Ashland Avenue bus also runs 24/7 and will take you to within 4 blocks of the Beat Kitchen (which is actually up in Roscoe Village, not Wicker Park/Bucktown) and within three blocks of another popular indie venue (The Hideout) from either Bucktown/Wicker or Little Italy.

[nowyouareoneofus]

I'm not sure where in downtown i'd be working...i'd just assume I would be (and I think what you've told me) , because i'll be working as an office slave.

[Drover]

So do don't have a job lined up yet?

[nowyouareoneofus]

That is correct.

I WILL have a place lined up and paid for with a roomate all set in stone.

I'm spending the next 3 weekends there job hunting, throwing out resumes now.

If I don't get a job by the time I move there, i'm counting on getting one in the first month.

[Drover]

Welp, since you really don't know where you'll be working, you might as well move to whichever neighborhood fits your social needs better. In the grand scheme of things, it won't make a whole lot of difference if you're working downtown. HOWEVER... if you end up with a job out in the suburbs, you could be in for a suck-o commute.

[untuchableface]

If you live in Wicker Park, it won't take you 45 minutes to get to the loop. It takes about 15 minutes without the morning rush.

Honestly, I'd choose Wicker Park since you would be spending most of your time there. Many young professionals live in Wicker Park and commute into the loop for work.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by Drover

HOWEVER... if you end up with a job out in the suburbs, you could be in for a suck-o commute.

There are also plenty of office-grunt jobs near the airport and in Evanston, both of which are more convenient to WP/Bucktown -- Blue Line to O'Hare or Metra to Evanston (and points further north). However, Little Italy will be cheaper and is closer to where some of the emerging venues are; I'm seeing lots of shows advertised in new venues in Pilsen and Bridgeport.

Don't forget the #49 Western bus, too, which connects the western edges of both neighborhoods.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by paytonc

There are also plenty of office-grunt jobs near the airport and in Evanston, both of which are more convenient to WP/Bucktown -- Blue Line to O'Hare or Metra to Evanston (and points further north). However, Little Italy will be cheaper and is closer to where some of the emerging venues are; I'm seeing lots of shows advertised in new venues in Pilsen and Bridgeport.

Don't forget the #49 Western bus, too, which connects the western edges of both neighborhoods.

Which is why I said you COULD be in for a suck-o commute, rather than the absolute claim that you WILL be in for a suck-o commute.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by Drover

Which is why I said you COULD be in for a suck-o

No need to get defensive: I never implied that you used poor phrasing -- just adding specificity to some of the possible scenarios.

For that matter, I know a few people around WP who take transit to the western suburbs. Either they bike to the west-side Metra stations, or "boomerang" on the Blue Line to Forest Park and take a connecting bus from there.