karlov ave and belmont (Chicago, Cicero: houses, rent, nightlife)

[discotillyoudie]

is this a pretty decent neighborhood? what are your thoughts on it for a couple in their early 20s??

[Visvaldis]

It depends on what you consider a decent neighborhood. I lived for several years near Belmont and Cicero and thought the area was fine, considering it's Chicago. The rents and houses are still reasonable and connections, via CTA, are good to all locations. Also, shopping is close and the Kennedy Expressway is a convenient distance. There are still very many Polish people living in the region, but they are more concentrated by Belmont and Central. As long as you stay north of Diversey you should be alright.

[Drover]

What kind of neighborhood are you looking for? A couple in their early 20s is typically looking for a neighborhood that has nightlife/dining/bar options, boutique shops and the like. If you fall into that category, you should consider looking elsewhere. That neighborhood is solidly blue-collar and not much of a nightlife area. And when Visvaldis says there are a lot of Polish people there, he doesn't mean people who descended from Poles who arrived here in the 1920s. He means people who just got off a plane from Warsaw last week. A lot of the institutions in the neighborhood are very Polish-immigrant-oriented and you may feel like a bit of an outsider in these places unless you yourself are a Polish immigrant or at least speak Polish.