Chicago! Looking to relocate after graduation! Places to live? (Brooklyn: apartment, rent)

[Lovebird-]

Hey posters,

I am a 23 year old African American male that is looking to relocate. I am graduating next semester in May, and I really want to move or at least have a plan in motion now that I have an opportunity to do so. I have lived in Brooklyn, New York my entire life. I have grown very weary of the people and environment here, and I want to experience what life is like elsewhere on my own.

I am looking for a neighborhood that is diverse, safe, clean, consists of other young singles as well as friendly people, has good public transportation (as I do not have a car), and hopefully a relatively low cost of living. I would be working as an elementary school teacher as I am graduating in elementary ed. Doing a bit of research online, the Chicago Public Schools gave a starting salary of 50k for a first year teacher with a bachelor's degree in the 2010-2011 year.

Upon doing a lot of asking around, many people said that Chicago would be ideal for me as it is cheaper than NYC and possible to live there without a car. What areas should I be looking into (just tossing it out there that I was referred to look mainly at the northside)? What is the cost of rent for a decent apartment in such areas? Any advice and suggestions are appreciated. Thank you for your time.

[CHI787ORD]

What aspects of Brooklyn were a turnoff too? That would be a great way for people here to recommend some areas that are different than Brooklyn in Chicago. Out of all the boroughs, Brooklyn is the one that reminds me most of Chicago.

[Lovebird-]

Originally Posted by CHI787ORD

What aspects of Brooklyn were a turnoff too? That would be a great way for people here to recommend some areas that are different than Brooklyn in Chicago. Out of all the boroughs, Brooklyn is the one that reminds me most of Chicago.

A lot of this stuff can be debated so I don't want to get carried away but:

- High cost of living

- Although there are many different groups of people in Brooklyn, in my experience communities are generally not really racially/culturally mixed

- It's just not aesthetically pleasing to me

If it is of any help, I am from Flatbush Brooklyn

[Kevin J]

My first concern is that if you choose a neighborhood before you have a job and intend to get to work on public transit, you could have a long and inconvenient commute. Unless you live very close to the school you end up working at, chances are pretty good that your journey to get there will be at least an hour and involve at least one train/bus transfer. For example, if you chose the relatively inexpensive and diverse neighborhood of Edgewater on the far north side of the city to live in, it's quite conceivable that you could end up working at a school on the far south side. The train ride alone to make that trip would be 45 + minutes. Since the school could be in a neighborhood miles away from the train stop, you'd then have to wait for and transfer to a bus to finish your trip. For that reason alone, if you're going to pick a neighborhood first, you may want to prioritize centrality and proximity to a train line over just about everything else.

That being said, some relatively affordable and relatively diverse neighborhoods in the city are the aforementioned Edgewater, Uptown, and Hyde Park. I wouldn't say that any of these neighborhoods will absolutely meet your apparent goal of full racial/cultural integration, but I would say that the opportunity for any individual such as yourself to mix among any and all group(s) you wish is available in these neighborhoods.

Your best bet to find out rents in these or any other neighborhood is the check out apartment ads online on Craigslist and The Reader (the alternative weekly newspaper). But I'd say the average rent for a one-bedroom in Edgewater and Uptown is $850, and a little higher than that in Hyde Park.

[SJaye]

I'd second what Kevin J says, but also add the South Loop to the mix.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Lovebird-

A lot of this stuff can be debated so I don't want to get carried away but:

- High cost of living

- Although there are many different groups of people in Brooklyn, in my experience communities are generally not really racially/culturally mixed

- It's just not aesthetically pleasing to me

If it is of any help, I am from Flatbush Brooklyn

Cost of living will definitely be lower in Chicago. As for your second point, I'm not sure that will be significantly better here.