Advise on Neighborhood (Chicago, Quincy, Lincoln: apartments, renters, homes)

[JamesDean44]

Hi all, looking for general advice on what neighborhoods to look at.
Looking for:

Max $1700 per month (including heat)
2 Bedrooms
30 minute or less commute to Loop area/near the Sears Tower via public transportation (prefer the L)
Safe, as will be starting a family in the near future.
Will have a vehicle. Would be nice to not have to pay too much for parking.

Best bet so far seems to be Lakeview. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[chet everett]

$1700 ought to be sufficient to rent a 1 bedroom apartment in all but the process spots in Chicago. The question of how many apartment include heat (or can be heated and rented for less that $1700/mo...) is somewhat harder to determine but I would guess there are enough apartment w/o heat included AND utility bills for heat that you are still OK.

It is much harder to say with any certainty that you could get dedicated parking (especially indoor...) and still stay under budget as MANY apartments assume you will use street parking and frankly in many parts of Chicago this is fine -- cost of City Sticker and permit (which is not required in all areas...) should still be within budget.

Lakeview is mostly safe and mostly within about 30 minutes of Sears Tower via CTA -- depending on where exactly you end up renting it may make more sense to take a bus vs El train...

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by JamesDean44

Hi all, looking for general advice on what neighborhoods to look at.
Looking for:

Max $1700 per month (including heat)
2 Bedrooms
30 minute or less commute to Loop area/near the Sears Tower via public transportation (prefer the L)
Safe, as will be starting a family in the near future.
Will have a vehicle. Would be nice to not have to pay too much for parking.

Best bet so far seems to be Lakeview. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Yep, you can find what you're looking for in Lakeview, I know that much. Not everywhere, but you can find it. My girlfriend currently lives there, 2 bedroom for $1500/month right near a bunch of stuff. The parking in Lakeview can be tricky if you're going to be parking on the street. Private parking will cost you a lot more money (like $150+ a month). You can find street parking, but 90% of the time it's not going to be right in front of your building.

I'd check out Ravenswood too, or parts of North Center. My girlfriend used to live there, and there are a bunch of 2 bedrooms for between $1400 and $1600/month say around the Damen Brown Line stop and up there, maybe a little north. Pushing the 30 minutes thing, but the Brown Line takes you right to the Quincy stop which is right near the Sears Tower.

There's a lot of free street parking up there too. Ravenswood area (like near Damen Brown Line stop for example) is pretty laid back. There's a lot of families there (including Lincoln Square), and there's still stuff to do. It's not as packed as Lakeview, but there's still places to eat, drink, and enjoy yourself in other ways. Some parks too. Definitely a great area of town and the commute could be around 30 minutes down the Quincy. Sometimes it might be more, but IMO if you are going to be starting a family, don't want to pay much for parking, etc, then I'd check out that area. Don't listen to some others either. I helped my girlfriend move this summer, and saw loads and loads of apartments in your price range (2 bedrooms) in that area. They exist for sure, but I have no idea how many are available right now.

[chet everett]

There has been significant upward pricing trends throughout the summer which is kind of unusual as historically Chicago area rents have peaked in August and then declined as the weather cools. I believe that the negative economic conditions have signficantly impacted the number of people renting thus creating a much tighter rental market. Many of the people do not have roots in the area and are less likely to move away from the commute options and such that they've grown accustomed to.

My sense is that many of the people that traditionally would shop for a home to purchase are likely to remain renters through the winter and into next spring. Depending on the results of the national election there is some chance that the mood of buyers will be more positive but that is too close to call as of one week before the election..

[JamesDean44]

Thank you for all the responses so far! They have been really helpful and I will definitely look at Ravenswood and parts of North Center. Anyone else have any other areas that fit my criteria that they would recommend? Thanks again!

[marothisu]

Maybe parts of Ukrainian Village too. I think it's mostly safe now...somewhere close to a blue line train.

[Lollapalooza773]

Lakeview is good. But if you truely want a family-friendly neighborhood I would say Edison park,Norwood park,ravenswood, Lincoln square. Little further from downtown but much cheaper housing.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Lollapalooza773

Lakeview is good. But if you truely want a family-friendly neighborhood I would say Edison park,Norwood park,ravenswood, Lincoln square. Little further from downtown but much cheaper housing.

Edison Park in my mind is for folks that are sorta stuck living in Chicago because they work for City or CPS. Nice enough for folks that need to live in Chicago but no real bargain, especially considering distance from Loop, though access to O'Hare is first rate.

Norwood Park is yawnsville -- older shopping crowd, even look of homes is very uniform and unappealing.

Lincoln Square is pretty, has nice mix of places to eat and get a drink with significant other, lots of families, downside can be cost.

Ravenswood is even more family oriented, quieter, apartments are sort of uncommon relative to single family homes...

If the OP does not yet have kids, is new to the whole region it probably makes sense to try Lakeview as lots of others will be in similar situation and that makes for easier transition.

[Vlajos]

Lincoln Square and Edgewater

[Plzeň]

Originally Posted by JamesDean44

Hi all, looking for general advice on what neighborhoods to look at.
Looking for:

Max $1700 per month (including heat)
2 Bedrooms
30 minute or less commute to Loop area/near the Sears Tower via public transportation (prefer the L)
Safe, as will be starting a family in the near future.
Will have a vehicle. Would be nice to not have to pay too much for parking.

Best bet so far seems to be Lakeview. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

If I had that kind of budget, was starting a family soon, and worked near the Sears Tower, I'd probably live in the South Loop.