Moving from UK - Young professional - where to live? (Chicago: home, neighborhood)

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by emathias

I don't consider them to abut. The Michigan Avenue corridor divides them, but I (and, I think, most people) don't consider Mich Ave as included in Streeterville nor in River North.

Interesting. In that case, those neighborhoods are even smaller than I thought they were, which I didn't think was possible. So basically, you can pass through 3 or 4 "neighborhoods" in a 5 minute walk from the Grand or Chicago Red Line stops. I've done that many times, and always thought of it as one.

[marothisu]

Streeterville is noticeably different than most of River North and Gold Coast IMO.. Streeterville is more like South Loop than it's like RN or GC. River North and Gold Coast are similar in many ways. IMO it takes a little bit before you realize it as you're walking. It's not a border thing.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Torriano

Hi all

Have been spending a lot of time reading people's opinions here, but any further help on the age-old 'where to live' dilemma would be massively appreciated!

I'm moving to Chicago in January, about to be 30, young professional (is 30 still 'young' professional?!), will be working downtown, very close to Merchandise Mart. Moving on my own, like good food, bars, gigs, culture, sports (all sounds so generic when you write it down...!); not knowing anyone, I'd prefer to live in a neighbourhood with personality and life than a hi-rise apartment block.

Want a 1bd apartment, budget c.$1800.

So...where does that leave me? So far it seems Wicker Park would be a great choice (leaving all the hipster/non-hipster arguments to one side...) People have also suggested Old Town, River North, Streeterville as good places, but to be honest I don't know much about them.

Any thoughts?!

Cheers in advance.

PS (If it means anything to anyone, I live in Islington in London right now...)

I'm going to respond without reading any other responses first so some of this ground may already be covered.

First: working near Merchandise Mart allows you to live anywhere in the city since our transportation infrastructure is primarily designed to funnel people into downtown in the mornings and then funnel them back out in the evenings.

Second: a budget of $1800/mo gives you access to at least a decently appointed one-bedroom anywhere in the city. I live 6 miles and a half-hour commute from the Merchandise Mart in a safe quiet neighborhood and the for rent my 1,200sqft 2-bedroom apartment with off-street apartment is barely more than half that much. Not much action in my neighborhood though, but if I want action I'm just a 15- to 20-minute train or bus ride away.

Third: I'm sure many have give you the same suggestions about where to start out living in Chicago for a "young professional": Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Wicker Park, Bucktown, maybe Logan Square, Andersonville, Lincoln Square, Roscoe Village, et cetera. As you might imagine, Chicago has some really nasty neighborhoods that make the worst parts of London look like a playground, so it's best to stick to the "cliche safe" neighborhoods listed above until you can get a more nuanced sense of what parts of the city fall within your risk tolerance.

Fourth: sports. Our tastes for sports is very different from what you're used to. We like baseball, basketball, football (the American version), and ice hockey. There are many bars that appeal to spectators of these various sports, particularly amateur/college basketball and (American) football teams. We really love our amateur college teams as Stephen Fry will gladly tell you. That said there are a small handful of bars that specialize in shoing Premier League and UEFA games. A.J Hudson's Public House and Globe Pub are the two I can think of (not surprisingly, same ownership).

Finally... moving in January... good luck with that. it's fking cold here in January.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

Interesting. In that case, those neighborhoods are even smaller than I thought they were, which I didn't think was possible. So basically, you can pass through 3 or 4 "neighborhoods" in a 5 minute walk from the Grand or Chicago Red Line stops. I've done that many times, and always thought of it as one.

From those stops to where? Nothing I've said construes different neighobrhoods *between* the Grand and Chicago Red Line stops.

If you walk across Midtown or Lower Manhattan, you'll cross at *least* three neighborhoods at any given point, and that's not much wider than walking from LSD to the north branch of the River so I'm not quite sure why that should be shocking size-wise.

[chet everett]

...pretty clear that his knowledge of areas in the greater "near north" sections of Chicago is a lot more detailed and complete than others.

The OP or any one that is considering living south of Lincoln Park / north of traditional Loop would be well served by this info. Clearly some others either don't spend much time paying attention to the differences between areas like River North, Gold Coast, Streeterville and Mag Mile or are are just clueless...

River North is far and away a more pedestrian scaled area, with a whole lot longer history of galleries / design resources that really do make for a more pleasant residential area than the other areas.

Originally Posted by emathias

From those stops to where? Nothing I've said construes different neighobrhoods *between* the Grand and Chicago Red Line stops.

If you walk across Midtown or Lower Manhattan, you'll cross at *least* three neighborhoods at any given point, and that's not much wider than walking from LSD to the north branch of the River so I'm not quite sure why that should be shocking size-wise.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by chet everett

River North is far and away a more pedestrian scaled area

Yes, it's pretty good for that, but so are parts of the Gold Coast. Walk from Chestnut and Rush north and you'll see. It starts out as kind of a triangular area with the park in the middle and it eventually gets narrower until the Viagra Triangle which is probably one of the most pedestrian focused areas in the city IMO. TONS of people are out there in the summer on good days and it's not just them walking. It's them hanging out at public parks. Even between Walton and Oak people are always walking in the streets, very narrow, very pedestrian friendly. Or the small strip on Delaware between State and Wabash/Rush. etc There's a good amount like that in the GC.

[sdb1985]

Hey, I cant help with this query but Im in a very similar situation - my wife is a chicago native and im moving there January too. Im 27, into the same stuff and wont know anyone (asides from the wifes friends) either, so if you feel like meeting up for a beer sometime let me know

[chet everett]

The females tend to be grouped into the the "carrying a dog in my designer purse" and/or otherwise not exactly normal and the males tend to be type that one would find in a commercial for a cure for impotence or possibly an over the top adult beverage promo --
The Most Interesting Man in the World - Photos
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SoCo's new "Whatever's Comfortable" campaign is dead sexy - Guyism

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yes, it's pretty good for that, but so are parts of the Gold Coast. Walk from Chestnut and Rush north and you'll see. It starts out as kind of a triangular area with the park in the middle and it eventually gets narrower until the Viagra Triangle which is probably one of the most pedestrian focused areas in the city IMO. TONS of people are out there in the summer on good days and it's not just them walking. It's them hanging out at public parks. Even between Walton and Oak people are always walking in the streets, very narrow, very pedestrian friendly. Or the small strip on Delaware between State and Wabash/Rush. etc There's a good amount like that in the GC.

[jonnynonos]

I would say Wicker Park or Old Town.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by emathias

From those stops to where?

Well, just to name one example, let's say you get off at the Chicago Red Line stop and walk to the Hancock building. You've gone from River North, through an unnamed non-neighborhood (Mich. Ave.), along the edge of Streeterville, and into Gold Coast, in four or five blocks? I've done that, and it all felt like one neighborhood to me.

Originally Posted by emathias

If you walk across Midtown or Lower Manhattan, you'll cross at *least* three neighborhoods at any given point,

Leaving out the fact that Manhattan is more dense than Chicago, the distance across Manhattan is also about 4 times the distance I'm talking about.

I realize the technicalities of the neighborhoods. Just saying I find it odd. I didn't intend to turn this into a thread-jacking, so I'll drop it now.