Question about Pilsen neighborhood & metro station (Chicago, Washington: neighborhoods, restaurants)

[rzzz]

I wouldn't stay over there.
I dunno about safety but it's pretty out of the way from anything I'd want to do in Chicago.
In my experience it's best to stay in the areas described as hip or gentrified or yuppie. There seems to be a different rating scale applied to the "up and coming" areas in Chicago than there is in other cities.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by rzzz

In my experience it's best to stay in the areas described as hip or gentrified or yuppie.

Which is exactly what parts of Pilsen are...there's a good number of visible artists and hipsters there. There are also non Mexican food and entertainment options there.

[virginie24jb]

Originally Posted by rzzz

I wouldn't stay over there.
I dunno about safety but it's pretty out of the way from anything I'd want to do in Chicago.
In my experience it's best to stay in the areas described as hip or gentrified or yuppie.

Yeah I know. It bothers us that we'll have a half hour of public transportation to get to the interesting places to visit but we didn't have a lot of choice. We need a parking space and it's rather difficult to find that downtown. Generally it's over $160 per night for an apartment or a hotel room with parking; and that's too much for us.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by virginie24jb

Yeah I know. It bothers us that we'll have a half hour of public transportation to get to the interesting places to visit but we didn't have a lot of choice. We need a parking space and it's rather difficult to find that downtown. Generally it's over $160 per night for an apartment or a hotel room with parking; and that's too much for us.

What/where are the "interesting places" you're looking to visit?

Pilsen is pretty interesting in its own right IMO.

[marothisu]

Be sure to check out the Mexican Art Museum (free) which is right near that Pink Line stop if you're interested in art. Also, I'd check this out (pretty sure this is still ongoing): Chicago Art District

[rzzz]

Originally Posted by virginie24jb

Yeah I know. It bothers us that we'll have a half hour of public transportation to get to the interesting places to visit but we didn't have a lot of choice. We need a parking space and it's rather difficult to find that downtown. Generally it's over $160 per night for an apartment or a hotel room with parking; and that's too much for us.

Ok
Well i was going to ask your budget

If it's less than $120/n it's going to be hard to be in the middle of it all, even on AirBNB. Unless you don't mind actually sharing the place.

[virginie24jb]

Originally Posted by Drover

What/where are the "interesting places" you're looking to visit?

Pilsen is pretty interesting in its own right IMO.

Of course, but for a first visit to Chicago, you tend to go downtown. I'm not too interested in art anyway, except photography which I do myself.

[virginie24jb]

Originally Posted by rzzz

If it's less than $120/n it's going to be hard to be in the middle of it all, even on AirBNB. Unless you don't mind actually sharing the place.

Exactly and Chicago is only a part of a 3-week vacation to the U.S. so we can't spend half our budget for an accommodation in Chicago.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by virginie24jb

Exactly and Chicago is only a part of a 3-week vacation to the U.S. so we can't spend half our budget for an accommodation in Chicago.

You will be sampling the bottom 50% of Chicago. I'd spend a little more for someplace else if you can manage.

What's the point of spending any of your budget on accommodations in Chicago if you're gonna be in Pilsen? Skip Chicago.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by virginie24jb

Of course, but for a first visit to Chicago, you tend to go downtown. I'm not too interested in art anyway, except photography which I do myself.

You will be fine (and there are photography artists in Pilsen). It's not like you are going to see one sight, go back home, see another, go back home, see another, go back home, etc. Outside of the initial train ride into downtown, everything else will take around the same time of walking around and what not as if you were staying down there anyway especially if you're chaining together a few sights in one visit. I do understand though that it's nice to decompress after a number of hours of sightseeing, though.


Also, I noticed you are from France, but you said something about a car. Are you not flying into Chicago? Because you really don't need a car in Chicago. If you are just going to be spending time around downtown then yeah. Parking costs a good amount of money downtown usually (though there's some exceptions where it could only be like $15 for a day). There are thousands of cabs and Uber in the city too. If you are flying into Chicago then I wouldn't even rent a car if you are going to be doing the typical tourist stuff, even if you're staying in Pilsen. Though if you want a cab or uber from Pilsen at night, you should have access to a smart phone with service. There are cabs on 18th street around the 18th Street Pink Line stop and east of it into the late night, but it's still good to have the smart phone in case.