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Hello, this is my first post so thanks for reading... any and all feedback is appreciated. Here's my situation: I'm a single, 27 y/o male moving to Chicago for work in a few weeks. I am employed as a sales rep so I'm on the road alot (covering all of Illinois and Wisconsin) although I must be based out of Chicago, so I am currently looking for a nice, affordable and convenient place to live in the city. I will most likely rent for a few months but I plan on buying a place ASAP. I've come across some very nice listings in the McKinley Park area but I don't know anything about the neighborhood. How is the culture, nightlife and overall quality of life in McKinley Park? I've also seen some pretty nice places in Rogers Park. I know McKinley is South and Rogers is North, but how do these 2 areas compare? I need good parking and highway accessibility, but I'd also like to live in a vibrant neighborhood with bars, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. Ideally, I would like to buy in a Lincoln Park or Wicker Park/Bucktown, but I think those areas are too pricey for me at this point. Any other recommendations? Thanks!
Hello, this is my first post so thanks for reading... any and all feedback is appreciated. Here's my situation: I'm a single, 27 y/o male moving to Chicago for work in a few weeks. I am employed as a sales rep so I'm on the road alot (covering all of Illinois and Wisconsin) although I must be based out of Chicago, so I am currently looking for a nice, affordable and convenient place to live in the city. I will most likely rent for a few months but I plan on buying a place ASAP. I've come across some very nice listings in the McKinley Park area but I don't know anything about the neighborhood. How is the culture, nightlife and overall quality of life in McKinley Park? I've also seen some pretty nice places in Rogers Park. I know McKinley is South and Rogers is North, but how do these 2 areas compare? I need good parking and highway accessibility, but I'd also like to live in a vibrant neighborhood with bars, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. Ideally, I would like to buy in a Lincoln Park or Wicker Park/Bucktown, but I think those areas are too pricey for me at this point. Any other recommendations? Thanks!
Well, McKinley Park is affordable and it is convenient. Other than that, it doesn't really fit your needs. First, it's not a particularly nice place. It's not bad (by urban standards anyway), but it's not nice either. It's definitely not a nightlife-oriented neighborhood. More of a family area. It's a lower-middle-class blue-collar area and the condition of the housing stock shows it. It's the kind of place you'd live if you just needed a place to crash in between work and play and didn't care if there was anything interesting to do nearby.
Rogers Park is also not particularly nice in patches, and nice in other patches. It is an unusually well-integrated mix of white-collar professionals and little dirtbags. There is a decent amount of nightlife and little shops and boutiques that give it a well-rounded city-neighborhood feel, but there is a price to be paid in RP in terms of overall quality of life and potentially in terms of being a crime victim. Do a search in the Chicago forum on Rogers Park and you'll find it's one of the most controversial subjects here. Between the two, I'd pick Rogers Park simply because I'd go out of my mind with boredom in McKinley Park. The problem is Rogers Park isn't particularly convenient to freeway access. Just getting to an expressway during rush hour could easily take over half an hour. Even during off-peak times it would still probably be a good 20 minutes.
We may be able to make other suggestions for you if you gave us a combined rental/utilities budget.
Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
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Ditto what Drover said about McKinley Park, although I'd add that some of the old industrial buildings in the Pershing Road area are currently being converted into lofts, so that might be a sign that the neighborhood is "coming up", as the real estate folks put it. After all, Bridgeport, just to the east, is seeing a lot of new development these days. So even though the area lacks amenities such as restaurants, coffee shops, nightlife, etc., that stuff might eventually come in if the trend continues. The potential, I think, is good given that the neighborhood is fifteen minutes from downtown via the Orange Line.
For now, though, it remains a working-class area, relatively stable. And there is very cheap rent to be had. I've often thought McKinley Park wouldn't be a bad place for me to move if I ever found myself in "reduced circumstances" yet wanted to remain in Chicago.
And there is a big, beautiful park of the same name in the center of the neighborhood, complete with duck pond, etc. Possibly one of Chicago's best-kept secrets.
Personally, I find Rogers Park too scary. I just don't like it. But that's just me, I guess.
Given your $1200-$1300 a month housing budget, if you're going to rent you can live almost anywhere in Chicago on that, although in downtown and the more popular lakefront areas you'll get a much smaller space for the money than you could in other parts of town.
Thanks Drover, I appreciate the feedback. I'd like to stay under $1200-$1300 per month if possible. I'm open to any and all suggestions.
Believe it or not, Bucktown/Wicker Park is within your price range, even including utilities. Furthermore, heat is often included in the rent in older buildings. Just be careful of listings in "West Bucktown" or "West Wicker Park" because what they often mean is "Humboldt Park" which isn't necessarily a good thing. Generally speaking you'll want to stay east of Western Avenue if you're looking in Bucktown/Wicker Park. I did a quick look on Craigslist and found several 2-bedrooms in Bucktown, east of Western Avenue, for under $1,000/mo.
Another area to look is Logan Square, the neighborhood immediately to the Northwest of Bucktown, right on the expressway, and easily accessible to/from Bucktown/Wicker Park via the Blue Line train or the Milwaukee Avenue bus. As far as Logan Square goes, it's best to stay east of Kedzie and south of Wrightwood.
Thanks Drover, I appreciate the feedback. I'd like to stay under $1200-$1300 per month if possible. I'm open to any and all suggestions.
If you can pay this much for rent, you have a lot of options available to you, including "It" neighborhoods like Bucktown, Wicker Park, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Uptown, Andersonville, South and West Loop, etc. McKinley Park is ok as Drover said but there's not much to do there, and I just don't see the appeal in your case. Now, if you were looking to buy something as a long term investment, I think there would be a better argument. It's eastern neighbor Bridgeport seems to be gentrifying from east to west, so it will probably be awhile before the area becomes a true hot spot, but I think at some point, it could happen.
Chicago neighborhood: Cafe symbolizes McKinley Park's rise
If you want to witness the story of McKinley Park's rebirth, have meal with neighbors at 35th Street Cafe
Denise Parejko only occasionally ate at the 35th Street Cafe in Chicago's McKinley Park neighborhood, so when she wandered in for breakfast on a recent Saturday, she was surprised that the owner not only knew her name but remembered she liked French toast and enjoyed knitting.
"It's nice to go into a restaurant where they are nice and friendly," said Parejko, 26, a Palos Hills native who bought a condo in the McKinley Park Lofts in 2008.
In an area that has seen considerable residential and retail development, the 35th Street Cafe, in a former grocery, is a throwback to the neighborhood's working-class sensibilities, when business owners knew not only you but your mother and grandmother.
"It's one of the best things that has happened in this community," said Ald. James Balcer, whose 11th Ward includes McKinley Park. Balcer grew up in the neighborhood and remembers going to the grocery when he was a kid to buy milk and bread for his grandmother.
McKinley Park's boundaries are roughly 39th Street to the south, IInterstate 55 to the north, Western Avenue to the west and the South Branch of the Chicago River (just west of Halsted Street) to the east. Surrounding neighborhoods include Back of the Yards, Bridgeport and Pilsen.
In the early 1900s, McKinley Park was home to large Irish, German and Polish populations. Each group had a Catholic parish, and jobs were plentiful at the many nearby factories.
But as the area's manufacturing sector declined, so did McKinley Park's population, until the 1990s, when it saw an influx of Mexican-Americans. Many of the longtime European families remained instead of moving, as happened in other Chicago neighborhoods.
More recently, a sizable Asian community has moved in, along with sprinklings of young families and urban hipsters attracted by affordable home prices and the neighborhood being about 10 minutes to the Loop on the CTA's Orange Line.
The restaurant, open less than a year at 35th Street and Hermitage Avenue, has been embraced by newcomers and families whose roots in the community go back generations. Residents say the cafe provides good food (homemade soups daily) and a gathering place for members of the ethnically diverse neighborhood.
"It's like ingredients all mixing together," said Erika Gutierrez, 33, co-owner. "Everybody is here and enjoying the food and connecting in a different way."
Gutierrez, who grew up in Back of the Yards, had been living in Texas for 10 years when her cousin, Danny Zaragoza approached her about opening a cafe in McKinley Park a few years ago.
Zaragoza, 32 , an Irish-Mexican McKinley Park native, is an electrician and contractor who bought the building to store equipment but saw possibilities for a cafe.
"When I moved back here, there was nowhere to eat," said Zaragoza, whose father co-owned a neighborhood bar called Members Only for 20 years. "I would always go to Division or Chicago Avenue (in Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village). I thought, 'We need places like that on the South Side.' "
At the urging of Zaragoza, Gutierrez and her chef husband, Enrique Gutierrez, 39, moved back to McKinley Park two years ago to plan renovations and a menu. The three now live in walking distance of the cafe, as do many other relatives, which is helpful when extra help is needed.
And everyone does pitch in, from a niece in college to Zaragoza's 78-year-old Grandpa Leo.
Enrique Gutierrez said his aim is to serve quality food at affordable prices. That hit a chord with residents who complained there are too many chain restaurants and too few coffee shops in the neighborhood.
"You can't go anywhere to eat under $10," said Linda Krasovskis, 52, who lives near the cafe in the 131-year-old frame house where she grew up. "I don't want to have McDonald's. I want to have soup and salad and an entree and dessert."
Longtime residents remember when 35th Street was a bustling business district. But as chain stores popped up, many old businesses closed, including the grocery that previously was housed in the cafe space.
Erika Gutierrez said customers have told her that the grocer delivered to homes and worked with families going through financial troubles, even once taking a television for payment.
"The spirit of the store still lives here," she said. "Throughout the years, we've seen so many changes and we want to be part of that positive change."
The renovations gave the space a modern feel but nodded to the past by keeping the grocery's pressed copper ceiling.
Dr. Robert Bara grew up in McKinley Park and has maintained his dental practice there for more than 20 years.
"We are an isolated community," Bara said. "We are very unique and there is a unique flavor.
"They say Chicagoans are friendly, but there is something special about the spirit of McKinley Park."
Totally unrelated but I went to that mariscos shack on Archer and Damen last week and the food was pretty bitchin and super reasonably priced.
That place where AJ's used to be, behind Huck Finn?
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