Best Neighborhood in Chicago for Young Professionals (Marissa: buy, living in)

[666northstate]

Originally Posted by mamyd

Hi, I think it is 1470 Maplewood ,or 1472.Thanks for responding.

That is Humboldt Park. There are a bunch of threads in this forum that talk about that part of Humboldt Park. You should search through them.

[Plzeň]

There are two airports in Chicago. Neither are really close to "high end" young professional neighborhoods, but both are easily accessible by train or taxi. That won't really be a major factor, unless you're flying every week or something. Your commute to work will be the much bigger issue, since that will be daily. Traffic on 290 is brutal during rush hour even to the closer suburbs, and Carol Stream is pretty far out there. If you can afford two places and it's worth it to you to have a place in the city, go for it. If you want a compromise between city and suburbs, Oak Park might work for you. It's pretty urban, is close to the city, and would shorten your commute to work. It's more of a family place than a single place, though.

[Attrill]

Yeah, the commute is going to be bad from the city. I know some people who do it, but it would drive me crazy. Oak Park could work, but getting to O'Hare would be a pain. Another option in the city would be along the Blue line around, or past, Irving Park. Anywhere that is close to the Blue Line and past the 90/94 split. You'd be able to take the train to O'Hare very easily, and get into parts of the city like Logan Square, Bucktown, Wicker Park, and Ukrainian Village easily. But the commute to Carol Stream would be long.

What neighborhoods in Boston do you like?

[prelude91]

seems everyone is a "young professional" these days. What does that mean?

[Plzeň]

Originally Posted by prelude91

seems everyone is a "young professional" these days. What does that mean?

Ha. It does seem to be a term with varied and vague definitions. I even saw a post on the suburbs forum saying that being a "young professional" requires a 6-figure salary. In its most common usage, I'd say it's anyone younger than middle age who has a college-degree-requiring type of job/career.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by Plzeň

Ha. It does seem to be a term with varied and vague definitions. I even saw a post on the suburbs forum saying that being a "young professional" requires a 6-figure salary. In its most common usage, I'd say it's anyone younger than middle age who has a college-degree-requiring type of job/career.

Which is like 'yuppie' in the 80s. Which is just young, urban professional, anyways. I'd like to see it properly used, as once mentioned in one of these threads. If you're someone who is in their mid to late twenties and holds a professional degree (M.D, J.D...heck, even CPA)

[Plzeň]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

Which is like 'yuppie' in the 80s. Which is just young, urban professional, anyways. I'd like to see it properly used, as once mentioned in one of these threads. If you're someone who is in their mid to late twenties and holds a professional degree (M.D, J.D...heck, even CPA)

So basically medical residents and brand new lawyers who are trying to pay off their student loans? That's an awfully limited definition. There's no need for a term for that, it's so narrow.

[MannheimMadman]

Maybe you're right, but since everyone and their mom has a college degree these days, the definition isn't really accurate. I don't go around calling myself a 'young professional'; I'm just a dude in a cubicle.

[Chi-town Native]

I recall the distinction of "young upwardly-mobile professionals," as urban is kind of a given, and the term was used in LP and LV to note people who weren't in the neighborhood to stay and raise families, but were rather just temporarily parking there while climbing a corporate ladder.

I think that's where the friction starts, as think about it, the two groups really are diametrically opposed- today the word yuppie is thrown around so liberally it is essentially meaningless.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

Maybe you're right, but since everyone and their mom has a college degree these days, the definition isn't really accurate. I don't go around calling myself a 'young professional'; I'm just a dude in a cubicle.

Most young professionals don't go around calling themselves young professionals. That would be rather douchey. It's just a term used in forums like this to be demographically specific.

About 30% of U.S. adults have bachelor's degrees. The rate might be even lower than that for young people, since some adults earn their degrees later in life. If it seems to you like "everyone and their mom" has one, it's just because that's the demographic with which you tend to associate.