Lincoln Square (Chicago: apartment, to rent, insurance) - Illinois (IL) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

lauren1 · 06-06-2008, 01:13 PM

I spent my first 35 years living in Lincoln Square! It's still very nice, best part is east of Western avenue and west of Damen.

Johnny Northside · 06-06-2008, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lauren1

I spent my first 35 years living in Lincoln Square! It's still very nice, best part is east of Western avenue and west of Damen.

I agree, the area between Damen and Western has always been the nicest, but I think you have to say it's a whole different class of nice vs. 30 or 40 years ago. Back then it was probably the good housing stock and German population base that kept the area stable compared to nearby neighborhoods. So it never sunk too low and made it a great candidate for the tremendous growth going for the past 15 years. But it's a long way back to the days of Juergen's Bakery, Jupiter, Schmidt Imports, Del Farm, Brumlik's, Pleasing Supermarket, etc., ... and the orange Lincoln Square Savings Stamps.

blazey155 · 10-09-2009, 01:22 AM

I don't want to start another "moving to Chicago, help me pick a neighborhood thread", but I've scoured many of the others and I haven't been able to find much on Lincoln Square. First, some background: I am a 23/f, single, and I am hoping to tranfer to the Hard Rock Cafe in Chicago when I move (I work at the one in Niagara Falls, US currently). From what I have found, it seems that Lincoln Square may be a good neighborhood for me. I am not a crazy club-hopper (although I do enjoy casual drinks with friends or live music), and am really looking for a "homey" type of neighborhood. From what I have found, Lincoln Square has kind of a "small town in the middle of a big city" kind of thing going on. Accurate or no?
The one potential drawback I see is somewhat limited access to the el depending on where I could find an apt in that area (I have mapped it and it looks like about a 35 min el ride to the HRC). My budget (at least for now) is around 800-900 a month, and I'm hoping to find a place with heat included. Also, I read that parking in Lincoln Square is a little easier than other neighborhoods. I will have my car with me, at least at first...maybe I will end up getting rid of it. But either way, I'm not trying to spend $200 a month on parking, which I know is easy to do. Obviously I want to be somewhere "safe", but I'm not naive about city life...I understand common sense, etc. Anyways, I'm just looking for a little advice on this neighborhood, but feel free (please do!) add any additional insights into other neighborhoods I should be checking out. Thanks in advance for not yelling at me for posting another moving/neighborhood thread! I've read through these threads constantly for the past couple of days and everyone has great advice and insight!

Thepreacherswife · 10-09-2009, 06:46 AM

Street parking is a lot easier to come by in Lincoln Square than some of the other northside neighborhoods. Obviously, the closer you get to the El, the harder the parking is to find. I suspect rent will be cheaper north of Lawrence (but with a longer walk to the Western or Damen stop) although there's plenty of apartments south of Lawrence, so there may be deals to be had right now.

Rather than take the Brown Line all the way in, I would suggest transferring to the Red at Belmont and going to State/Lake rather than ride the Brown around the loop.

It's quiet and fairly safe, with lots of young families about, although there was a restaurant/bar owner murdered outside his place last weekend.

ChiGirl33 · 10-09-2009, 07:46 AM

The closest stop to the Hard Rock Cafe (Clark and Ontario) is probably the Grand and State Red Line stop (Probably 3-4 blocks). So I would transfer to the red line at Belmont or Fullerton like was mentioned above.

emathias · 10-09-2009, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blazey155

I don't want to start another "moving to Chicago, help me pick a neighborhood thread", but I've scoured many of the others and I haven't been able to find much on Lincoln Square. First, some !

In addition to the Damen and Western stops, look near the Rockwell stop, which is a very cute area.

LIncoln Square would meet your needs, as would the area just west of it, Albany Park. Albany Park is more internationally diverse (especially for Korean and Middle Eastern foods), only about 5 minutes longer on the "L" and probably less expensive.

And I don't know whether rents have dropped a little or not, but a little east of Lincoln Square is Andersonville which I think you'd probably also like, and which is close to the Red Line.

chet everett · 10-09-2009, 09:30 AM

For safety, value, lifestyle Lincoln Square is hard to beat. My sister has a large single family home there that would be more than twice as much in Lakeview and probably still not have as quiet a street.

Rents are higher than Albany Park, probably in line with Andersonville but I feel that the pluses of Lincoln Square to someone like the OP, who is looking for a bit of small town homeyness is harder to find anywhere else...

surlycue · 10-09-2009, 02:23 PM

I like Lincoln Square for it's restaurants and shops but I don't know about a small town feel. The shop owners are pretty accommodating but the population is just a slightly older demographic of the same yuppies in Lincoln Park and Lakeview. Also, lots and lots of kids which can certainly get old for a single person competing with strollers on the sidewalk.

If I were single I'd definitely prefer Edgewater (and Andersonville) or if OP is looking for a more residential area, Ravenswood Manor.

I'd also think about ditching the car before coming. It will become a PITA on a waitress' salary pretty fast.

blazey155 · 10-09-2009, 02:32 PM

Thanks for all the replies so far. I did know that I would have to transfer to the Red Line at some point, I discovered that google maps has a wonderful feature where you can enter two addresses and instead of getting directions by car, you can get them by public transit, which I anticipate will be a great help to me both on my trip in 2 weeks (we're staying at the Marriot on the Mag Mile) as well as when I move. This is probably old news to many people, but I was excited by it!

So what else can you guys tell me about Lincoln Square? Are there decent coffee shops, restaurants, cafes, etc? What about things like grocery shopping (in Chicago in general)...I'm used to loading up my car trunk and driving it back to my house! I'm sure that will be an adjustment for me, but I've heard about peapod and the like...considering that for the heavier items (i.e. cat litter).

blazey155 · 10-09-2009, 02:36 PM

Surlycue - thanks for the advice. I'm okay with an older demographic, as well as families (maybe I could pick up some babysitting gigs for extra cash!) I had thought about Lincoln Park, but I feel like I am definitely priced out of it...I would be okay with a studio apt, but obv prefer something a little bigger. I will have to do more research on the other neighborhoods mentioned here...Andersonville seems to be a popular one. Being on the red line would be convenient too.