Safe and Fun Neighborhood to Commute to Berwyn (Oak Park: apartment, rentals)

[sweetsoleil]

Hello! My boyfriend and I are (like a majority of you) in need of neighborhood relocation advice. I currently live in Ravenswood/Uptown and I'm looking to move in with my boyfriend when my lease is up in September. Because he works in Berwyn, staying in my current area, or any of the northern neighborhoods for that matter, would be a hassle to commute to. I work in the South Loop so I'm fairly flexible as long as long as it's close to the El. We don't want to consider living in the suburbs as he's just moving out of his parent's place in Oak Park and wants to experience living in the city and taking advantage of future theatre opportunities.

Our budget is kind of tight ($1000/month or less for a 1-bedroom or up to $1200-1700 if we would find a roommate or two for a 2-bedroom,) so neighborhoods that reflect that would be best. So far, we've been looking at Pilsen, Logan Square, and Wicker Park but are open to look into areas that we are maybe forgetting or are unaware of.

Thank you!

[marothisu]

You probably won't be affording Wicker Park on average. That place is not cheap anymore. You might want to look at something like Ukranian Village instead which is close to that and cheaper.

[via chicago]

UK Village isnt really any cheaper than WP these days either. You can prob find a 1bed around that price although I have a feeling it will be quite small.

Maybe Pilsen or University Village? Would give easy access to both South Loop and the near west burbs and be quite a bit cheaper than the super gentrified west side.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by via chicago

UK Village isnt really any cheaper than WP these days either. You can prob find a 1bed around that price although I have a feeling it will be quite small.

Except it is cheaper when you're talking about rentals. You can easily find a 2 bedroom place for under $1700/month in that area. They are rare at that price nowadays in WP. You can barely even find a 1 bedroom for that price in WP.

Rental Listings - 99 Rentals | Zillow

There's also studios in that price range in that general area of the OP, but unfortunately there aren't many available right now. I know a guy that has a 4 bedroom place right near UK Village for $2400/month total between 4 people and it's actually a pretty nice, renovated place - above a good restaurant too.