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So I have been looking to move to Chicago for a while, and it finally looks like this is likely going to happen. I don't have a job lined up yet, and I wouldn't move without one. However, I have been interviewing with a handful of companies in the area and they are all very interested and invited me to come to the city for interviews. I don't want to bore you with info but assume I will be working downtown. I am a 25 year old male. So, here are my thoughts/concerns:
-I am looking to pay no more than 1,200 a month for an apartment. However, I do not care about the sq ft at all. I will happily live in a small studio. Location is much more important to me.
-It sounds like Lincoln Park & Lakeview are the go-to area's, but from what have seen it looks like I can get a studio within my budget that is very close to downtown? Are there any disadvantages or reasons not to do this? I hear the neighborhoods are cool, but are they better than downtown? Are they really THAT awesome? If I live near DT it seems like I could just bike to work.
-If you are my age, is there really any point in living anywhere else besides Lakeview, Lincoln Park, or DT? Is there any advantage to living in Wicker Park or any of these other lesser known (at least to outsiders) neighborhoods? There are just so many options, it is too hard for me to absorb and understand it all.
-Is there anything people don't take into account when moving to Chicago? For example, Maybe certain neighborhoods have few dining options, or it is dead on the weekends in some places, or there are no convenient places to grocery shop in certain neighborhoods, etc. You know the saying, "You don't know what you don't know."
I have a few more questions, but I think I will leave it at that for now.
Map out all your job locations and find a centerpoint..
I will not be driving. The thing I don't know about downtown is if is a good place for someone my age to actually live. It is closest to work, so that is nice, but from what I understand it is mainly people in their 40's and 50's who live there. That alone doesn't bother me, but I don't plan on going to ultra expensive nights out. I have visited many times, and I love the architecture and vibe of DT, but idk if it a practical place to live. Any idea on the advantages/disadvantages of living DT vs Lakeview or Lincoln Park. What are your thoughts on Hyde Park?
I will not be driving. The thing I don't know about downtown is if is a good place for someone my age to actually live. It is closest to work, so that is nice, but from what I understand it is mainly people in their 40's and 50's who live there. That alone doesn't bother me, but I don't plan on going to ultra expensive nights out. I have visited many times, and I love the architecture and vibe of DT, but idk if it a practical place to live. Any idea on the advantages/disadvantages of living DT vs Lakeview or Lincoln Park. What are your thoughts on Hyde Park?
Lakeview and Lincoln Park are good. Lots of 20 somethings. Do not move to Hyde Park unless you have to be close to the University of Chicago. It is boring and isolated.
So I have been looking to move to Chicago for a while, and it finally looks like this is likely going to happen. I don't have a job lined up yet, and I wouldn't move without one. However, I have been interviewing with a handful of companies in the area and they are all very interested and invited me to come to the city for interviews. I don't want to bore you with info but assume I will be working downtown. I am a 25 year old male. So, here are my thoughts/concerns:
Even though you don't know where exactly you'd work yet, would you say the companies you've spoken to so far have been in the Loop? The Loop community area, as defined by the city, is roughly bordered by the Chicago River to the west and the north, the lake to the east, and Roosevelt to the south. It's roughly this area. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8773846,-87.6289382,15z
I ask because if you are in the Loop, this would make commuting from various popular neighborhoods that aren't Lakeview or Lincoln Park, and which can be off different L lines, easier to get to. Other neighborhoods like River North and Gold Coast are also downtown, but would be a bit harder to get to if you were off certain other lines.
Quote:
-I am looking to pay no more than 1,200 a month for an apartment. However, I do not care about the sq ft at all. I will happily live in a small studio. Location is much more important to me.
Certainly doable for a studio in parts of downtown, but what you get for that money will vary. It will almost certainly be a studio, but, if you look at other neighborhoods, it could be anywhere from a one bedroom to a studio, and the types of amenities the buildings would have, in addition to the last time the unit was updated, will vary. I have a friend living in Gold Coast for $900 in a month, for example, and that includes her utilities. The building has virtually no amenities, however, and it's not updated. She doesn't care though because she likes living near the Clark and Division Red Line stop.
Keep in mind her rent is probably ridiculously cheap, because I saw similar units for the same price in Lakeview when I was looking, and Lakeview is typically cheaper than Gold Coast in terms of rent for similar units.
Quote:
-It sounds like Lincoln Park & Lakeview are the go-to area's, but from what have seen it looks like I can get a studio within my budget that is very close to downtown? Are there any disadvantages or reasons not to do this? I hear the neighborhoods are cool, but are they better than downtown? Are they really THAT awesome? If I live near DT it seems like I could just bike to work.
How would you describe yourself? What about the types of bars you go to?
They are both very popular, but neither is the hottest "It" neighborhood. They're both established and stable, and both have plenty of young people. Lincoln Park has DePaul, one of the universities in the city, plenty of shopping, restaurants, bars, and of course Lincoln Park the actual park. To stereotype there's typical college student, yuppies, and bros in terms of young people. Lakeview is similar, but it also has a large gay population due to Boystown, and Wrigleyville, as a whole, will be broier than anything in Lincoln Park. Both neighborhoods have lots of young transplants as well. If you're a hipster, however, neither of those neighborhoods are going to be at the top of your list. Too many bros and basics for that.
As for some disadvantages of living downtown, cost can be one thing, but also not all of downtown was created equally. The Loop is Chicago's primary business district, and much of it is still, to be perfectly frank, dead at night both during the week and on weekends. You're more likely to go out in a part of downtown like River North, which is north of the river and west of Michigan Ave. Lots of restaurants, bars, clubs, etc, there versus the heart of the Loop. Although I will say the Loop has gotten better, and parts of it definitely aren't dead.
Quote:
-If you are my age, is there really any point in living anywhere else besides Lakeview, Lincoln Park, or DT? Is there any advantage to living in Wicker Park or any of these other lesser known (at least to outsiders) neighborhoods? There are just so many options, it is too hard for me to absorb and understand it all.
This ties back into what you want from your neighborhood. There are plenty of neighborhoods with good public transit, bars, restaurants, grocery stores, etc, but for you a lot of this will come down what sort of scene and environment you'd like, what kind of commute times can you tolerate, just how safe do you need your neighborhood to be, etc.
I'll use myself as an example to show you what I mean. I'm a 24 year old guy in grad school, so I needed to be fairly close to the Loop and the rest of downtown north of the Chicago River due to school, jobs, internships, etc. This ruled out my college neighborhood of Rogers Park because the morning commute times on the L were brutal. I also wanted to be close lots of places to go out, especially gay bars since I'm gay, because you're only young once, right? I then figured that I should be within 15 minutes walking distance, tops, from some of my favorite bars, grocery stores, a variety of restaurants (sit down and "fast casual"/hole in the wall fast food places), shops, liquor stores, gyms, and public transit. I ended up picking the eastern edge of Boystown/Lakeview East towards the lake because it fit the bill. I'm less than 5 minutes from a 146 express bus stop, which, counting walking, can get me to the area by the Water Tower in 15 minutes), and less than 15 minutes from the L. All the other amenities surround me, and some are literally around the corner from me.
Obviously Boystown had a pull for me due to the bars, but even if you're a bro who went to a Big 10 school who needs a bar to not only party in on a Saturday, but also to go to to root for his alma mater's football team, this scenario still works because Wrigleyville is just west of Boystown. Just tweak the distances for public transit.
-Is there anything people don't take into account when moving to Chicago? For example, Maybe certain neighborhoods have few dining options, or it is dead on the weekends in some places, or there are no convenient places to grocery shop in certain neighborhoods, etc. You know the saying, "You don't know what you don't know."
I have a few more questions, but I think I will leave it at that for now.
Thank you
Where would you be coming from? That's my only other real question I have to ask, besides the ones I've already mentioned, because that too would affect my advice.
Some general advice when apartment hunting though is to use Google Maps to check the addresses. You'll be able to pinpoint the place and its distance from the amenities you need within the neighborhood, because you can't always assume that public transit, grocery stores, etc, are all going to be within 10-15 minutes just because you're within a specific neighborhood. Neighborhoods in Chicago can be tiny, but they also can be quite large. Also double check listings that talk about a neighborhood that isn't one of Chicago's defined community areas. You'll have people saying it's a certain sub-neighborhood in order to sell the the apartment, but in actuality you might not be in that area.
Anyway, sorry for writing you a book. I'm procrastinating on an assignment for school, so I'm stuck in, and this was my distraction.
Marothisu, what would you rank the following from most expensive to least expensive?
Gold Coast. Streeterville. River North. Old Town.
LOL why is my name mentioned in the title of this thread?
I'd probably say from most to least expensive for rent at least would be maybe Streeterville, River North, Old Town, and then Gold Coast (maybe GC and Old Town interchangeable sometimes) but there's not a ton of difference between all.
Wow thanks a lot for all the info Perseus, that is really helpful. I especially like the hipster/bro dynamic you got going there, haha. I will try to address all of your points and questions below:
I believe all of the jobs are located in the loop, or at least very close. I will have to double check that. For now let's assume I would be working in the Loop.
I certainly value amenities, but for me there is no difference between a studio and a 1br apartment. I value ease of access to transportation and location above all else. In an ideal world I would be close to work, close to lots of nightlife opportunities, close to the water, close to grocery stores, and close to transportation. I obviously don't expect that though.
I wouldn't say I am a "bro" or a hipster, but if I had to choose I would probably prefer a bro area over a hipster neighborhood, if for no other reason than the women in those areas tend to be more attractive (at least where I am from). I would like to live in an area with some younger women, although I don't want to be the only person who is out of college. Whenever I visited Chicago I always saw plenty of attractive women Downtown. Idk what the other neighborhoods are like.
I enjoy watching college football, festivals, history, bars, watching soccer, museums, shopping, reading, architecture, restaurants, and Lake Michigan. I like sports but don't enjoy going to live games. As for what bars I like, if I am going out it is usually to watch sports or meet women. I do like beer bars as well, but I guess just "normal" bars for lack of a better word.
Commute time is big for me. From the moment I walk out of my apartment, I would ideally like to be arriving at work within 40 minutes. A little longer is acceptable, but it starts to get exponentially worse beyond that. If it will take me more than an hour to go somewhere, I won't even bother unless it is a really big deal.
I would be coming from Michigan. Never used public transportation in my life. I will take your advice and google map a lot of this. I am doing some apartment searching online and there seem to be so many nice apartments within my budget all over the city.
Last edited by DreamerDude; 10-17-2015 at 12:18 AM..
LOL why is my name mentioned in the title of this thread?
I'd probably say from most to least expensive for rent at least would be maybe Streeterville, River North, Old Town, and then Gold Coast (maybe GC and Old Town interchangeable sometimes) but there's not a ton of difference between all.
I like your posts man, I wanted to get your input. Do you live in NYC now? Last I remember I thought you wanted to move to Istanbul. Could be wrong though.
Let me put it this way, knowing what you know now, where would your 25 year old self enjoy living the most? Forget my specific situation, I am curious to know what your choice would be.
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