Considering Loyola Grad school--where to live? (Chicago, Elgin: apartments, to rent, condo)

[Amy K]

I'm looking at the Student Affairs Grad program at Loyola, but my husband wants me to do my research on the area first before applying to school.

Currently, we live in North Carolina. I know housing will be more in the Chicago area, but being that we will be living on 1 income as opposed to 2 when I go back to school, we need to find somewhere affordable AND safe.

We would need to be somewhere close enough to the school so I can get there within a reasonable time frame, but far enough out that we can have our two large dogs and afford something no more than $135K. We would need 2 bedrooms/2 BA. What are our options?

Also, my husband is a Sous Chef and would be looking for employment as an Exec Chef or a Sous Chef in the area. Does anyone have an idea about income for chefs in Chicago?

So far I love what I've learned about the city, but I need to be able to convince my husband that it's the place to be.

[mdz]

Amy--I think that 135K is not enough to find what you're looking for. Best of luck!

[FB1977]

I have to agree with MDZ...I really don't think you could find anything for that price, city or burbs. To get a better idea of what is out there, you may want to do a quick search at realtor.com or a similar housing site.

[j33]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think that is a bit of a tall order. In the city proper I don't know of two bedroom apartments going for that little (if you want a house, forgettaboutit). If you do move to to Chicago, you'd probably have to rent an apartment (you can do searches or look on craiglist for pet friendly places). Additionally, if you enter the student affairs program at Loyola, all your classes will be in the Water Tower Campus, not the Rogers Park Campus, so that will also probably influence where you may want to look. Good luck, Loyola is a good school and I enjoyed my time there as a student, but you might have a bit of a struggle finding the sort of housing you are looking for.

I don't know about the income for a sous chef, but I do know he'd have plenty of resturants to chose from, we've become quite the culinary hotspot in the past few years.

[Flatlander]

The only areas that I can think of that you can buy for under 135k might be Elgin (long commute to the city but possible) and Mundelein (again, a long commute to the city but do-able). For 135k this wouldn't be your dream home but at least you'd be building equity as opposed to renting and your dogs would have a yard.

[FB1977]

Elgin and Mundelein would both be quite a distance for you, prob at least an hour commute. My roomie bought a 2 brdm condo for right around that price 2 years ago, but we're all the way out in the Carpentersville/Algonquin area (which is right near Elgin). Like Flatlander said, you may be able to find houses that cheap in Elgin, but I honestly don't think they'd be in that great of an area.

I just did a search for you in Mundelein, and most at that price were apt or condo buildings.

[Amy K]

That's a bummer! I was really interested in the area. My husband insists on buying, though it doesn't have to be a house. What do most of the adult grad students do for living arrangments?

I found a house in Round Lake Park for $131K and also one on 111th St?? I had no clue about those areas though and after your feedback, I'm guessing they can't be in nice areas.

You're right about my area of study being at the Water Tower campus--I guess that's more South Chicago...I haven't read too many positive threads about living in that area. My stepfather grew up near Hermitage. Even though it's been years since he lived in Chicago, he suggested I steer clear of the southern portion of Chicago.

I hope this isn't a lost dream--what are some more affordable areas and what price range would we be talking about? I would be willing to do 1 BA, but the 2 BDRM would be hard to be without--we hope to have a child by then.

[reppin_the_847]

Actually Loyola's Water Tower campus is in one of the most expensive neighborhoods (zip codes) in the entire city of Chicago. It is in the "Gold Coast" neighborhood on the near north side of the city (just north of the downtown Loop, and a two block walk west of the famed Michigan Avenue shopping district). Several blocks north is the ultra expensive Oak Street (lot of high end shops, sort of an extension of Michigan Avenue). There's even a Bentley dealership literally next door. However, don't get the wrong impression. The corner of State & Chicago Avenue by the Water Tower campus actually is the location of a very busy CTA el stop, and ALL TYPES of people can be seen walking around here (from the cta stop) whether they're headed to Michigan Avenue, to school, to work, to loiter, to panhandle, whatever. Like I said, although the area is pretty expensive, it is still very urban and very city-like and attracts all kinds of people from everywhere (who usually commute in from elsewhere). It's an area where the vibe changes block by block. For example, you'll see a lot of homeless types panhandling at a liquor store literally a block west of there, and you'll see some hot-shot lawyer zooming by in a $200,000 Mercedes Coupe a couple blocks to the northeast. It's pretty strange at times, but I guess that's life in the big city. I'll post some housing recommendations for you soon, I need to re-read this thread. But to summarize my point, Water Tower Campus is not in the south side. It's in the near north side and some people would even qualify it as being downtown even though it's not really in the downtown Loop.

Originally Posted by Amy K

That's a bummer! I was really interested in the area. My husband insists on buying, though it doesn't have to be a house. What do most of the adult grad students do for living arrangments?

I found a house in Round Lake Park for $131K and also one on 111th St?? I had no clue about those areas though and after your feedback, I'm guessing they can't be in nice areas.

You're right about my area of study being at the Water Tower campus--I guess that's more South Chicago...I haven't read too many positive threads about living in that area. My stepfather grew up near Hermitage. Even though it's been years since he lived in Chicago, he suggested I steer clear of the southern portion of Chicago.

I hope this isn't a lost dream--what are some more affordable areas and what price range would we be talking about? I would be willing to do 1 BA, but the 2 BDRM would be hard to be without--we hope to have a child by then.

[j33]

Originally Posted by Amy K

What do most of the adult grad students do for living arrangments?

:

I rented as a grad student in her late twenties. Six years later I'm still renting as I don't quite make enough money to buy anything and pay off my student loans. I've had luck finding decent smaller one bedrooms for under or around $700 a month (but you'll have to look and accept some 'quirks' about them or the neighborhood they are located in), however, in your case you'll proabably want a large one bedroom if you are going to settle for a one-bedroom over a two-bedroom. I lived within walking distance of the Loyola campus (downtown) for 2 years, but in a very tiny apartment (but inexpensive and dirty, no matter how much I cleaned) with questionable neighbors, I decided it wasn't worth it and moved on from the area (and yes, the area is very expensive and desirable to live in, but the building I found myself in was not, which was probably why I could afford it . There are plenty of great neighborhoods in the city and near burbs to choose from, but on the salary of a sous-chef (this is not an insult, I make a similar salary and am comfortable with it) you'll have to rent in them.

As far as the place on 111st street is concerned, I'd want to know the cross street before I state whether or not it was in a good or bad area, but at that price, I'm guessing it isn't the part of 111st street I'd consider living on.

Another thing to consider if a child is involved, is that eventually that child will have to go to school, and you'll have to either move to an area with a good school (and usually those areas are expensive), pay for your child to go to private schools, or the less popular third option of just taking your chances hoping your child turns out okay even if they go to awful schools (hey I did .

[Steve-o]

Yeah, 135K wont get you anything around here, just being honest.

Lets ask this: how much do you have to spend on rent monthly? And do you care about a long commute (via train or car)?