Are you familiar with the north-side neighborhoods and suburbs? If so... (Chicago: relocating, housing)

[bfurg]

...I could really use your help. I am relocating to Chicago from Cleveland in a few weeks, and my short-term living arrangements are set- I will be living in west lincoln park and working in the loop.

HOWEVER

My old college roommate is also relocating to Chicago once he's out of grad school, in July or August, and we plan to do the roommate thing again. He will be working in Northbrook. He had originally had it in his mind that he wanted to live in Skokie or Evanston, but I'm not keen on the commute, the severe lack of local young-single-professional-oriented nightlife/entertainment, and the difficult access to the city on the weekends.

I have no problem using public transit, but he prefers to drive. What's more, he wants his commute to be 30 minutes or less. While I really doubt that's possible from pretty much anywhere, I'm open to suggestions for youthful communities that are a reasonable commute from both Northbrook and the loop. I'd ideally like to be in Lakeview. Is that out of the question given the above? What would you estimate a typical Lakeview - Northbrook commute to be?

Thanks so much for your help!

[Drover]

I defy you to do the commute from Lakeview to Northbrook for a week without contemplating violence.

If you think there's no local young-single-professional-oriented nightlife/entertainment in Evanston, you're really missing the boat. You may not be keen on the commute, but put yourself in his shoes. Something has to give, and Evanston seems like a pretty reasonable compromise between the Loop and Northbrook -- especially when you consider that the CTA Purple Line runs express from the Evanston/Chicago border all the way to the Addison stop (and vice-versa) during rush hour.

As for "difficult access to the city on weekends," there's a CTA train line that connects Evanston directly to many Chicago nightlife areas. If you find you want more nightlife options than Evanston can offer on any given weekend, you have fairly easy public transit access to Andersonville, Uptown, Wrigleyville/Lakeview, Lincoln Park and River North.

[bfurg]

Thanks for the info, drover. I suspected that Lakeview would be out of the question. I visited Evanston a few weeks ago, and the downtown area is really nice, reminds me of my college's town. My worry is that on the weekends, with the purple line not running express, and the transfer at Howard, it might not be ideal for travel into the loop (there's a good chance I'll be commuting occasionally on weekends too).

How about Rogers Park? Not significantly further south than Evanston, but being on the red line I'd feel more comfortable with the weekend access to points further south. Any suggestions for communities off of the blue line that would be a good fit?

[dsimicata]

I spend a lot of time with various friends who live in East Rogers Park. If you live between the Red Line and Lake Michigan you will be fine most anywhere. Loyola University is in Rogers Park as you may be aware. Personally I feel safe using the Morse stop (although I feel safer exiting on the Lunt St side of that station late at night) or the Loyola stop. I would feel better walking from one of those two stops over toward the Lake.

There isn't a whole lot to do in RP. However, there is a cool coffeehouse at Lunt and Sheridan, a Starbucks, a Chipotle, and an older movie theatre on Sheridan a few blocks north of Loyola. You can get to Lakeview in 15 to 20 minutes on the Red Line depending upon the time of day/train congestion.

However, no one can guarantee that your friends commute won't exceed 30 minutes from RP to Northbrook. One suggestion is that he take Touhy Avenue from Rogers Park directly west to I-94 (the Eden's Expressway) and then 94 up to Northbrook.

As for the Blue Line, Wicker Park is cool and Logan Square can be nice, however, both of those will put your friend on the Kennedy Expressway (90/94) until it "splits" to become the Eden's/94 toward Northbrook. The section of the Kennedy before the split is often a nightmare in rush hour.

You'd be better off in Rogers Park in my opinion. And, the stops further out on the Blue Line aren't very interesting nor will they help the commute.

Good luck. I think you will love Chicago. Been here off and on 23ish years and it is great.

[Humboldt1]

Stick with Evanston. Rogers Park isn't horrible but Evanston is much nicer with more to do for young people and more "scenery", which is always a plus for a young guy.

Rogers Park will not be fair for a guy driving to Northbrook. Even from Evanston I doubt your roommate averages 30 mins. From Rogers Park, add 10 mins to that. Evanston has excellent public transit and your commute to work will be a breeze.

Lakeview would definitely fit you better if you were alone but be considerate of your buddy who you are looking to room with again. Clearly, you two are good friends enough to live together again so just compromise. Evanston should work well for both of you.

If you and he stop rooming together or his work moves to the city, you can always look at lakeview.

[bfurg]

I agree that public transit from Evanston is great, especially with Metra. How does Skokie compare to Evanston?

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by bfurg

I agree that public transit from Evanston is great, especially with Metra. How does Skokie compare to Evanston?

You are alot closer to 94.Public transit is not as good except for the Skokie Swift and things are spread out way more in Skokie (it is more of a typical burb than Evanston.)

Why not try North Park?

[Humboldt1]

Skokie has a good train and bus hub and will definitely be a little closer for your roommate. Skokie is boring, however and a bunch of older people, not exactly trendy, kinda like niles. Stick with Evanston, more to do and a younger crowd. I think it is a fair compromise for both of you and you get to live in a cool area with cool people.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by bfurg

How about Rogers Park? Not significantly further south than Evanston, but being on the red line I'd feel more comfortable with the weekend access to points further south. Any suggestions for communities off of the blue line that would be a good fit?

To be honest, Jefferson Park is clearly the best option for both of you in terms of commute. It puts him right on the expressway to Northbrook and it gives you the option to take either the CTA Blue Line or a Metra commuter train to downtown for work.

The downside is that JeffPark is not a particularly exciting or nightlife-oriented neighborhood. The good news is that your nightlife itches can be scratched within 20 to 30 minutes by hopping on a Blue Line train to Wicker Park or Bucktown, or hopping on a Lawrence Avenue bus to Uptown or Lincoln Square, or hopping on a Foster Avenue bus to Andersonville, or taking the Lawrence bus to the Kimball Brown Line stop where the Brown Line can take you to Lakeview, Lincoln Park or River North. While Jefferson Park itself may not be terribly exciting, it's ideally located to give you relatively easy access to all the nightlife areas.

[NearWestSider]

Evanston is nice, but you will not be satisfied with it if you are looking for big city life. That's not a knock on Evanston (which is a lovely town), its just the way it is.

I would recommend that you take a look at Logan Square, which has really good transit (both the Blue Line and the Kennedy Expressway), and it is also close to downtown and everything the city has to offer. Logan and Kedzie boulevards are two of the nicest streets in the entire city.

The housing stock is also really good. The apartments tend to be spacious, especially near the boulevards, perfect for roomates, and they tend to run substantially cheaper than in the North Side neighborhoods.