SF/Cambridge fan moving back home to Chicago (Lincoln: hardwood floors, apartment)

[sfcambridge]

After years living on the coasts - and I loved my time in San Francisco and Cambridge, Mass. which were perfect places to live for me - I am moving back to Chicago. My birthplace.

Wondering if I could get some recs on neighborhoods to live in, with the most important points being....

1) Easy access to Northwestern Hospital downtown at any hour day/night - where I will be working. Would love for it to be walkable (!) or easy public transit. I hate to fight traffic...

2) A decent place to live for a young,single person.

3) Not crazy expensive - although I can't imagine it being worse then San Francisco or Cambridge.

4) Must have parking available. Don't want to be fighting to find a place to park if I'm coming home from work at 11pm.....

Just looking for a decent one-bedroom apartment. Would love hardwood floors, close by tasty ethnic/funky/great food, and a reasonably safe commute/walk for a savvy city girl.

Thanks a TON.

[sfcambridge]

anyone?

[oakparkdude]

What's your range of acceptable rent?

[snoylekim]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

anyone?

New East Side, River North, Streeterville all have places that would satisfy ( although they're less funky and more cosmo-urban with pockets of 'touristy', but you're close to everything .. and safe for the city-savvy ( mostly touristy or 'downtown' type crime ...pickpockets, drunken louts..) ..

[sfcambridge]

Acceptable rent....

well, it's still hard for me to believe but I'm paying $1500/month now for a nice but "funky" apartment (including parking) in a small pre-war apartment building in San Francisco (Cole Valley). It seems like a lot to me, but it's a very good price for the area, which is a great location, convenient to the train, great little neighborhood with many good food choices, and walking distance to my prior work.

I'm hoping, particularly in light of the recession, that rents may be more affordable in Chicago.

[Avengerfire]

How long has it been since you lived in Chicago?

You can get a "funky" 1 bedroom for half of $1500 easily.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

How long has it been since you lived in Chicago?

You can get a "funky" 1 bedroom for half of $1500 easily.

Not one that I'd want to live in, however. And not with parking, unless you are really far from the action.

We need more information from this guy. If he's looking for a cheaper college-style apartment, he can easily get a 1-BR for under $1000 in a decent North Side neighborhood. But if he wants to be in a premier location, have a "nice" apartment, and have parking, he may be paying closer to the $1500 he left behind in SF--if not more.

For the OP:

1. What are your standards for an apartment? Do you want one that's somewhat rehabbed? New kitchen and bath? Ammenities? Are you looking for a 1-BR, or will a studio do?

2. How important is it for you to be in premier neighborhood like Lincoln Park or the Gold Coast? Or downtown, for that matter?

3. How long of a commute can you tolerate? We could say move to Edgewater, but if 45 minutes each way turns you off, that may not work out for you.

[Avengerfire]

Lookout, I have been in 1 bedrooms that cost 750-875 that are more than fine to live in and are not in far flung areas. I know a bunch of people that live in them (and these people make decent money.)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

4) Must have parking available. Don't want to be fighting to find a place to park if I'm coming home from work at 11pm...

A bigger issue there will be that there is no cheap parking anywhere near Northwestern Hospital. You'll get gouged if you drive to work and leave a car there for ten hours, even with "early bird specials". I think the early bird special near the Galter Pavillion was $14, and you have to be out by kind of an early hour or it jumps to something closer to $30.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Lookout, I have been in 1 bedrooms that cost 750-875 that are more than fine to live in and are not in far flung areas. I know a bunch of people that live in them (and these people make decent money.)

I've seen 'em too in places like Ravenswood and Andersonville. But if you get that in Lincoln Park or downtown, you are one lucky man. And parking along the lakefront is usually more than $200 covered and $150 for a lot. The Disney School lot by me charges $180, and that's in Uptown. So add that to your total.