Chicago (Worth, Princeton, Manhattan: for rent, schools, doctorate)

[corriellen]

Originally Posted by surlycue

Lady, sign up for the weekly emails from "My open bar"- Chicago version obviously. They comprise a weekly listing of all of the cheap and free goings-on at various bars that cover the spectrum. I rarely see any sports bars covered so that would be a good start for you. Step two, get out of Lincoln Park.

Thankyou!

[corriellen]

Originally Posted by ERS-One

So far, so good from everyone. For beer I will add:

Villains - I know, corny name - but great beer selection, a lot better and extensive than what their online menu shows.

Fireside Restaurant & Lounge - It can be sports oriented up to a point, but it's more of just a regular hangout spot with great beer and pretty good food.

Beer Bistro - 'nuff said

The Blind Robin, Green Eye Lounge, Lemmings - all owned by the same person/group I believe. Not the most extensive lists, but nice selection, and good music and people.

Clark St. Ale House


Cool to hangout, not bad beer:

Charleston - music, chat

Danny's - music, readings, chat


Honestly, there's just way too much. This is your friend:

Chicago Beer Map


I just started going down the list alphabetically and picked the ones that I think fit your description, and that I've been to and enjoyed. I only got to "D".

Hop onto a Metra Electric line and head out to Flossmoor, IL for Flossmoor Station. It's worth the trip for a nice lazy Saturday afternoon in a nice town.

I will definately look up these bars. My friends are coming to visit in a month. I want to convince them to move to Chicago. This kind of info helps! Thankyou all!

[corriellen]

Originally Posted by Drover

You must be the only person in all of Lincoln Park paying $700/mo for a 3-bedroom, with or without utilities. That's about the starting rate for a studio around there.

ETA: ah, or is that your portion split with two other people?

Yeah it's split 3 ways and the apartment is old. But its roomy and has big windows!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by surlycue

Hipsters are already in Bridgeport so if you follow the standard cycle of first come the poor artists then comes the middle class hipsters then comes the yuppies, the artsy types have already been there for sometime but just lay low.

Directed at Drover. Bah.

You know, I keep hearing this but I've spent a lot of time in Bridgeport over the last 18 months or so and I have yet to see them. Where are these supposed Bridgeport hipsters? What are their hangouts? I had heard Mitchell's on Halsted near 33rd was a potential hipster spot, but when I went there all I saw was a bunch of bros wearing Sox hats, which is about what I expected except that they were drinking decent beer instead of Old Pile. Then there's that hoppin' vinyl record shop pretty much across the street from Mitchell's but it's been there since the 70s so it well and clearly predates any supposed hipster invasion.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by corriellen

Yeah it's split 3 ways and the apartment is old. But its roomy and has big windows!

And here's the thing: a similar unit can be found in the "artist" neighborhoods for roughly 50 to 60% of what you all are paying, putting them much closer to within the budget of your average java-slingin' starving artist.

[ERS-One]

Originally Posted by Drover

There used to be. Then they got priced out about 15 years ago so they moved to Wicker Park and Bucktown. Where they have now been mostly priced out (though many of their hangout institutions remain there), so they've scattered to Ukranian Village, East Pilsen, and to some extent the northern edge of Uptown. Where they will most likely, sooner or later, be priced out. Next stops: Bridgeport and Rogers Park?

Bingo.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Furthermore, you don't have to be in the "artsy" neighborhoods to meet interesting people. I live in Lincoln Square- which is not UNartistic, by any stretch, but is as much a family-friendly neighborhood as anything else- and have met enormously interesting people.

Furthermore, it's far easier to meet people that share you interests by doing something directly related to those interests. You probably won't meet them in a bar, no matter how cool a bar it is. You CAN, however, meet them in a class and then GO to a cool bar.

Meeting interesting friends is not unlike meeting potential significant others: Go do something you're interested in, and find folks there who share your interests. The rest will come.

[surlycue]

The only one I know for sure is a loft space near the border with Bronzeville that hosts weekly parties. I haven't been there since it's not really my scene but a couple of younger friends have been a few times. I think it's called "my house" or "my loft", something along those lines. At the end of April when I did the zombie pub crawl in Andersonville there was a "zombie prom" dance party that a bunch of people were going to in Bridgeport later that night.

I don't know any of the working artists that live in Bridgeport but I figure some must be there if hipsters are moving in. I do know an artist that lives in Armour Square but she also happens to be Asian.

[Irishtom29]

There are artists working in the old Spiegel catalog building on 35th St., Zhou's.

http://www.zbcenter.org/

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Drover

You know, I keep hearing this but I've spent a lot of time in Bridgeport over the last 18 months or so and I have yet to see them. Where are these supposed Bridgeport hipsters? What are their hangouts?

I ran into some in the Bridgeport Inn on Archer a couple of weeks ago. Jaspers had big plugs in their ears and non-threatening tatoos. Locals I talked to said they weren't from the neighborhood. Which doesn't mean they don't live there, know what I mean?