Moving to Chicago! Please help! (Aurora, Irving: budget, apartment, travel)

[pilotswife06]

Hi, my husband and I are being transferred to Chicago from Phoenix in about a month... We're looking for a 1-2 bedroom apartment near the blue line (which I guess goes to the airport?) for about $1000-$1200 a month. Which areas would you recommend with these parameters? I have heard that Wrigleyville and Aurora are nice, but any suggestions are definitely appreciated! Thank you so much in advance!!

[andrew61]

Some neighborhoods along the Blue Line on the Northwest Side (in order going outward from downtown towards the airport):

Wicker Park/Bucktown: Hip, artsy, now becoming more "yuppified"... a very young crowd... lots of restaurants, nightlife, shops, boutiques... some great old residential architecture...

Logan Square: Mostly residential... very nice and even upscale on or nearest the square/Logan Blvd, breathtaking architecture there... dicier areas in outlying blocks, though... heavily Hispanic...

Irving Park: Quiet, mostly residential areas... some architecture of historical note, others more modest... reasonably priced (rentals), reasonably safe...

Jefferson Park/Portage Park/Edison Park: More "outer city"/suburbanesque in character, lots of bungalows, ranches, etc... safe areas... rather staid... lots of city workers live here (police, firemen, etc.)...

All of these areas should fit your budget... Wicker Park/Bucktown is probably the most expensive of the bunch... a 2BR in your price range there might be tough, but a 1BR is definitely doable...

[Steve-o]

Aurora? Not a town Id recommend. There are nice spots in Aurora, but the majority of the town is not desirable at all. Im not overly familiar with Chicago's neighborhoods, but if you have any questions about the western burbs, let me know. IMO, the western burbs might be the best in the country.... and Ive traveled EVERYWHERE extensively...

[Drover]

It should also be mentioned that Aurora is about 40 miles west of Chicago and therefore isn't anywhere near the Blue Line or the airport.
Andrew61 has pretty much covered the neighborhoods along the Blue line. There are others even further north/west of Jefferson Park, but they're practically (if not actually) suburban areas that are almost exclusively single-family and not as much rental stock. I'd say the best bang for the buck is going to be Irving Park (the neighborhood I live in BTW). Logan Square, Bucktown and Wicker Park are all pretty gentrified (at least the portion of Logan Square you'd want to live in is) and so they're a little on the expensive side. Jefferson Park hosts a huge, major transportation hub where a CTA train line, Metra line, eleven CTA bus lines and the Kennedy Expressway all converge, which also puts the area in pretty high demand. Of the ones on the list, Irving Park is the one area that is in the least demand because it is not a gentrified neighborhood nor is it a major transportation hub. Yet it's also relatively safe and quiet and you have relatively easy access to most of the city's nightlife areas. All that said, if you do some shopping around you should easily find a 2-bedroom for under $1200/mo in any of the neighborhoods listed.

[pilotswife06]

Thank you all very much! I really appreciate the input... As you can tell, I know nothing about the area! Thanks again!

[gsueagle22]

Aurora would not be close to the blue line for you. Anywhere on the north side would of the blue line would be nice for you. Damen ave is the wicker park area, lots of young people.

[mcgoof23]

I'd throw in my vote for the Little Italy/Taylor St. area. I lived there for about 4 years and used to walk through UIC's campus to the Blue Line for work, about a 30 minute commute from the time I left my front door to sitting down at my desk. The restaurants are the best around, and a few new bars have popped up in addition to old staple Hawkeye's.

[Drover]

My only caution about Little Italy/Taylor Street is that the OP seems to imply that access to O'Hare is a strong deciding factor. Little Italy/Taylor area is indeed convenient to the Blue Line... however, a trip to O'Hare from that area on the Blue Line would be well over an hour. Something for the OP to keep in mind, especially if they will be flying often. (And gathering from the OP's screen name "pilotswife" I think that's a pretty safe assumption.)

[Mathead]

andrew61 has caught the correct.

I lived off the blue line for a couple of years and it all depends what you want to spend. Wicker Park, Bucktown will be the most expensive of those areas simply because its a cultural, hotspot with nightlife.