Coming to Chicago for law school... (Oak Park, Addison: apartments, leasing agent, countertops)

[wtwall9]

Hello all,

I'm relocating to Chicago soon for law school at Kent College of Law -- it's near Union Station. I've done a little research on areas of the city and have been browsing craigslist on and off ever since I decided Chicago was it, but I'm admittedly still pretty uninformed.

Some things I'm keeping in mind while looking for a place...

A) I won't be taking my car, so somewhere with convenient access to transportation that will get me back and forth from school is preferably. I don't care if I live all that close to the school, I just want to be able to get there w/o too much hastle.

B) I'd like somewhere pretty safe. A family-ish neighborhood would be cool -- somewhere I'd be comfortable walking a dog if I had one. Probably won't first year, but eventually I'd like to get one.

C) I'm gay, so I'd like somewhere pretty gay friendly.

Any specific neighborhoods would be appreciated. If you know of great leasing agents or buildings in those neighborhoods, that'd be a bonus.

Thanks in advance, everybody.

[Drover]

Oak Park. Family-ish (just stay west of Ridgeland Avenue), gay-friendly, and both the CTA Blue and Green Line trains go out to Oak Park and both have a station within a couple blocks of the school. Metra (suburban commuter rail system) also has a stop in Oak Park and will drop you off right by the school, and will get you there quite a bit quicker than the CTA... but the downside is that you'd have to pay out of pocket to ride Metra whereas you get an unlimited-use CTA pass as part of your student fees.

I recommend Oak Park primarily based on your "family-ish" criterion. The gay-friendly parts of Chicago proper tend to be more singles- and DINK-oriented.

[domergurl]

As a single, straight, white female I lived in Boystown, which is an enclave of Lakeview. I absolutely LOVE that neighborhood. Check with Kent, they probably have a list of apartments for rent or roommates wanted ads.

I also used to work for 2 large law firms in Chicago if you have any questions about the atmosphere there.

[wtwall9]

I've heard good things about Lakeview, domegurrl. Any suggestions on how to find a good place there? I've been eyeing craigslist and they have the occasional spot in Lakeview, but I really don't know which parts of Lakeview I should be aiming for.

Any insights you have on the legal market and Kent in general are appreciated, too!

[jluyka]

wtwall9: Try www.chicagoreader.com

They have load of apartments on the North Side of Chicago and is updated weekly!

Welcome to Chicago and the best of luck in Law School!

[domergurl]

I lived on Stratford Place between LSD & Broadway. The hub of boystown, at least when I lived there was Halsted between Belmont & Addison. I'm sorry I can't be of more help in finding a place because I scored mine as a favor to a friend ... typical Chicago.

Check with the Reader ... forgot about that!

[wtwall9]

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/333094265.html (broken link)

Any thoughts from you experienced Chicagoites (?) on this neighborhood?

[Drover]

That's actually a rather Indian/Pakistani neighborhood. Relatively safe, mostly quiet but it can get busy along Devon Avenue just to the north which is a busy business and restaurant district, mostly geared toward the Indian/Paki crowd. My concerns are two-fold: a) you ought to be able to get a two-bedroom in that neighborhood for a lot cheaper than $1200/mo (though if you absolutely HAVE to have brand new 42" cherry cabinets, granite countertops and brushed steel appliances, $1200 is about right), and b) your commute from there to school is going to be well over an hour, somewhere in the 75 to 90 minute range. There's just no easy/direct way to get from there to the school using public transportation. You'll have to hop a bus for quite a while just to get to a train that will take you close to school.

[wtwall9]

Thanks for the reply, drover! That's exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for.

I know you recommended Oak Park and I've been keeping an eye out in that area. Any suggestions on neighborhoods in the city that would work well for me?

[Drover]

Originally Posted by wtwall9

Thanks for the reply, drover! That's exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for.

I know you recommended Oak Park and I've been keeping an eye out in that area. Any suggestions on neighborhoods in the city that would work well for me?

Pretty much anywhere from Ridgeland to the east, Harlem to the west, Chicago to the north, and Roosevelt to the south. The Ridgeland border to the east is to give you some buffer between yourself and the really crappy part of Chicago's Austin neighborhood; otherwise, the north, south and west borders are for convenience to the Green and Blue Line CTA trains. Anywhere within that rectangle should be no more than a 10-minute walk to a CTA station.