Living in Chicago/Michigan ave? what about car insurance? (Hinsdale: appointed, apartments)

[mreza]

We have narrowed down our search for an apartment to the building called
"The Chicagoan" at the corner of Chicago ave and N. Rush. Looks like a descent place. Since I am not flying to Chicago (from Canada) to check it out I am relying on reviews online and photos.
Anybody here any experience with this building?

My wife and I (in 30's) will be living there for one year before moving back to Canada. I know it's a busy part of town with a lot of activity. We have lived in downtown Toronto for 5 years and kinda know this living style.
I am thinking taking the Metra to work (Univ. of Chicago).

1) Any advice for a new comer? What are the things to look/watch for?

Since I will have my car (shipped) I think I have to get insurance for it there (my Canadian doesn't cover for the full year). For that I have to get US license plate and for that I think I have to get a new drivers license.

2) Which car insurance company do you recommend? What's the fastest way to transfer my Canadian DL to a US one?

help is appreciated.

[grapico]

if you are living downtown why do you need a car...

[mreza]

we have a one month old baby, so for taking her around a car
is much more convenient.

[adamtrip]

We currently have AAA car insurance. We also have renter's insurance with them. They were about as cheap as we could find for the coverage we wanted.

[chet everett]

I think you may be very disappointed if you have a one year old and you move into the neighborhood you are talking about w/o having a very very high income. Though the rents in many buildings in North Michigan Ave / Gold Coast / Streeterville are down due to the glut of units caused by overbuilding the COSTS of living downtown are still very very much higher than living in a more family oriented part of the City. From the hassle of either driving to a someplace like Costco on Elston or relying on ridiculously overpriced "tourist" price in the area local to your building you will rapidly end up feeling very poor. Prking in most downtown buidlings, even for residents, is outrageously expensive. The costs and hassles of getting around with a car in the Gold Coast are extreme -- many folks that have cars in the Gold Coast use them very infrequently, typically for trips WELL OUTSIDE the bounds of the Gold Coast, to visit family /friends in the more traditionally car friendly parts of region OR to get to vacation areas in Wisconsin or Michigan.

I have friends that have a two bedroom unit in an older building very near to Chicago and Rush and the constantly tell me that when ever they spend more than a weekend in it they feel like paupers -- mind you this couple is very well off. He is an executive at the firm he works for, they own a very lovely home in Hinsdale. They sent their kids to expensive private schools. They have a very healthy amount of savings and income, but the constant reminders of paying $20 a person for a tourist breakfast or paying nearly that much for groceries in the little stores that serve their building make them nuts. They are contemplating selling their condo, but fear the glut will make that unfeasible.
Their eldest daughter lives in Lincoln Park, which while be no means a bargain, has a much broader array of business establishments designed to serve a wide variety of local residents. LP is much more "child friendly" than Gold Coast, and rarely do they have the same sort of hassles in LP that they often do in North Michigan Ave establishments when looking for a place where the whole family can have a nice lunch.

I would strongly recommend against some one that is completely unfamilar with Chicago moving into an apartment in the Gold Coast sight unseen.

I would further strongly recommend that anyone that will be working at UofC give serious consideration to living closer to Hyde Park / Kenwood.

Good Luck!

[binarybelle]

I agree. I think you'll find that having a car, even with a one-year-old, will be more of a hassle than a convenience.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I think you may be very disappointed if you have a one year old and you move into the neighborhood you are talking about w/o having a very very high income. Though the rents in many buildings in North Michigan Ave / Gold Coast / Streeterville are down due to the glut of units caused by overbuilding the COSTS of living downtown are still very very much higher than living in a more family oriented part of the City. From the hassle of either driving to a someplace like Costco on Elston or relying on ridiculously overpriced "tourist" price in the area local to your building you will rapidly end up feeling very poor. Prking in most downtown buidlings, even for residents, is outrageously expensive. The costs and hassles of getting around with a car in the Gold Coast are extreme -- many folks that have cars in the Gold Coast use them very infrequently, typically for trips WELL OUTSIDE the bounds of the Gold Coast, to visit family /friends in the more traditionally car friendly parts of region OR to get to vacation areas in Wisconsin or Michigan.

I have friends that have a two bedroom unit in an older building very near to Chicago and Rush and the constantly tell me that when ever they spend more than a weekend in it they feel like paupers -- mind you this couple is very well off. He is an executive at the firm he works for, they own a very lovely home in Hinsdale. They sent their kids to expensive private schools. They have a very healthy amount of savings and income, but the constant reminders of paying $20 a person for a tourist breakfast or paying nearly that much for groceries in the little stores that serve their building make them nuts. They are contemplating selling their condo, but fear the glut will make that unfeasible.
Their eldest daughter lives in Lincoln Park, which while be no means a bargain, has a much broader array of business establishments designed to serve a wide variety of local residents. LP is much more "child friendly" than Gold Coast, and rarely do they have the same sort of hassles in LP that they often do in North Michigan Ave establishments when looking for a place where the whole family can have a nice lunch.

I would strongly recommend against some one that is completely unfamilar with Chicago moving into an apartment in the Gold Coast sight unseen.

I would further strongly recommend that anyone that will be working at UofC give serious consideration to living closer to Hyde Park / Kenwood.

Good Luck!

A lot of what you say is certainly true, particularly the parking around there and tourist restaurants... but there is a Trader Joes and 2 Jewel's in that area where you can get stuff for what I consider cheap, plus you don't have to necessarily go out eating in the neighborhood all the time as you can jump on the el and get to other spots with ease. It is not more expensive than their other locations for instance. I used to grab stuff there all the time on the way home from work...The stores in the condo buildings are CERTAINLY a rip off though... I lived in one for awhile... The prices alone, if not breaking the wallet, would certainly **** off the least frugal people just on principal.

I'd also consider Hyde Park if you are going to be commuting down there everyday, you'll be closer to the UC community and it will be cheaper...most people who live in the loop or gold coast/streeterville also work in the loop/river north so they can at least save on convenience. not so with a commute down to UC everyday. UC is kind of isolated from the rest of the city you'll probably be going to...

I would personally choose a neighborhood with a little more character than Gold Coast if you aren't working down there.

[mreza]

Thanks guys for the info.

Eventhough Hyde park was close to my work, since my wife won't be working, I wanted to be in a place that is more interesting for her and the baby (and safer to walk around too). My preference was Lincoln Park/Lake view area. But I couldn't find many good apartments with the criteria we had (e.g. W/D in the unit etc). Most are older buildings. That's why we settled on gold coast area.

I know parking is outrageous in downtown ($245/month!!). If it were just the two of us, we wouldn't bring our car. But Getting around with a baby (especially in winter) is more hassle without a car I think. My guess is my car will be mostly sitting in the garage and I'll be paying that ridiculous parking just for a few times of use.


But why commuting to UC is bad from there? It seems driving is around 20min and public transit seems good too, no?

How much should I expect to pay for insurance for a 34 year old with clean driving record (no accidents, no tickets, etc)?

[chet everett]

Really Hyde Park is better choice -- new baby, new city, close to work. Even if you pay the same in rent as you would in the Gold Coast your total cost of living will be more manageable.

If you have your heart set on living in the Gold Coast and don't mind bleeding your income toward high rent for hassle of a car you are welcome to spend your money. Commute to Hyde Park via public transit is unnecessarily long due to all the loop stops that basically are not going to do anything other make your trip longer, even distance to Metra Electric is not great from the area you are considering.

The liabilty and theft coverage for an average car are going be highly dependent on deductible, but low end I would say 34 year old with clean record (and assuming no penalty for lack of US driving experience..) would be $350/ year. High end you might be double maybe 2.5x that.

[dewthedru]

your wife would be safe walking around hyde park and it's an old beautiful area with tons of character. but to each his own....