Where should I live in Chicago? (also, read about how I got bait-and-switched) (Lincoln: fit in, transplants)

[chitown noob]

I'm a 29/m, recently single, straight male. I was living with my gf in the burbs but that just ended and since I've never lived in the city itself before, I figure now is the time (and all my friends are insisting that I do, that it will be the "best decision I've ever made").

I'm not terribly familiar with Chicago and it's various neighborhoods, so I'm hoping that if I provide a description of what I want that some people here can point me in the right direction.

But I'm getting completely annoyed at trying to find a place. I've been bait-and-switched by a certain leasing agency (and as a result I refuse to use them now).

Ok.

What I don't want:
- I don't like buildings that feel (or smell) "old." I know some people say this adds "character," but I don't like it. I mean doors that don't quite fit in their frames, walls that look old (despite being freshly painted), and that funky moist aroma in the air.

What I want:
- Something newer
- Floor to ceiling windows are a plus
- Central A/C and heat (I almost won't compromise on this but I suppose in certain situations I might)
- Parking

I'm self-employed so a commute isn't an issue. I work from home. The reason I want to move to the city is because I fear that if I live in the burbs I will just be a hermit and never leave my place because there isn't much to do in the burbs (I've lived in many of them... boring).

I want to live in a neighborhood that is professional, safe to walk around at night (since I will invariably get lost), and where my neighbors aren't thugs or cooking meth or 5 people squished into a 1 bedroom unit. And have fun things for a 29/m to do within walking distance or a short cab ride. So I'm thinking Loop/South Loop/Streeterville/Gold Coast????

Here are some of the places I've seen so far and my impressions of them:

1401 South State St.
- Really cool looking model unit, sexy floor-to-ceiling windows, nice modern kitchen, kinda small, no bedroom doors, disproportionally large bathroom (could've cut 10sqft out of the bathroom and made the bedroom bigger or something).

- I've read some reviews on apartmentratings and yelp that make me have second thoughts about living here, both in terms of thugs, thin walls, poorly-functioning appliances, and lazy maintenance staff.

- I got bait-and-switched here, as they told me the rent was $100 more than it was advertised on Craigslist, and I was told that that cheaper unit had been rented. Funny how it's still being advertised on Craigslist, then. They also told me I could get a month free but a) I had to sign today (high pressure much? please.) and b) it was a 13 month lease which I thought was odd.

1120 North Lasalle
- Decent sized units, old building. Old kitchens. Smelled like an old building, or an old college apartment.

Astoria Towers
- Very nice, but very small. I have a pretty big desk with a wall of monitors for my job, and there wasn't room for my desk anywhere in the unit I looked at. I thought the windows in the units could be bigger. Some crazy amenities here: A golf practice/simulation room!!! Come on, that's kinda cool. It also had world's smallest swimming pool. Nice, brand new kitchens. Everything here is new, and the units haven't had anyone live in them yet. They do have units for rent, contrary to what they tell you if you call and ask.

Marina Towers
- 10/10 location (especially considering I go to House of Blues a lot). In seeing pics online, I had high hopes for this place. Unfortunately, even tho some of the units are recently renovated and had new, modern kitchens, it still felt like an old building; some of the doors were hard to open and close, the keys didn't fit right, it had this dank smell everywhere, and it had old heaters and A/C units that were rusty and gross.
- Valet parking. That's pretty awesome, but also could be inconvenient if you needed your car ASAP and had to wait 15 minutes. And if you forget something in your car, you can't even go into the garage and get it. Weird.

So I'm not trying to be picky. Really, I'm not. But if I'm going to move to the city I want to live it up and enjoy my time there, not hate working at home and coming home from a night out and thinking "wow, this place is worse than my college apartment."

The obvious answer is Trump Towers, but I can't really afford that. I don't want to live it up that much. Plus I just read another thread on here saying that a studio is $2,200/mo. That's a bit more than I want to pay.

So where should I look? What about "Roosevelt Collection" or something like that? I'm having mixed results on CL.

Also, how much room for negotiation is there? I know there's more if you're renting a condo (from a private owner) as opposed to an apartment (from a company), but I'm hesitant to go with a condo because if something breaks, I don't want to have to go through the owner to fix it. My credit score is very high and I know how to negotiate rent, I just want to know how much wiggle room there is.

Sorry such a long post.

Thanks.

[slow_nerve_action]

I think you are limiting your search range too much. Try looking around Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park more...you'll see more people your age, and with the same experience level with the city.

There's much more fun things to do in thise neighborhoods. While there are bars and clubs downtown, more of them tend to be older people, Viagra Triangle types, and burbies just looking to go out to Division Street bars.

West Loop is a great place to go out as well, but you need a better feel for the neighborhoods and city to look there.

Right now, if you have a condo owner as a landlord, the advantage is yours, and probably will be for a couple years. Try not to low-ball them too much....its better not to have an adversarial relationship with a possible novice landlord.

[chitown noob]

Is Wrigleyville a decent area? I have friends who got jumped there in broad daylight.

Lincoln Park... I've been looking at a ton of places there on CL, but they all look "old" and don't have central A/C. Do they have newish/modern type places in there?

[slow_nerve_action]

Originally Posted by chitown noob

Is Wrigleyville a decent area? I have friends who got jumped there in broad daylight.

Lincoln Park... I've been looking at a ton of places there on CL, but they all look "old" and don't have central A/C. Do they have newish/modern type places in there?

That can happen to you anywhere in the city. You also might need to ask your friends about the context in which they were "jumped". Truly random crime is a rare occurrence.....

Wrigleyville is considered one of the safer neighborhoods in the city. You have more to worry about with drunken overgrown frat-boys a year or two out of Big Ten schools then true crime.

Lincoln Park is older, but there is a ton of new construction throughout the North Side. Everyone overbuilt.

Bottom Line: Craigslist gets you only so far. Go out and explore the neighborhoods, and keep an eye out for those "for rent" signs....Craigslist only has a sampling of the listings out there.

Also, once you have a better fell for a neighborhood, try an apartment hunting service - there's a boatload on Belmont- and be explicit that you only want new construction, and your rent range. With what you are looking for, you would be a big fish for them to reel in, and would have their attention.

Have fun with the next stage of your life.

[chitown noob]

I've heard from numerous sources that you can get better deals by not using apartment hunting services or leasing agents. One such source was this article:

Mod Cut: not enought posts to make a recommendation.

(my apologies if noobs aren't supposed to post links here

edit - guess I don't have enough posts to post links yet. Well you can find the URL from that mess of code up there)

...since inflated rent prices go to pay for those agents' commissions. I figure I'd have better luck negotiating if I did it myself.

Any truth to that?

[slow_nerve_action]

Originally Posted by chitown noob

I've heard from numerous sources that you can get better deals by not using apartment hunting services or leasing agents. One such source was this article:

Mod Cut
(my apologies if noobs aren't supposed to post links here

edit - guess I don't have enough posts to post links yet. Well you can find the URL from that mess of code up there)

...since inflated rent prices go to pay for those agents' commissions. I figure I'd have better luck negotiating if I did it myself.

Any truth to that?

You can always tell an agent what you will pay for it.

We argued ours down through an agent when we were looking last month.
Like any negotiated transaction, analyze motivations, and work from there.
The agency wants a commission.
The landlord wants a place rented.
Both want someone with decent source of funds and good credit.

[WhaThe]

"I don't like buildings that feel (or smell) "old." I know some people say this adds "character," but I don't like it. I mean doors that don't quite fit in their frames, walls that look old (despite being freshly painted), and that funky moist aroma in the air."


Made me chuckle. Just because I love that stuff.

I agree with the others that have said Wrigley. It is full of suburban transplants like yourself. I think you would feel at home.

As far as getting jumped in Wrigley, wow! It's one of the most patrolled areas in the city. I just can't imagine but I guess it can happen anywhere.

[grapico]

I think the best bet would be to go to neighborhoods u like and look for for rent signs... gather up tons of numbers and call. I think you'll get better deals than on CL too. Also you should bargain, try to take 100 off the rent or more of their asking price, b/c some of them have probably been open for several months and that is better than them going another month w/o a resident.

Also if you are working from home, why live downtownish neighborhoods? The better night life is not down there plus if you are bringing a car you'll have to pay more for parking most likely. I have lived in west loop and south loop, and it was GREAT for working in the loop, i.e. walk to work, people visiting from out of town, central location, go to whole foods or safeway or trader joes on the way home, etc. I don't know why you would want to live so close and pay the extra dime if you don't need to be in the loop though. The people I know in the close neighborhoods in general either a) work in the loop b) go to one of the colleges in the loop c want to be downtown and close to union station commuting out d) it is their weekend place and live in the suburbs e) old rich ladies in streeterville who shop at fox and obel. But for night life I always tended to go to other neighborhoods and only stayed in the loop if there was a festival going on in grant park on the weekend or after work drinks.

[SmartGXL]

To the OP:

What is your price range? As I have a unit in mind (in East Lakeview) that will fit exactly what you are looking for.

[chitown noob]

Originally Posted by SmartGXL

To the OP:

What is your price range? As I have a unit in mind (in East Lakeview) that will fit exactly what you are looking for.

I'd like to stay around $1,400 or $1,500 but I'm not sure if that's possible after the places I've seen.

edit - definitely wouldn't complain about a lower price.