Where to live in Evanston for young professional? (Chicago, Davis: apartments, for rent)

[md9724]

Hi,

My boyfriend and I are planning on moving to Evanston (renting an apartment) since he's fed up with city living. I'm wondering where the best areas to live in Evanston are for a couple of young professionals? We'd like to be close (within walking distance of bars and restaurants) but don't necessarily want to live on top of college students. He'd also like to be within 15 minutes walking of a Metra station.

Thanks!

[nana053]

Evanston is a college town, so you are bound to have them around. There are three metra stations in Evanston - one on Central St (north Evanston), one on Church and Davis (downtown) and one on Main St (south Evanston). You can easily be 15 minutes or less walking to one of these stations. The Downtown area is definitely walking distance to bars and restaurants.

Apartments for Rent in Evanston, IL | Apartments.com

The apartments shown north are all close to the Metra (and a few restaurants, but not bars).
The apartments shown in the downtown area are close to everything.
The apartments close to Main St are close to the metra (and several restaurants)

Walking to the bars would also depend on how far you want to walk. I walked from Central St to downtown all the time, but I walk longer distances than many people do.

[knitgirl]

Fed up with city living but wants to be walking distance to bars and restaurants. Hmmm. Downtown Evanston doesn't strike me as much different than most active North Side neighborhoods where young professionals are likely to live.

[reppin_the_847]

There's a huge difference IMO. Evanston is much more sedate compared to the north side yuppie & hipster neighborhoods of Chicago.

Originally Posted by knitgirl

Fed up with city living but wants to be walking distance to bars and restaurants. Hmmm. Downtown Evanston doesn't strike me as much different than most active North Side neighborhoods where young professionals are likely to live.

[asliarun]

Originally Posted by reppin_the_847

There's a huge difference IMO. Evanston is much more sedate compared to the north side yuppie & hipster neighborhoods of Chicago.

Yes, I agree. I find Evanston less yuppie-ish and less blingy than Chicago downtown, but is still a true downtown - not a token downtown that many of the suburbs have.

Walking access to bars and restaurants is excellent if one lives East of the tracks (or a 5-10 minute walk West of the tracks), north of Main (ideally, Dempster), and south of NW Univ. That's a pretty small geography, but there are quite a few apartments - modern high rises that are somewhat expensive, and older apartments that are cheaper. Some of the older apartments are quite well run too. Although Evanston is a college town, the univ is not as wild or as big as the other big univs. A lot of the college students are also married and with kids. Apartment buildings get noisy/wild only if it is mostly occupied by students, which is actually not the case for most Evanston apartments in the downtown area.