Moving to Chicago (Bridgeport: hardwood floors, for sale, real estate)

[bhookieb]

I am moving from LA to Chicago in the next couple of months and looking to buy a home. I have been told to stay away from the south and west side. My max price is about 300K. Can you pls suggest cities within 30 mins of downtown and in a good neighborhood?

[jessiegirl_98]

What size place are you looking for?

[phairphair]

I can't argue with avoiding the South Side, but the West Side? No way.

Chicago's too big of a city to generalize about the 'West Side'. I would say just keep it east of Western Avenue (a north-south street that runs the entire length of the city).

This area has great neighborhoods with very trendy bars and shops and nice housing choices. Ukranian Village, Wicker Park, and the West Loop are worth checking out.

$300,000 will get you a nice one bedroom condo in these neighborhoods. Depending on your age, financial situation, and what you're looking for socially, I recommend avoiding the suburbs.

If you want a more quiet, family oriented environment then the burbs may be for you.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by bhookieb

I am moving from LA to Chicago in the next couple of months and looking to buy a home. I have been told to stay away from the south and west side. My max price is about 300K. Can you pls suggest cities within 30 mins of downtown and in a good neighborhood?

I think your money will go furthest in Bridgeport, a nice quiet neighborhood on the (gasp!) south side. Just as Chicago is too big a city to generalize about the west side, so too is it too big to generalize about the south side. Train ride to downtown from Bridgeport is less than 15 minutes. $300K can buy you a detached single-family home with a back yard and 2-car garage in Bridgeport. In that price range it won't have shiny hardwood floors or 42" cherry cabinets, but you can still find a house in move-in condition at that price. Such as this one (http://chicago.yahoo.prupreferredchicago.com/details/photos.aspx?propid=0070006442969#tblPhotos - broken link). Otherwise, that kind of scratch can buy you a decent 3-bedroom condo in the area.

[phairphair]

I'm not sure what the South Side has to offer to someone moving to Chicago. Bridgeport doesn't have easy accessibility to anything but U.S. Cellular Field.

Without knowing your background, it's hard to make a recommendation. For example, if you're black, you probably wouldn't be welcomed in Bridgeport and definitely not in Beverly.

If you're young and single, the social scenes are on the North and West sides in the neighborhoods relatively close to the city center.

Half of my family are South Siders. The remaining white neighborhoods are very insular and not very welcoming to outsiders. The only exception might be Hyde Park, where the University of Chicago is located.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by phairphair

I'm not sure what the South Side has to offer to someone moving to Chicago. Bridgeport doesn't have easy accessibility to anything but U.S. Cellular Field.

Without knowing your background, it's hard to make a recommendation. For example, if you're black, you probably wouldn't be welcomed in Bridgeport and definitely not in Beverly.

Uhm, yeah.... both the Red and Orange line run through Beverly, not to mention a ton of bus lines and two expressways. And blacks are definitely not welcome in Beverly, except for the 25% of the Beverly population that's already black.

[phairphair]

Originally Posted by Drover

Uhm, yeah.... both the Red and Orange line run through Beverly, not to mention a ton of bus lines and two expressways. And blacks are definitely not welcome in Beverly, except for the 25% of the Beverly population that's already black.

By "accessible" I meant not having to travel an hour or more to get to where you want to go in the city. The options you mention abouve would be uncomfortable for a lot of people, for a variety of reasons.

The official borders of Beverly for census purposes and what the people who actually live there consider them to be are very different. There is no overlap of white and black neighborhoods that I know of.

The fact is, that you'll rarely if ever see a For Sale sign in anyone's yard, since houses aren't often listed on the open market. The reason, right or wrong, is that the remaining whites want to keep their neighborhood white.

I'm interested to know what you think life on the South Side would have to offer someone moving from L.A...

[preppyboyofIL]

Why would you have to stay away from the south or west side? Mayor Daley's administration has made leaps and bounds to clean those areas up and both of them are experiencing unbelievable new development and revitalization.

One of the hottest areas in the country now lay directly to the south of the downtown area known as the South Loop. I don't know what exactly you are looking for, but $300K in Chicago won't get you much unfortunantly. Chicago's real estate took a turn for the high side in the past decade allowing $300K to get you a really nice condo, but unless you are willing to live in a really bad area, you can pretty much forget the idea of getting into a single family home unless you get one that needs about $100,000 in updating and rehabbing.

I can tell you that some of the city's condos that are going up are VERY nice, so nice in fact, that I wouldn't even mind living in one. There is an area that is booming beyond belief and is located around Halsted and Cermak. This area has been basically completely demolished as Daley decided to start from scratch there. The neighborhood is a mix of everything; black, white, indian, you name it. Police presence is very well known, and the neighborhood has so much to offer I don't even know where to begin. It's known as University Village right near U.I.C. This area of the city puts you easily within 30 minutes of the Loop and you can still find some really nice condos; 3 bedroom "jobbers" with 2 baths for about $300K. This would be a smart investment for you as this is the city's second hottest spot to buy in and prices are only going up on everything. I mean hey, whats wrong with making a ton of money in equity while you live there? Right?

Take a little trip there when you get a chance. Take Halsted south from about Harrison south to Cermak. U.I.C.'s presence will be known, but surprisingly you will notice that unlike other college areas, this one is very peaceful and the University's presence here is actually a good thing verses a nuisance.

[cvatasoiu]

Originally Posted by phairphair

I can't argue with avoiding the South Side, but the West Side? No way.

Chicago's too big of a city to generalize about the 'West Side'. I would say just keep it east of Western Avenue (a north-south street that runs the entire length of the city).

This area has great neighborhoods with very trendy bars and shops and nice housing choices. Ukranian Village, Wicker Park, and the West Loop are worth checking out.

$300,000 will get you a nice one bedroom condo in these neighborhoods. Depending on your age, financial situation, and what you're looking for socially, I recommend avoiding the suburbs.

If you want a more quiet, family oriented environment then the burbs may be for you.

don't forget to add Bucktown, just a block west of Western Ave. Two of my clients just bought there 2 lofts for under 300k.

[phairphair]

I think 'University Village' is more of a marketing term since the area you describe is in the Pilsen neighborhood. No doubt some of the new construction is nice, though.

It may be relevant to note that many in Pilsen are opposed to this gentrification and see it as an attempt to drive Hispanics out (Pilsen is almost 95% Hispanic).

It is considerably farther south than UIC, isn't it? I think their campus ends north of Roosevelt.