Moving:Avondale vs Humboldt vs Logan Square vs Wicker Park (Addison: apartment, crime)

[ShelteredChiNative]

I've been reading through this forum for hours and the more I read through it, the more I'm confusing my self.

So I need help. Me and my boyfriend are looking to move out with two other roommates so we need a 3 bedroom apartment but we can only fork out 1400/month. We had our heart set on Bridgeport but we can't find that many 3br for that price.
The neighborhoods that do have them are:
Avondale
Humboldt
Logan Square
Wicker Park
Pilsen (maybe)

I'm a chicago native, raised in Bridgeport and went to school for a while in Hyde Park. I've always been a home body, so I know as much about chicago as a tourist. I don't consider Hyde Park and Bridgeport to be "bad" so when my boyfriend suggested looking at the West side I guess I assumed it would be pretty nice (cause everyone always says the southside is bad). Then I start reading reviews and forums and people are saying this place is getting real nice but I would never go past whatever street. Is West Side worse than Southside? Should I be looking into Hyde Park and Kenwood neighborhood instead?

I was hoping if people can compare these neighborhoods to give me a feel of where we're going.
*How accessible by train is it? like does it have a train station
*Are there lots of stores and restaurants? Not looking for nightclubs and bars, more like grocery stores and places to eat
*Most importantly, how safe is it? By safe, I mean I don't want my apartment broken into, I don't want my car stolen, and I don't want me or my friend to have to carry mace when we walk home at night.

[Alacran]

Avondale

[Chi-town Native]

what Alacran said, except to be more focused, I'd suggest looking close to the Belmont, Addison & Irving blue line stops (or Metra) if you need close access to a train.

[surlycue]

You can't find a three bedroom in Bridgeport for $1400?? That doesn't seem right.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by surlycue

You can't find a three bedroom in Bridgeport for $1400?? That doesn't seem right.

I agree. One can be found in places such as Lake View and Lincoln Square for $1400 or under pretty easily.

[Drover]

Bridgeport is at least as safe as the areas you're looking in, and in some cases quite a bit safer. Most of the areas you list have parts that are better/safer than the other parts. To wit: for Logan Square, northwest of Milwaukee Avenue is generally better than southeast; for Avondale, northwest of the Kennedy is generally better than southeast; for Humboldt Park, east of the park is better than west; for Pilsen, east of Ashland is better than west; for Wicker Park... he, pretty much all of it is decent enough that you don't need to worry about living in any specific part of it except maybe to keep an eye out near Noble Square.

Like others have said, I should think you'd be able to find a 3BR in Bridgeport for $1400. Maybe the problem is there aren't that many 3BRs in Bridgeport to begin with? Also, have you tried looking directly west in McKonley Park?

[JBVirtuoso]

Are you sure you mean northwest/southeast of Milwaukee? That's kind of confusing. Northeast and southwest make more sense here. Northeast of Milwaukee is better, southwest is not as great. Same for the Kennedy.

[Drover]

Yeah, whichever.

[SJaye]

I live in Logan Square, and I think it's great, but most of it is probably at least as expensive as Bridgeport, if not slightly more expensive. Wicker Park has to out-price Bridgeport by now pretty uniformly throughout the neighborhood. So, if you moving motivation is to save some $$ on rent, I don't see how those two would do so. Avondale and Humboldt Park are probably cheaper than Bridgeport. Humboldt Park (especially west of the park) still has quite a bit of that kind of crime you don't like, and does not have access to the train. Avondale has less, but is not crime free.

I'd think you can probably find a 3BR for <1400 in Bridgeport, but sometimes people fall vitom to bad timing- and the right place in the right neighborhood is just not there at the time it is needed- even though it may be there four, six months from now. I'd keep looking in Bridgeport for the place you want, but also look in Avondale and Logan Square (even though getting the right price may be a bit less likely), as they both have access to the blue line. The only part of Humboldt I'd consider in this situation is the part within 1/2 a mile or so of the Western Blue line station. And, knowing renters, it will probably be listed as "West Bucktown".

[ShelteredChiNative]

Thank you guys so much for the reply. It's really calmed some of my worries of apartment searching.

About Bridgeport, we thought we would be able to find a nice place but it's mostly 2 Bedrooms. We found maybe one or two with 3br but they didn't allow pets. We'll try to keep our eyes open though and try different listings.

Again Thank you to everyone who posted. <3