Artistic, chill, somewhat geeky young man looking for good neighborhood... (Chicago: fit in, rent)

[Deltron3030]

Hi everyone.

I've been seriously considering moving to Chicago sometime in the foreseeable future. As background information, I'm a 20 year old Caucasian male who's always been creative and into the arts. However, I'm not a snob and don't like people who are. I just like enjoy life and surround myself with other people who enjoy life as well. I suppose you could say I'm down to earth, though that's definitely not to say I'm not a little quirky. I love new experiences, being curious and having fun in general. I'm also a little geeky. I play video games and work with computers. Professionally, I'm a freelance web designer, and I plan to build myself up into making a solid income, so rent isn't much of an issue.

I've been looking into possible neighborhoods, but quite frankly it's been confusing.

Wicker Park looked pretty decent a few years ago, but I fear the talk that says it's turned into a haven for yuppies. Lincoln Park, if I'm to buy into stereotype, has a lot of the fraternity crowd and so on. Not into that. Logan Square, dunno. Not sure I would fit in well, and it's quite a ways from the city center and all the fun it has to offer.

So basically, I don't know what to think. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

[ToriaT]

My son is kind of like you although not really geeky. A lot of people this type live in Logan Square (be careful there are bad parts), Bucktown, Wicker Park, or Ukrainian Village. Other neighborhoods that may appeal to your type might be too gritty or unsafe for a new comer.

[Nimbus09]

Anywhere along the red line. If you don't like Lincoln Park, move further north a little. Lakeview is great. Uptown is ok if you stay east of sheridan (not much space, I know). Edgewater is really cool. I particularly like the area around and just north of Loyola. It's full of younger people because of the school and lots of good restaurants/coffee shops along Sheridan Rd.

Good luck!

P.S.- If you don't like the fratty crowd of Lincoln Park, stay far, far away from Wrigleyville.

[zvt10]

It's very simple. If Wicker Park is too expensive or too yuppie then Logan Square. Nowhere else really. BTW, no frat crowd in Wicker Park you're confusing that with Lincoln Park or Wrigleyville.

[CoolSocks]

I've read so many threads posted by people in their 20's asking where to live, summarizing what they know about the areas and eliminating many based on certain criteria that may not be crucial. I think you can choose a ton of different areas and as long as you're open and put yourself out there, you'll make friends and be happy.

Eliminating Wicker Park or other areas that are known to have a high concentration of hipsters or staying away from other areas because of reputations can be a dumb move. You might decide to forgo Wicker Park because of the hipsters and then choose another neighborhood and oh what do you know, many of your neighbors end up being hipsters.

So, I would say that the area where you choose to live matters to a certain extent, but I wouldn't choose the area based solely on what you've heard. My best advice is visit the different areas, explore, and pick the one you feel the most comfortable in.

[Deltron3030]

I want to mention that I was confusing Logan Square with Lincoln Square in my original post. To scratch what I said about it and start over: I'm not sure if I understand Logan Square. I'm seeing a lot of different opinions about it.

zvt10: I was talking about Lincoln Park's frat crowd, not Wicker Park.

Nimbus09: Red line? I also haven't heard much about Edgewater. It's cool? That's cool (har har). How so?

[Deltron3030]

(sorry for the double post)

Wise words, coolsocks. Although it's not the hipsters that bother me so much as the yuppies. And it's not that they bother me so much as I don't feel like I fit in with them at all. I want to live in a place that's fun, creative, and upbeat.

[Nimbus09]

Originally Posted by Deltron3030

I want to mention that I was confusing Logan Square with Lincoln Square in my original post. To scratch what I said about it and start over: I'm not sure if I understand Logan Square. I'm seeing a lot of different opinions about it.

zvt10: I was talking about Lincoln Park's frat crowd, not Wicker Park.

Nimbus09: Red line? I also haven't heard much about Edgewater. It's cool? That's cool (har har). How so?

the red line is the train that runs North/South along the lake from howard down to 95th. therefore, it can get you pretty much anywhere you would like to be.

ha, sorry for being vague about edgewater. stay east of broadway there. it is where the loyola students start to mix in with young professionals working in downtown.

also, there is a large gay community on clark street between ~lawrence up to where it meets ashland. whether you're into that or not, there are good places to eat there, but the bars are primarily not for straight folk.

a good rule of thumb is to just stay as far east of the red line as possible. independent of where you are (given you stay north of downtown), it just gets better as you get closer to the lake.

edit: the yuppie's only bother you if you let them. there's a point in life where yuppies, hipsters, you name it, all lose their label and become regular adults and the areas you're avoiding is where they live during this transition. you could get lucky and meet a bunch of them nearing the end of it.

[zvt10]

Originally Posted by Deltron3030

I want to mention that I was confusing Logan Square with Lincoln Square in my original post. To scratch what I said about it and start over: I'm not sure if I understand Logan Square. I'm seeing a lot of different opinions about it.

zvt10: I was talking about Lincoln Park's frat crowd, not Wicker Park.

Nimbus09: Red line? I also haven't heard much about Edgewater. It's cool? That's cool (har har). How so?

I will admit poor reading comprehension on that one. I live in Lincoln Park and I would not recommend it. It's kind of frat boy land like you said and apart from that it's very "new money" snobby. I guess Wicker Park is headed that way but at least it seems a little genuine still while having some decent bars and restaurants. It's kind of hard to find in Chicago frankly and Wicker Park is probably the best combination for me. I'll be moving there later this year.

[tonythetuna]

If you don't like yuppies, stay away from Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, and the eastern portion of Logan Square. All of those neighborhoods have plenty.