West Loop Advice - Young Professional Couple (Evanston, Clinton: construction, living in)

[MarieL13]

My husband and I are looking for advice on areas of the West Loop or nearby areas to live. We're currently living in Evanston but will move after I finish my grad degree next month.

My husband works downtown in the Board of Trade building and I will be commuting out to the suburbs. Ideally we want to live somewhere with easy access to the Eisenhower (preferably without having to get on I-90/94 first) and good public transportation. We're in our mid-late 20s and want to live in an area that isn't dead, but also don't want to be right above noisy bars.

Our budget is ~$2000 for a 2 bedroom.

I'm torn because the area around Randolf St is supposed to be fun, but doesn't look like it has very convenient transportation access. The area around Old St. Pat's seems like it is ideal from a transportation standpoint, but doesn't seem very lively. And is the Taylor St. area overrun with UIC students?

Any advice from people who live around there and have advice about specific areas to check out would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[OrangeAndBlue]

While I'm not really sure how far your budget will get you, I think the West Loop is a solid area for a couple (west and north of the expressway, south of the green line). Plenty to do there, centrally located, and you can get onto the Eisenhower pretty easily without having to get onto 90/94 first, which does shave some significant time off the commute because it really backs up through that intersection every day.

Public transportation is actually not too bad actually. You've got several bus options going into/out of the Loop on the major east/west streets. The Blue Line shouldn't be too far to walk to if you're further south in the West Loop, but it is a bit farther to walk to either of the Green Line stations at Clinton or Ashland. However, there is a new Green Line stop at Morgan currently under construction, which will add a much needed stop in the area soon.

[Jandur]

As far as budget goes, a co-worker of mine lives on Racine inbetween Adams and Monroe and he pays right around 2k a month for a 2 bedroom. I think it might be like 2200 including parking. It's doable.