East Erie St... What hood? (Chicago, Elmhurst: real estate, apartments, rent)

[MarketingGuy]

Anyone know what neighborhood this is considered?

The address we're looking at is 2 E. Erie Street..

[MarketingGuy]

Yelp says Near-North Side.

2 East Erie - Near North Side - Chicago, IL

[tompope]

2 E. Erie Street is within the larger area designated by the City of Chicago as "Near North," or as most local people would call it "the near North Side." Specifically, though, it's in a sub-section of the near North Side that has come to be called "River North" over the past 25 or 30 years. It's an area that has undergone a remarkable transformation in that time. As recently as the 1970's and early 1980's, it was a mostly run-down old warehouse district, with an awkward mix of some nice buildings and businesses but a lot of poor people and homeless people, and not a particularly desirable place to live (that's especially true a few blocks west of 2 E. Erie). Then in the 1980's that area saw an astounding resurgence, first with a wave of art galleries opening up there, and then with a flood of high-end residential and commercial development. By the 1990's, it had become almost a northern extension of the Loop, with a combination of expensive apartments and condominiums, offices, and retail, with a particular focus on places geared towards tourists. And it's still that way today. There are very, very few if any of the old poor people who used to live there, and it's now a very much in-demand area. It is, after all, only three blocks west of "the Magnificent Mile" stretch of premium retail along North Michigan Avenue. And to the east of that is Streeterville, and to the north of that is the Gold Coast, which are all among the most expensive real estate in Chicago.

So, 2 E. Erie would certainly be a desirable place to live if you can afford something there. It would be a long commute between there and Elmhurst, but it might be worth it to get to live in such a neat place. It certainly is "lively," and also "trendy," at least in the broadest sense. It's safe in the sense that other places in the downtown area are safe, which is to say that violent crimes are quite rare, but property crimes do happen from time to time. Certainly not unsafe enough to not live there, though. I would say that it is family-friendly, although that part of town has got so much going on with so many people of every kind that I guess you could say that it's equally friendly or unfriendly to just about anyone.

Hope this helps.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by MarketingGuy

Anyone know what neighborhood this is considered?

The address we're looking at is 2 E. Erie Street..

I live in the general area and I like River North a lot. Be very careful with that building if you're buying, though. Do plenty of research on the financial side of things.

[chicago103]

It is east of State Street so I would consider it part of Streeterville but others will say Streeterville is east of Michigan Avenue. To me in that general area west of State Street is River North and east of State Street is Streeterville but that exact address could be considered either/or depending on who you ask, the larger area is known as the Near North Side.

[tompope]

Originally Posted by chicago103

It is east of State Street so I would consider it part of Streeterville but others will say Streeterville is east of Michigan Avenue. To me in that general area west of State Street is River North and east of State Street is Streeterville but that exact address could be considered either/or depending on who you ask

As you say, a lot of how neighborhoods are designated is a matter of opinion, but to me, I don't think that anything west of Michigan Avenue can be considered "Streeterville," since it's not part of the area that George Streeter land-filled, and it has a different feel and flavor than the true Streeterville area to the east. I agree that the strip between State and Michigan also has a little different character from the rest of River North, but I think it's much more connected to it than to Streeterville. Regardless, as you say, many people would just refer to that whole area simply as "the near North Side."

[RingWalk]

OK here's the 'official' city map. As I understand it this map is not even all that official, it was made by U of C by taking a poll of people asking them which neighborhood they lived in and was subesquently adopted by the city at least to distribute to people if not, for lack of a better phrase, legally binding.

I can't quite make it out but it looks like River North here is bounded by State and Chicago, which means at 2 E. Erie you would barely escape. According to this Streeterville is also east of Mi Ave, which is how I've also understood it, but I am surprised to see it center around Navy Pier and that the 'Gold Coast,' if I'm reading it correctly, actually jumps across Mi Ave to encompass that whole area north of Navy Pier.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/content...ods_poster.pdf

[tompope]

I agree that the term "River North" is a relatively recently coined name used (very successfully) by developers and real estate agents to refer to that part of the near North Side,and it's still not widely used by regular people. And I agree that the term is best applied to the area a little ways to the south and west of State and Erie, where there were the most warehouses turned art galleries turned tourist traps. So, the building at 2 E. Erie is certainly not in the center of "River North," but I still think it has a lot more in common with River North than with Streeterville. Regardless, as you say, a lot of people would just say that a place there is "on the near North Side" or "on North State Street" or "at State and Erie."

[RingWalk]

Sorry Tom I edited my post! But I agree with you.

[MarketingGuy]

Great info. Thanks guys. Looking at a few on State Street also.

Will be rent only.