Just another neighborhood advice post

[gomexico]

Originally Posted by Relocating Life

Would something at Damen and Winona be in a good area? The listing says it is Ravenswood/Lincoln Square. For $790- 1 bedroom, allows dogs and cats, and washer/dryer in unit.

Foster and Damen (Winona is 1 block S. of Foster Ave.) is "technically" Lincoln Square, I'm guessing. The very eastern section. But it might also be thought of by many city residents as the western portion of Andersonville, or a portion of Ravenswood. More information to add to the confusion. Each is considered a good, desirable neighborhood well-served by public transportation.

[gomexico]

Originally Posted by Aleking

Damen and Winona is nice, you have the park and Damen bus right there and it's close to the Andersonville strip.

Potential negatives: high school adjacent and a decent walk to the brown line.

I haven't looked online to confirm my recollection, but there's a Damen Avenue CTA bus which travels S. from Foster to the Brown Line station, and there's the Foster Ave. CTA bus which travels E. to the Red Line.

[gomexico]

Here's a link I've come across which provides some input/information regarding boundary lines for the different neighborhoods in Chicago.

http://filelibrary.myaasite.com/Cont...8/28580100.pdf

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by Aleking

Damen and Winona is nice, you have the park and Damen bus right there and it's close to the Andersonville strip.

Potential negatives: high school adjacent and a decent walk to the brown line.

This. But otherwise, that seems like a good property and a good price.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by Relocating Life

I have to pick between space for veggies or space for ice cream OR I have to go to the store every few days. I'll probably live through it though.

A lot of Chicagoans shop several times a week or even every day. I actually enjoy shopping that way when I'm not being lazy -- everything is fresh, you can make whatever you feel like that day etc.

That said, I bet you could find some sort of small chest freezer if that's important to you -- I bet you could get one under $200. We bought a countertop dishwasher and the thing has changed my life.

edit: Like this! http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CJ4BEPMCMAE#

[Relocating Life]

I'm sure it works for some people to shop frequently, but I find that I impulse shop and/or spend too much if I don't plan ahead and buy all my groceries in one trip. This is coming from someone who works in a grocery store and knows how convenient it can be to shop all the time and get "fresh" items, but it works out for to be more flexible to buy sale items and seasonal fresh items to make the foods we like to eat normally and keep anything that doesn't need to be fresh on hand.

That is probably more than you needed to know about my shopping habits, but it would be a huge lifestyle change and I would need to increase my grocery budget significantly to work without a freezer that is bigger than a shoebox- literally. The chest freezer sounds like great work around though. That would eliminate one of my major dislikes about the apartment we'll most likely be living in. Thank you for the suggestion!

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by Relocating Life

That would eliminate one of my major dislikes about the apartment we'll most likely be living in. Thank you for the suggestion!

No problem! We've lived in a lot of vintage apartments now, and I've found that pretty much all of them have some quirk or another that doesn't quite work with modern life. Being willing to make a few purchases here and there, and finding good, often portable, solutions, will make your life much easier.

I had a friend moving into her first vintage apartment here in KC recently and she was bemoaning the lack of closet space -- I told her "honey, that's why god created armoires and dressers!"

And when we sublet our Wicker Park apartment on Craigslist before moving it was incredibly easy to tell the recent transplants from the locals/those who'd been there a while. Transplants would walk into our 1st bedroom -- the "big" one and say "Oh, wow. This room is small -- I guess it could be our office ..." -- I always had to hold in the laughs as I thought to myself "wait until you see the small room." It made a great office/second bedroom for us, but it was 7' x 8". My brother said it was like sleeping in a large casket.

[ToriaT]

I had a relative that devised a way to put a small chest freezer behind the couch some way. the way the couch was situated you really could not see it.

[Relocating Life]

Originally Posted by aragx6

I had a friend moving into her first vintage apartment here in KC recently and she was bemoaning the lack of closet space -- I told her "honey, that's why god created armoires and dressers!"

I wish we could use extra dresser and armoires in our furture apartment for space, but it simply isn't an option for the most part. There just isn't any extra room in the bedroom (maybe not even for our existing TINY dressers) and the living room area is smaller than the bedroom. I may put up shelves in the one closet (it is decent sized, but in the living room/kitchen area) on one side and hang clothes on the other side. I have no idea what I'll do with all of our books or with sewing and craft stuff. Luckily the kitchen has a good amount of storage space! Maybe I'll look for something like this for a TV stand to add extra storage: Verona 2-Shelf Storage with 6 Baskets - Walnut/ ... : Target

This might fit unobtrusively somewhere to hold stuff like the cleaning stuff or extra linens: http://www.amazon.com/TDM-Sauder-Beg...2610632&sr=1-8

I don't think much more than that and a small chest freezer could get in there. Maybe a futon or loveseat in the living room. It is, unfortunately, significantly more cramped than anything I am used to and I live in a cheap, tiny apartment now. It also might just feel smaller because of the low basement ceilings. I'm getting used to the idea now and seeing how it might work without being miserable

Any other ideas for storage/organization in a small space? I really appreciate the help we've gotten so far, both in terms of the reality check and ideas for how to make the/an apartment work for our lifestyle.