Best Chicago neighborhood for a single professional female in mid 30's (Naperville: lease, condos)

[SmilesNFun]

Hello ya'all !
Thank you so much for taking the time to write in. If I were to really prioritize, then I think meeting other singles would be my top priority as I do not know a lot of people in Chicago and I am definitely interested in dating. A friend suggested 2 apartments - one near work for the week and another crash place in downtown for the weekend. I am open to any great place - do not really have a budget restriction per say....As far as the airport goes, I will just cab it or find a ride....

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by SmilesNFun

Hello ya'all !
Thank you so much for taking the time to write in. If I were to really prioritize, then I think meeting other singles would be my top priority as I do not know a lot of people in Chicago and I am definitely interested in dating. A friend suggested 2 apartments - one near work for the week and another crash place in downtown for the weekend. I am open to any great place - do not really have a budget restriction per say....As far as the airport goes, I will just cab it or find a ride....

Not a bad idea to do the two apartments thing if you can afford it, although places downtown are usually more expensive. If you lived in an area like Lincoln Park it would go down, but then you lose the Manhattan feel, but you need to remember that there's a lot of parts of Chicago well served by Public Transit. Parts of Lincoln Park are only 5 minutes away on the train from "downtown."


I will caution you about the airport too and driving again. Pick your times wisely. Traffic can get quite bad at certain hours, so it's completely possible that driving to the airport (O'Hare) will take longer than a train.

[oakparkdude]

Perhaps you could live downtown and take the train to Wheaton, then drive from Wheaton to your job site. This would require you to park a car in Wheaton, but it would probably be cheaper than renting two apartments. The train ride from the downtown terminal to Wheaton is about 50 minutes, so it won't be a short commute.

[oakparkdude]

Where exactly do you live right now? Are you looking for a Back Bay/South End kind of neighborhood? Could you accept living in a Brookline or Arlington kind of area?

[ChiGuy2.5]

You dont necessarilly need to listen to everyone else's advice. I live in Lincoln Park and commute to Naperville off of 59 (39 miles total). Im not sure where your work is, but the only disadvantage you would have to my current commute is that Carol Stream isn't directly off the highway.

If you feel like you can handle a 1.25 to 1.5 hour commute one way then live wherever you want in the city. What is your budget? You may be very surprised on the cost of renting in Chicago, especially since you even suggested renting two places.

If you can afford around $1800 per month, I recommend River North/Gold Coast. There is a lot of 30 something professionals who live in the area. The social scene and bar scene is the best in the city (if you have money). Also, its a straight shot onto 90/94 and then right onto 290 west. I estimate your commute would be about 1 hour 15 minutes in the morning and 1 hour and a half in the evening.

[ChiNaan]

I'm curious, OP, when you say you have no budget restrictions, is that because the job in Carol Stream pays a ton, or because you have money from elsewhere? If it's the latter, and you really want to live in the city, I would question how badly you need the job in Carol Stream. If it's the former, and you truly have no budget restrictions, I wonder if you can hire a driver? Or maybe you can just get a nice hotel room downtown on weekends? That might actually cost less than maintaining a second nice apartment downtown, especially if you're traveling to other places many weekends anyway. Or maybe you can work out a deal with someone who has an extra room in a nice apartment downtown? Most people would love to have a roommate who helps pay the rent and is only there 4-6 nights a month (2 nights per weekend times 4 weekends per month, minus the ones you're traveling).

As others have mentioned, the 45 minute commute time from downtown to Carol Stream is highly optimistic, unless you're commuting at odd hours. Personally, I prefer living in the city and having a long commute to work rather than living in the suburbs (I've done both), but it's no walk in the park.

[SmilesNFun]

Thank you for the extensive response. I am thinking of perhaps doing a rental in Oak park for a month when i arrive in September , checking out neighborhoods and then figuring it out. I live in Jamaica Plain in Boston, but it is not my preferred neighborhood. I would like to go more upscale. I hate long commute hours - hence the whole dilemma - would be awesome if I could find a carpool or something....

I do need the job in wheaton area for a year at least. They havent specified if my physical location will be winfield / geneva or carol stream yet

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by SmilesNFun

Thank you for the extensive response. I am thinking of perhaps doing a rental in Oak park for a month when i arrive in September , checking out neighborhoods and then figuring it out. I live in Jamaica Plain in Boston, but it is not my preferred neighborhood. I would like to go more upscale. I hate long commute hours - hence the whole dilemma - would be awesome if I could find a carpool or something....

I do need the job in wheaton area for a year at least. They havent specified if my physical location will be winfield / geneva or carol stream yet

I think Oak Park, at least if you are close to downtown OP, will compare favorably with JP. I know that Oak Park Place apartments (google them) will do short term leases, but expect to pay a lot for the privilege.

Commuting by train is a lot better on the psyche than driving (especially around here with the bad traffic.) I get work done on my computer while on the train, as opposed to cursing other drivers when in my car.

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by SmilesNFun

Thank you for the extensive response. I am thinking of perhaps doing a rental in Oak park for a month when i arrive in September , checking out neighborhoods and then figuring it out. I live in Jamaica Plain in Boston, but it is not my preferred neighborhood. I would like to go more upscale. I hate long commute hours - hence the whole dilemma - would be awesome if I could find a carpool or something....

I do need the job in wheaton area for a year at least. They havent specified if my physical location will be winfield / geneva or carol stream yet

I won't sugarcoat this. If you hate long commutes and choose to live anywhere in the north side of the city and drive to Carol Stream you will want to kill yourself within 3 months.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by SmilesNFun

Thank you for the extensive response. I am thinking of perhaps doing a rental in Oak park for a month when i arrive in September , checking out neighborhoods and then figuring it out.

If you can find a place to let you rent for just one month, I'd say that's a good plan. The commute will be shorter than from the city, and even if you hate it, doing it for just a month won't kill you.