Chicago Neighborhoods (Lincoln, Bridgeport: real estate, house, safe neighborhood)

[Chicagoist123]

Originally Posted by nillmann

I want houses or apartments near downtown.

53rd St and Michigan St. How is that area?

I don't understand you want a house or and apartment? If it's between those two choices why wouldn't you just go for a condo.

53rd and Michigan is nowhere near downtown.....

[nillmann]

Originally Posted by Chicagoist123

I don't understand you want a house or and apartment? If it's between those two choices why wouldn't you just go for a condo.

53rd and Michigan is nowhere near downtown.....

I would prefer a house, but if it's just not possible, I will settle for an apartment (or a condo). Maybe I will be able to bargain off a few thousand dollars.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by nillmann

I would prefer a house, but if it's just not possible, I will settle for an apartment (or a condo). Maybe I will be able to bargain off a few thousand dollars.

There's a bunch of foreclosures in Chicago if you wanted to go that route. If not, then you're going to have a hard time finding anything within your budget that's "close" to downtown. If you wanted to go the rental route, what do you think your monthly rental budget excluding utilities, cable/internet/phone would be?

[ChiNaan]

Gary, IN is 30 minutes from downtown (in light traffic) and has houses under $100K. If you want closer than that, you're probably out of luck.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by mtestify

I was trying to give everyone a general idea of what I am looking for, but I am willing to compromise. Pushing out the perimeter isn't a problem; I pick a longer commute to getting jumped any day! Plus, having 2 out of 3 choice's isn't too bad. It's not like I'm going to live my life in The Loop, I just wanted to see if the option for proximity was there. The people moving consist of 3 women, 1 student and 2 professionals, no kids.

Coming on here I just wanted to have a better understanding of the real-estate in Chicago, before speaking with a realtor. I thought it would be better to hear about different neighborhood, from different individuals, rather than just the one. ChiNaan, I have noticed that townhouses and condos are considerably cheaper, and look a LOT better than SFH's. So, we're going to have to look into some condos or townhouses as well, which I don't hate. I'm definitely going to revaluate. Everyone here has given me a reality check. Lol. Thanks, again!

LOL, first of all you're a female. The chances of you getting jumped are lesser because of that. Second of all, unless you live in a shady area, you have more of a chance of a car jumping the curb and hitting you while standing on the sidewalk than getting randomly jumped by someone here.

Nobody is saying you'd be living your life in the Loop (and you'd be crazy too anyway - it's a boring part of town for the most part). But, if you tell us like "hey i want an area that is quiet but i can walk a block and be at a local coffee shop, restaurant, or bar" blah blah, then we can say "Oh yeah, you should check out Lincoln Square" or whatever.

[Chicagoist123]

Originally Posted by marothisu

LOL, first of all you're a female. The chances of you getting jumped are lesser because of that. Second of all, unless you live in a shady area, you have more of a chance of a car jumping the curb and hitting you while standing on the sidewalk than getting randomly jumped by someone here.

Nobody is saying you'd be living your life in the Loop (and you'd be crazy too anyway - it's a boring part of town for the most part). But, if you tell us like "hey i want an area that is quiet but i can walk a block and be at a local coffee shop, restaurant, or bar" blah blah, then we can say "Oh yeah, you should check out Lincoln Square" or whatever.

Because she is a female she has less of a chance of getting jumped? I'm sorry but that is one of the stupidest and most ignorant comments I have ever heard. Women getting attacked, robbed, raped, assaulted, etc happens much more often than it does to men. If you were a robber who would you go after the 6'0 200lb dude or the 5'5 140lb woman?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Chicagoist123

Because she is a female she has less of a chance of getting jumped? I'm sorry but that is one of the stupidest and most ignorant comments I have ever heard. Women getting attacked, robbed, raped, assaulted, etc happens much more often than it does to men. If you were a robber who would you go after the 6'0 200lb dude or the 5'5 140lb woman?

Let's start over, because none of that is what I meant. I wasn't talking about rape. I was talking about random attacks and physical assault, because my connotation of "jumped" is physically beat up. Believe it or not, some robbers still have some morals these days (obviously many do not) in the form of trying to not hurt a woman as much (obviously it doesn't apply to a robber who is a user high on certain drugs). Why do you think a lot of muggings for women happen in the form of say...purse snatching? Someone snatches it and runs away. They know the woman is not a threat, so they don't have to do anything physical to them. They snatch and run away. If you're a male...you pose a far greater physical threat and physical altercation happens frequently.

Now, if we're talking about sexual assault and rape, then yes women are far more a victim of that than men. My connotation of "jumped" is different obviously. Jumped to me is yeah you either get beat up "randomly" or you get beat up in a robbery. If it's a purse snatching or someone pick pocketing you, it's a robbery/theft.

[mtestify]

I think it's best for me to move there first, and just rent out an apartment. I'll get a feel for different areas and decide that way. I was just making a joke, a bad one I guess, about getting jumped; I don't think that'll happen (but I'm sure someone will oppose that).

[Larry Siegel]

nillmann, you should be looking on the north and northwest sides only. Most of Chicago doesn't look anything like the hellhole in the photo. It's a very nice city. Check out the photo threads. You can find a studio condo under $100,000 *even on Lake Shore Drive*, and something larger (but not a house) in a slightly funkier but still completely acceptable area.

mtestify, a friend of mine recently bought a gorgeous 2 bedroom Craftsman (prewar) bungalow in a completely safe part of West Rogers Park for about $300,000 with all the trimmings, including a converted attic (the attic is in addition to the 2 bedrooms). The area is a little boring and is more than 20 minutes from the loop unless you're driving at 3 a.m., but some compromise is necessary. You will also hear bad things about Rogers Park, but the sketchy areas are pretty far away from this particular house, which is near Indian Boundary Park. Chicago isn't really cheaper than Seattle, but laid out very differently.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

nillmann, you should be looking on the north and northwest sides only.

Originally Posted by Larry Siegel

in a completely safe part of West Rogers Park

No disrespect intended toward Rogers Park, but you surely realize there are areas on the South and West Sides that are nicer, right? To say someone should only look at the North and Northwest sides, then to suggest RP, shows a real lack of awareness of the city. It only makes sense to limit yourself to those parts of the city if you're only into places like LP/LV or WP/B.