1 West Superior (Chicago: real estate, apartments, condos)

[evolve123]

Does anyone here live in this building or have lived here before? It's a great location with sick amenities. Curious to know more about the buildng's "culture." From what I've heard, it's mostly young people, lot of hot girls but sort of stuck up. Basically it's one of the "It" places to live for young professionals. Is this true?

[Link N. Parker]

I dont know about this specific building, but most buildings in the Loop or in River North are going to be popular with young professionals. I am not aware that there is one specific building that "everyone" just HAS to live at. I have found that although it is great to have a "pimping" place, living in Chicago is more about the neighborhood than bragging about what building one lives in. Most of the best buildings all have the same high-end amenities (gym, pool etc) and so Im not sure any particular one is better than the others...its all about personal preference and what you are looking for and what works best for you.

[chet everett]

I half think the OP might be confusing "The Gossip Girl" TV show with real life in Chicago. People generally meet others their own age in bars or other social settings. They don't get much chance to "compare addresses". Even if you work with someone (or perhaps especially if you do...) their a lot of solid reaons NOT to disclose where you work too early when you meet -- secuirty / privacy / sanity all outweigh concerns of "living it up" for bright young men and women...

[Link N. Parker]

Exactly, Chet.

I think the only people that really say things like "this building is the place to be, its SO FABU!!" are REALTORS (TM).

As a matter of fact, the real estate industry has developed a reputation over the past 10 years for doing a lot of crass "lifestyle" marketing, especially for condos. "If you buy a condo here, your life is gonna be soooo f*ckin awesome. Your gonna get L*ID all the time!!!"

As awesome as many of the apartment buildings are in that part of the city, they are all very similar and therefore they are all "a dime a dozen". I have never heard of a girl tell one of her friends: "No way I would date that guy...I only date guys who live in the <insert high end apartment name> building".

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by evolve123

sick amenities.

Does that mean an urgent care clinic and pharmacy?

Originally Posted by evolve123

lot of hot girls but sort of stuck up.

Looking at their website, I see their studio apartments range from $1700 to $2300 per month, and 2BR/2BA range from $2900-$3800. Gee, I can't imagine there could possibly be any "stuck up" people there.

Generally speaking I agree with the others. I've never lived in a downtown high rise, but when I've visited friends in them and talked to them about their experiences, their buildings don't really seem to have any particular "culture." That's mostly marketing BS.

I haven't really found people in Chicago to do much judging of individuals based on address. Sure, different neighborhoods have different stereotypes, as do different types of housing, but it doesn't really get down to a building-by-building basis. Even with the neighborhood stereotypes people are likely to want to get to know you as an individual rather than assuming things based on where you live. (If they don't, who needs 'em, anyway?) I found the address-as-status mentality to be far more common in the suburbs than it is in the city, actually.

In my experience, when people in Chicago ask where you live, it's because they want to know if you're near them, near any of their friends, or near places they frequent. It's much more about convenience of getting to each other to hang out than it is about how cool your building is. They're probably not even going to recognize your building's address as unique from any other, unless they happen to have a friend there or they looked at a place there or something.

[Vlajos]

Every response to the OP seems spot on.

[Jandur]

Very few buildings have done any sort of branding that will make them known as exclusive or cool by name. Env, Trump, Aqua are really the only ones that come to mind.

If it's a nice place, just move there. There are enough cool highrises in Chicago and very few of them can claim to be "the" place to be.

[rparz]

Wonder if the OP is somehow a selling agent connected with the aforementioned property. The question seems pretty specific. I would guess most people would ask generally about an area, not just a specific address.

[hindukid]

I have been to that building. Went up to the pool area with a resident of the building. I can only speak for the pool area. Lots of good looking people in bikinis and bathing suits. As a guy I rarely feel intimidated but I felt out of place without a 6 pack of abs. It was like wrigleyville to the extreme.

But that is just the pool and naturally the people who are gonna hang out there are likely to be pretty fit. So the whole building may not be like that.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by hindukid

I have been to that building. Went up to the pool area with a resident of the building. I can only speak for the pool area. Lots of good looking people in bikinis and bathing suits. As a guy I rarely feel intimidated but I felt out of place without a 6 pack of abs. It was like wrigleyville to the extreme.

But that is just the pool and naturally the people who are gonna hang out there are likely to be pretty fit. So the whole building may not be like that.

Sounds like a good option for that other poster looking for "the" building.