scared to move (Chicago, Evanston, Skokie: apartments, how much, limo)

[d-iron]

Originally Posted by domtriss

I'd love to move to Chicago but am uncertain as to how easy it is to make new friends and get settled. Any other newcomers have any thoughts?

Can anyone comment on the pros & cons of living in chicago?
Where is the best place for a single person to live? Evanston, Wrigleyville, lakeview, skokie? What about the suburb?
Where do you look to find an apartment and rent?

Anyone have advice for a newcomer to chicago? What's the best way to make new friends and get grounded in chicago?
Are chicagoans friendly and open to meeting new people?

I'm also moving and I have to admit I am a little nervous but from my short experience staying in Chicago the people there seem real and down to earth, Honestly. I'm originally from San Francisco talk about stuck up people

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Chicago Condos

Here's a map of Chicago Neighborhoods that I'm working on in Google Maps.

This map, when completed, will have all 229 neighborhoods recognized by the city.

Enjoy

No offense,but who commisioned you to come up with this map:Google,The City,both,or ????

I am very curious about this.

[Chicago Condos]

I do massive amounts of research about Chicago. When I'd first moved here I was extremely confused by neighborhood names. Everything I'd learned left me more and more confused in regards to respective labeling of geographic titles, i.e.: Lakeview (a recognized neighborhood) vs. Lake View (a recognized Chicago Community Area). When you break down Chicago, especially by geo-targeting, you can research qualitatively (this is in reference to overall lifestyle and community persona, i.e. 'the quality of an area') or quantitatively (average home price, cost of living, future forecast, etc). I want people to have the ability to research Chicago based on whether they have a qualitative need to meet or need quantitative data for statistical comparison. Most people want an unbiased balance between the two, but I'm working on making that available.

So, to answer the question, I commissioned myself. I will ONLY aggregate indisputable facts into these maps and, although declaring how I find my info would give plenty of other people the ability to do what I'm doing (and why would I do that?), I will say, thus far, every drop of info on these maps came directly from the City of Chicago.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by domtriss

I'd love to move to Chicago but am uncertain as to how easy it is to make new friends and get settled. Any other newcomers have any thoughts?

Can anyone comment on the pros & cons of living in chicago?
Where is the best place for a single person to live? Evanston, Wrigleyville, lakeview, skokie? What about the suburb?
Where do you look to find an apartment and rent?

Anyone have advice for a newcomer to chicago? What's the best way to make new friends and get grounded in chicago?
Are chicagoans friendly and open to meeting new people?

Pros: Great jobs, plenty to do, nice people, low cost of living (housing prices, food, public transportation).
Cons: Climate, traffic, roads, high taxes.

Areas to meet people: Evanston is ok in their downtown area.
Lakeview: Great if you're gay.
Wrigleyview: Pretty much the same as Lakeview
Skokie: Great if you're into meeting old Jewish women.
Burbs: More geared for families, not so much young people just starting out.
Downtown: Very trendy, but expensive. Easy to meet people, I would give the downtown area a yes as people seem to be the least "clicky" downtown and most open to meeting a complete stranger.

Apartment listings: Newspaper ads. http://chicagotribune.com http://chicagosuntimes.com http://starsouthtown.com

Best way to make friends: Join a gym/healthclub (in some apartment buildings downtown, a gym is located right in the building). This will put you around the same people day in and day out. Eventually you will meet a person or two and soon meet their friends there so on and so on. Also churchs, temples, through your work (ie: Company bowling leagues, baseball leagues) all great places to meet people.

Chicago ease of meeting people: Honestly Chicago is not the greatest in that department. Chicagoans are known to be rather "clicky" but by no means does that mean that they won't talk to you and get to know you. Just don't be expecting them to jump out at you as they may in San Fran, Seattle, or NY even and want to get to know you as people here tend to be more reserved and conservative. (Midwestern values)

[aragx6]

I'm not sure why NYRules always insists Lakeview is so gay. It's rather odd actually. I love that area because it's an open neighborhood where heteros and gays get along and live and party together without much issue.

Also I find "Downtown" to be bland, and a terrible place to meet people. If you define Downtown as the loop only then everyone just hides away in their big tall condo buildings. If you include River North in the downtown definition then I also disagree that people are less cliquey. They'll assume you're one of the zillion tourists there and probably be mean to you. I've had better luck meeting people in Lincoln Park, Wicker Park and Lakeview.

And honestly I am so shocked that some people have a hard time meeting people here (as opposed to New York???? - come on!) I think the people who have problems may just not be that likable. I'm not sure how "Midwestern values" means reserved. Makes me wonder how many Midwesterners you actually know.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by aragx6

I'm not sure why NYRules always insists Lakeview is so gay. It's rather odd actually. I love that area because it's an open neighborhood where heteros and gays get along and live and party together without much issue.

Yea, I dont get the that comment either. There is a geographic subset of Lakeview which has a high gay population...but 90% of Lakeview is populated by straight post-college transplants. And to be honest, the concentration of attractive young women is pretty remarkable . Yes, its a very gay friendly area. But there arent many other places in the city that are better for straight singles either.

[Lookout Kid]

Who ever says that Chicagoans are "reserved" needs to get around more. Reserved compared to who? Italians? Yes, maybe. But I don't think that Chicagoans are any more or less reserved than most of the U.S. population. And "cliquey"? Maybe this will be a problem if you are in High School. Just like any other big city, no one is going to hold your hand when you come to town. You'll have to make an effort to meet people, and the first year or so might be hard. People do tend to stick together with their friends and ignore strangers, but this is no different from any other large metro area. It's more of a survival mechanism than anything else.

If you want to meet people in Chicago, do it through work, join a club, or take a class in something. 50% of my current friends here are either people I met through work, neighbors I met getting involved in the neighborhood, or people I (or my wife) knew back in college. The rest are people I met through other friends.

[NYrules]

Hmmm, rainbow street poles and rainbow signs in the windows???... You're right Lakeview is no gayer than lets say Lombard... Uhhhh, Lakeview is the gay capitol of Chicago FYI. Yes there are straight people there but there are a ton of gays there too. Why would the Pride Parade be put on up there and not in lets say Old Town, or Gold Coast???

And about being in "the click" here. I do get around and have lived in many other places and traveled the world, and yes FYI Chicago is VERY "clicky" When in NY I would be able to just walk up to a group of complete strangers and join in on their conversations and laugh right along with them as well as in CA. My old roomie who moved here from Seattle said the same thing about Chicago compared with Seattle as well as relatives from San Diego who come here. Here if you walk up to a group and try to join in their conversation you are viewed as being rude or get a look like you are going to rob them or something. Now I suppose if you are very attractive then that is a different story, so in that case then I guess you will have no problem meeting people.

About being reserved compared with other cities. While yes down Halsted near Belmont you will see some crazy activities going on, it is NOT even close to what you will see going on on the Warf, in Vegas, NYC, or Miami's S. Beach. You won't see people hanging out of moon roofs with bottles of wine in their hands as the limo driver is blasting his horn and girls are topless screaming for you to come F### them as you will in Vegas . Nor will you to often see men dressed in bikinis dancing on the corner as I did when in NYC on 8th Ave near W Village/Soho or any of what goes on down in South Beach or what goes on in Panama City in March and April. Therefore Chicago is more quiet and reserved.

Think about this, and I realize this is not the best of examples, but it is something I notice between here and NY. You are driving in NYC and someone is driving to close to you, what do you do??? In NY you honk at them, not to be rude, but to communicate they are getting too close to you. Here, if you honk at someone, right away you are labeled as being rude and it is disturbing the peace, so we just stop let the other guy pass and RESERVE ourselves to not make noise (to not communicate with the other driver). Here is an example, notice people are using their horns to communicate. You don't see people flipping eachother out the windows off as you will here the moment you honk at someone.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OxiNcJhEoL0

Chicago drivers in action. No horns because it would disturb the peace so better to just hit the other person I guess???
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kn5oSXuuN6Q

[aragx6]

I never said Lakeview has no gays- but I do resent the notion that it's a gay area only. If you have an issue with homosexuals, that's your own prerogative, but please do not go around spewing nonsense to people who are unfamiliar with the area. There are parts of Lakeview that have many openly gay people living there (and also straight people too) so yes if you are homophobic or uncomfortable around that kind of atmosphere I might suggest another part of the city. (Though honestly if you are, I would suggest other more conservative parts of the Midwest over Chicago)

If stupid tourists in Las Vegas screaming vulgarities out of a rented limo is what you are basing your observation about reserved off of, then sure Chicago is reserved. I fail to see what this has to do with making friends. Maybe we could stay on point a bit better.

This honking comment really makes me wonder about what city you have been driving in. People honk here ALL of the time. But again, I fail to see how this is, even in the smallest way, related to the question at hand.

[Lookout Kid]

Hmmmm... Chicagoan's don't honk their horns? What in the world are you talking about? Are you in the same city? In the process of typing this sentence I think I've hear about ten car horns outside my window here in River North. Either way, how is a lack of horn honking and bird flipping a bad thing? I would love to see less of that here.

Lakeview has the gay business district which is the heart of the gay male community, but the gay men who frequent Halsted Street live all over the place. If you were to poll a random apartment buidling in East Lakeview it would probably be only slightly more gay than a similar building elsewhere in the city.