moving to Lincoln park or Gold Coast

[rzzzz]

^ i agree with freefall, I saw many cheap studios in Lincoln Park when I was looking for a place last summer. Just look for those old ass 1920s era buildings.

[joe1024]

I would definitely check out also LakeView, as Lincoln park ends on Diversey and LakeView starts at Diversey.

I had a 2-bedroom for $1350 on Oakdale (4 minutes walking distance from Diversey) 2 yrs ago and I have seen cheaper 2-bedrooms close by. So, if you are contemplating paying $1000-$1100 for a studio in Lincoln Park, it might be a good idea to consider paying a hundred bucks more for a 1-bedroom (or if you're lucky, even for 2-bedroom), and just living 5-10 minutes further from Lincoln Park - in LakeView. If I remember correctly, my building had 1-bedroom for around $975.

The walkability of LakeView is identical to Lincoln Park, public transport also (you got basically the same buses).
Although, I'd actually say that LakeView is more comfortable from that standpoint, since plenty buses start on Belmont, and by the time they get to Diversey / Lincoln Park, they are quite full in the morning. So, you'll be paying much more money for much less comfort (e.g. never sitting in the bus in the morning (6.30am - 10.30am)), if you plan to ride the bus to downtown.

As for safety, there's always an occasional random act of violence, regardless of where you live. Granted, the odds are couple orders of magnitude smaller compared to some southern burbs, but it's still a reality. That big marketplace grocery store on Diversey (technically, still in Lincoln Park) got robbed at gunpoint, a day (or two), after I shopped there (I just got lucky that I didn't go that particular afternoon).

Around the same timeframe, about one or two L stops before Diversey (thus, I believe it still falls within the Lincoln Park, though that might be a neighbouring neighbourhood), some cretin stole the iPhone from a lady on the train stop, although there were about a hundred people around (in the middle of the day) and pushed her downstairs to her death.

Another time, I got a call that the school my kid is in is in lockout (or some other term), as someone saw a guy with a gun. Well, this is America, anyone can have a gun and walk around with it.

So, just don't believe the rental agents (or others) if they tell you that you can keep the car unlocked for a week and no one will steal it (that's the exact phrase I was told when I asked about safety of Lincoln Park 5 yrs ago). Or that nothing bad ever happens in Lincoln Park. For thugs, it's just about half an hour train ride away from the place they live - it's within the reach of anyone in Chicago...

[Freefall18]

Originally Posted by joe1024

Around the same timeframe, about one or two L stops before Diversey (thus, I believe it still falls within the Lincoln Park, though that might be a neighbouring neighbourhood), some cretin stole the iPhone from a lady on the train stop, although there were about a hundred people around (in the middle of the day) and pushed her downstairs to her death.

That was 4 years ago.

So, just don't believe the rental agents (or others) if they tell you that you can keep the car unlocked for a week and no one will steal it (that's the exact phrase I was told when I asked about safety of Lincoln Park 5 yrs ago). Or that nothing bad ever happens in Lincoln Park. For thugs, it's just about half an hour train ride away from the place they live - it's within the reach of anyone in Chicago...

Weird/dishonest that somebody would say that. Actually, Lincoln Park ranks among the worst neighborhoods for car break-ins. Most of the crime that occurs in Lincoln Park is property crime. But to answer OP's question, both are very safe.

[galin]

What i want actually is : safe area where i can pay not more than 1000$(furnished studio), 300 square feet are completely fine for us. More important i dont want to be close to the airport where are most of the people of my nation, I am From Bulgaria.

[joe1024]

Originally Posted by galin

What i want actually is : safe area where i can pay not more than 1000$(furnished studio), 300 square feet are completely fine for us. More important i dont want to be close to the airport where are most of the people of my nation, I am From Bulgaria.

1. Do you work in downtown ?
2. Do you need the Lake to be in walking distance ?

If the answer is No to both questions, then you could expand your neighborhood search to whole Chicago, not just two locations that are (almost) walking distance from downtown.

Note that the furnished apartments are usually luxury ones, and are priced accordingly (e.g. couple thousands per month). Most of the time you can find 1 and 2 bedroom furnished ones, not really studios.

As always, if you are already here (in the hotel, at friend's, ...), you will find the best deals by actually visiting the area, and scouting it, street by street. I always found the best deals by spending a weekend (or two) going through the area, as they weren't advertised online and the one I chose actually wasn't even advertised on the front door of the building.

[joe1024]

Originally Posted by Freefall18

That was 4 years ago.


Weird/dishonest that somebody would say that. Actually, Lincoln Park ranks among the worst neighborhoods for car break-ins. Most of the crime that occurs in Lincoln Park is property crime. But to answer OP's question, both are very safe.

Real-estate agents are trained to tell you anything to make you feel good, regardless of how absurd it sounds. Meaning, I should not have asked the question in the first place. You get what you ask for

As for the car break-ins, I was always wondering if they're too numerous only because there's not a lot of other crime happening there (e.g. they just bubble up to a first/second place, as there is no other contender), or it's because this area is considered nice, so there's more nicer cars, hence it attracts thiefs.

[chet everett]

The best neighborhoods for access to O'Hare would be along the Blue line -- safer area like Avondale might have some landlords that specialize in European immigrants.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The best neighborhoods for access to O'Hare would be along the Blue line -- safer area like Avondale might have some landlords that specialize in European immigrants.

He said he doesn't want to be close to the airport.


As far as where the Bulgarians are OP? I only know a few in Chicago - they live in Lakeview, Gold Coast, and Lincoln Park but it has nothing to do with cultural identity with why they're there. I know there is a Bulgarian center in the Irving Park neighborhood but IMO there isn't a big population that culturally identify with the nation (I'm sure there are many who are of Bulgarian descent but that doesn't mean much of anything). In your case, I'd go to wherever you think you would like to live and not necessarily just to be around other people of your country.

[dcistheplace2b]

I have seen some studios around $1000-1100 in GC -- 25 E Delaware, 1117 N Dearborn come to mind. Some in Lincoln Park around $1000 -- Arlington Pl and Clark. These are all older buildings and very small studios.

There is a brand new renovation on W St James St -- beautiful, renovated, dishwasher, in unit W/D and these studios are around $1550.

[galin]

I want to ask if you know websites where i can find furnished apartments. When i said under 1000 usd i meant furnished condo. Is there a chance to find for that price. In some sites i can see some ads includes pics, and some of the them are furnishef,some not. My question here is : is it really furnished or is it how will look if it is furnished? Many thanks