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Old 11-11-2015, 11:26 AM
 
155 posts, read 163,325 times
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So my wife and I have decided to move to Chicago from NYC when our lease is up in June. She can easily transfer with her job and ill be looking for one in the next few months.

We both have never been to Chicago before but have heard great things and we have a few friends out there. Of course we want to come out and visit before we move there so we are thinking of making a trip out in February.

My question is will 3 full days be enough time to check out the neighborhoods we are looking to move to? The areas we have in mind are Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Logan Square, Wicker Park, Bucktown, River North and West Loop. We just want to get the vibe in these areas and see if it is a place we can see ourselves living.

Any help for would be great!
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Old 11-11-2015, 11:44 AM
 
Location: Chicago
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Probably not, especially if there's bad weather, but as far as driving around, sure.
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Old 11-11-2015, 12:50 PM
 
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I'd say three full days (especially if it's around a weekend) will be ample time for you to get a sample/feel for those areas. Those aren't too many neighborhoods to cover in that frame of time, and they're not too awfully spread out from each other either. You could probably get a good feel for more west side hoods like Wicker Park, Bucktown and Logan Sq on one day, have another for those more near Loop like West Loop and River North. Then have another set aside for Lakeview and Lincoln Park.

If you're looking at West Loop, it's a very different neighborhood from day to night. It's growing quickly, but feels like a completely different neighborhood at night and especially on weekends. A million great dining options in that area.
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Old 11-11-2015, 12:54 PM
 
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A lot depends on where your job is. Some jobs are located in such a way its inadvisable to live in the city.
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Old 11-11-2015, 01:00 PM
 
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In February there is a distinct lack of people outside almost ANYWHERE in Chicago. The various sports-oriented bars don't have play-offs to draw people in, the weather tends to be about as crummy as it gets, the retailers don't have any major holidays to have hold promotional sales, even restaurants only have Valentines to promote for "romance"... Good thing it is the shortest month!

Assuming you'll be using public transit February can be a brutal time to understand why overhead El trains are much more impacted by bad weather than subways, as well as a time to appreciate the value of dressing in multiple layers with hats, scarves , gloves and arctic-explorer grade footwear -- the rare "CTA platform heat lamp" that is not broken will not warm up your feet. I suppose the upside is that if you are not dissuaded by your visit then things will only "look better" as the weather improves (and it generally does, in a Ground Hog Day sort of semi-predictability, by March or April...).

Personally, given the range of areas you hope to explore, I would try for at least a "arrive Thursday, leave back in time for work Tuesday" kind of 4 night extended weekend, as there is thus best chance of hipper spots like Bucktown/ Wicker Park having live music and such on Thursday, maybe Friday for Logan Square, Saturday for Lincoln Park, and then the quieter Sunday maybe see if there is anything like live basketball or hockey going on at the West Loop United Center (Feb 21 looks like a Bulls, 28th Blackhawks) http://blackhawks.nhl.com/v2/ext/Med...5_Schedule.pdf Schedule | Chicago Bulls, Monday maybe River North or Lakeview...
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Old 11-11-2015, 01:03 PM
 
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^ virtually ever CTA platform heater I've ever encountered has worked perfectly fine.
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Old 11-11-2015, 01:12 PM
 
Location: Sweet Home Chicago!
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February in Chicago? Holy frozen land ahead!

Can you put it off until March or April?
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Old 11-11-2015, 01:21 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago60614 View Post
^ virtually ever CTA platform heater I've ever encountered has worked perfectly fine.
Right. I've also never had an el train impacted by winter weather, and I've taken the el more or less every working day in the winter for the past 10 years.

Even in the brutal polar vortex two years ago, blue line was running. I think chets thinking of Metra.

Plus, its probably not going to be that cold. Probably upper 20s/30s. Could be colder, could be warmer.
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Old 11-11-2015, 01:28 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
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February is usually pretty cold, though there was a report the other day that came out saying Chicago is going to have a warmer than usual, and less snowy winter than usual so it might not be as bad. Cross your fingers...

Lincoln Park and Lakeview are right next to each other so you can do those in one day though they are kind of big at a combined population of something like 150K people. Logan Square, Wicker Park, and Bucktown are next to each other and have a population of over 100K combined. River North and West Loop aren't next to one another but you could probably cover them in one day. So 3 days might be enough though you might want to stretch to 4 if at all possible. I'd also check out Gold Coast while you're here.

I have to say though and maybe you've heard it but summer is completely different in the city even in vibe. People are a little happier since it's warmer and more sun, and way more people spend time outside. I think if you visit in February, keep that in mind and you'd probably see a noticeable difference when summer comes.
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Old 11-11-2015, 02:12 PM
 
155 posts, read 163,325 times
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Thanks for the help guys!

We could probably visit in March or April but we thought February would be a good time so we could see what a Chicago winter is like. I used to live in Toronto so im thinking it wont be much different.

Also im a Lakers fan and they are in town to play the Bulls on Feb 21st so it gives me an excuse to catch the game haha.
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