Neighborhood assistance please! Office in Park Ridge

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by esmcblurm3

My current commute (Providence, RI to a suburb of Boston, MA) is 35 miles and usually takes 45 minutes to an hour. I'd like to keep my new commute at the same timing or better.

Thanks for the advice. I visited a friend in Roscoe Village and definitely liked the feel. I'll explore Lakeview more.

Ok cool. Any of the places I named should work for that unless snow/ice are ridiculous or a car accident occurs and you somehow can't plan for an alternate route in time.

[esmcblurm3]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The West Loop has a very different pattern of development than most other neighborhoods that are desirable in Chicago. Instead there being a nice mix of single family detached homes, which characterizes probably 85%+ of Chicago, including Lincoln Park, Buck Town, Wicker Park, Lake View and many other spots, there are mostly rental unit and condos. Further, unlike the mostly modern high rises and well planned townhomes that characterize Illinois Center, Streeterville or much of the recent South Loop residential projects the "loft conversions" blend into the still functional commercial buildings. Some of these are kind of hip "live & work" spaces once were popular with artsy types in River North but a significant percentage are the rather less hip places that supply resturants with everything from tablecloths to frozen meat. That skews the "street scene" to be decidely less than sexy...

Of course one of the upsides is that some of the best values are Greek resturants known for things like fresh lamb and such are steps away, but it is also a negative in terms of dealing with delivery trucks and such. Of course that is shifting too, but it is still a valid concern, as when those places that ran essentially a "family business" for decades are replaced by folks that leverage costly real estate it makes things less stable...

Originally Posted by fusillirob1983

Ok cool. Any of the places I named should work for that unless snow/ice are ridiculous or a car accident occurs and you somehow can't plan for an alternate route in time.

Great insight. Thank you again! I look forward to scouting out the areas soon!

Apartments in my range of $2k.. with must have's of central air & laundry in unit.. seem to be accessible. Parking is a whole other thing!