Would yo recommend these areas? (Rogers Park, Hollywood Park, etc) (Chicago: neighborhood, inspection)

[masssachoicetts]

Totally okay, actually pleased, there isnt a parade for the safety of the community. Im familiar with Chicago so I will not look negatively on it, because in normal times Chicago is great.

The couple looking wanted to buy maybe end of April, at first. But seeing how fast things are moving.. ASAP.

[Master Jay]

masssachoicetts, me and many people enjoy getting out and walking around the city.

I would definitely recommend going to Lincoln Square's plaza!

You can check out Devon Avenue for the Indian/Pakistani flair.

And as stated, Clark Street is a great multicultural experience.

ENJOY!

[nana053]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Update: Narrowed down to these zip codes:

60626
60640
60659 <--- The part closest to Lincoln Square

Ideally want to stay by Morse, since I heard that's the best part of Rogers Park. Safest too.

Didnt visit last weekend because I need a babysitter since the people Im going with are usually my babysitters. Going for the weekend of March 13-15, green river weekend!

They put in offers in two homes, they had the highest bid, all cash on one condo and the selling agent did something really sleazy. Lost both. ?? Its getting stressful...

Pretty soon I need a thread with specific reccomendations

We lived in 60626 back in the day. We were right on Loyola Avenue. Mundelein College (now part of Loyola) and Loyola University were there. It was fine at the time, but that was many years ago.

[masssachoicetts]

Originally Posted by nana053

We lived in 60626 back in the day. We were right on Loyola Avenue. Mundelein College (now part of Loyola) and Loyola University were there. It was fine at the time, but that was many years ago.

I heard its only gotten better.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

I heard its only gotten better.

That is correct. A surprising amount of investment.

[masssachoicetts]

I'm in Chicago now. Will post my assessment later

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

BOBNCHI, good morning,

Just so the OP is on board, would you agree that it is fair to say that Little India is PART of the West Ridge (sometimes called West Rogers Park) community area.

The area I was thinking of by Indian Boundary Park would be, mmmm, about 1 mile north of Little India. It seems there is less a presence of the Indian/Pakistani population and shops (compared to directly on Devon Avenue).

BOBNCHI, is there another area of West Ridge that you like, that should be accentuated?

Yep, the 'Little India' part of Devon Ave. is definitely a part of West Ridge/West Rogers Park!

Also I was looking at street views between those 3 areas you picked(Hollywood Park, the area near Fargo Ave(near Jarvis L station), and Pratt(near Morse L station), and all 3 of those areas have pros and cons. I think people underrate the area that is near Hollywood Park, since to me that's a pretty nice area too. Yes that area is a little bit of a walk from an L station(Kimball on the Brown Line), but that said the 82 Kimball bus runs VERY often, and has pretty long early morning to late evening hours(though it isn't quite 24/7) for a bus route. If you do end up in Hollywood Park, I do really like the restaurants Tre Kronor(Swedish food), Merla's Kitchen(for Filipino food), and Bryn Mawr Breakfast Club(breakfast and lunch). You also aren't too far away from all the good restaurants on Kedzie, near that Brown Line station(i.e. Noon O Kabob, Kabobi, Golden Crust(decent thin crust pizza restaurant), etc). And of course, all the good places to eat within Albany Park as well. If you explore Albany Park further, I really like Twisted Hippo for both its beers, and food. There's a lot more good places to eat, if you explore Albany Park further besides what I mentioned. You also aren't too far from Lincoln Square, Old Irving Park, and Portage Park which have some good places to eat, shop at. I.e. Gene's Sausage Shop and The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square, and in Portage Park City Newstand is a pretty cool classic magazine and bookstore. Also further west in Portage Park the area by Irving Park and Austin has some cool shops and places to eat, such as Luna Empanada Shop, Perkalator(sp?), and Greater Goods Community Thrift(used to be called Thrift and Thrive, and IMO I think they are the CLEANEST thrift store I've ever visited in the city of Chicago for sure).

As for Rogers Park, Morse Ave once in a while still does have crime issues(per my friend who lives up there), though it isn't as bad as this issue once was like. I get the sense Jarvis feels a little less iffy, than Morse does. Although Howard still seems a little iffy, near that station IMO. I've biked through a lot of various parts of RP in recent years myself, and to me I'd still put the areas by the Morse and Jarvis L stations as nicer IMO, vs. the area near the Howard station.

As for the area near Pratt and Sheridan, I'd say its proximity to Loyola University probably helps that area out in getting businesses to open. I really wish the 400 Theater would start showing movies again, particularly since other theaters like the Davis, Music Box, and Pickwick(Park Ridge) have started playing movies again. Ever since COVID hit in March 2020, they've only been renting out the theaters to private groups who want to do movie screenings or video game tournaments on their screens, along with during limited daytime hours sell concession food. Also I really like the Armadillo's Pillow bookstore, which is across the street from the 400.

Tl;dr if you must be very close to an L line yes Rogers Park would win that contest, but if you don't mind biking and/or taking CTA buses to get to places, I think Hollywood Park would also be a nice area to live in as well. And as I seem to notice from checking crime stats, I think there'd be a little less crime in Hollywood Park. Don't forget if you pick living in the latter, I'd also explore Bohemian National Cemetery, which IMO is a cool hidden gem of a cemetery to explore.

[Master Jay]

SonySegaTendo617, good morning.

Did you see the OP is now in Chicago?

You laid out a fantastic breakdown in your most recent post, which I'm sure the OP will value!

Great work! I don't know if the OP is a fan of Korean food. If so, the Lincoln Square/Albany Park/North Park area is a definite one to go check out!

[masssachoicetts]

My Update:
-Stayed in Loyola are last weekend.


Takeaways
Rogers Park- It was really different. Much different than expected. The area by Loyola reminded me a lot of the Boston area. Very transient with lots of restaurants, stores and coffee shops. Great walkability. The shoreline was stellar and the Morse area was cool but very quiet. The residents in the area were not sketchy, pretty normal people. Clark Street was weird.. cash checking places and fast food joints lined it. It was so different from than Loyola area and it was only like 5 minutes away. Buyers would ideally want to stay on the shoreline, by Sheridan or far south in Rogers Park. 7/10.

Albany Park- This was the biggest shock. So underrated, and the Brown Line was so clean and relatively quicker than expected after reading horror stories on how bad it was. I thought it was fine and stopped at locations that they'd use more, like Armitage. The Kedzie, Francisco sops were clean and people were pretty chill looking. No crazies were st]potted. Great diversity of restaurants and markets and cafes here. 9/10 . The only drawback is not a whole lot of restaurants.

Wrigleyville- Reminds me of the Fenway area, and its not even funny. Great bars and restaurants. Cool, modern, clean and fresh. 10/10. Not much really to say, trains are frequent, people were great and lots to do.

I liked the visit, it was definitely the quietest I have ever seen Chicago. But COVID... Its sad.
However, I feel like we didnt know where we were going.. kind of just trekked around the different areas and found cool spots. Got good use of the CTA passes.

It brings me a few questions:
1. North of the Loop, where are the areas you go to for cheap(er), local bars and restaurants where you arent paying $15 for a burger and $10 for a drink?
2. Whats you favorite cocktail bar/restaurant in around North of Chicago?
3. Is Irving Park Nice?

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

It brings me a few questions:
1. North of the Loop, where are the areas you go to for cheap(er), local bars and restaurants where you arent paying $15 for a burger and $10 for a drink?
2. Whats you favorite cocktail bar/restaurant in around North of Chicago?
3. Is Irving Park Nice?

1. Boystown is where people of all backgrounds go for super cheap drinks. There are plenty of diners scattered throughout the north side. Candlelite in West Ridge and Pub 626 are my favorite diner/bars in the Rogers Park area.

2. Favorite restaurant outside of the Loop and Near North Side would be Mt. Everest. However, that is in Evanston. Wangs (Asian-themed cocktails) and Wakamono (sushi/Japanese) are great in Lake View East.

3. Yes, the area in Irving Park and Albany Park within proximity of Horner Park has some lovely homes and architecture.