Best place for a recent college graduate making $80,000/year and working in downtown Chicago to live (Lincoln: best neighborhoods, apartments)

[JAllenPrimack]

Hello, I am a 22 year-old recent college graduate beginning my career in downtown Chicago this Summer. I'm looking at renting a studio apartment starting in June. With their being so many areas in Chicago, I'm having a difficult time determining the best place to live. I will be making $80,000/year and will be working near Union Station. I want to find an affordable studio apartment in a safe neighborhood. I'm not the biggest party person but like being somewhere where there is plenty to do. I want to be around people like myself who are kind, hard working, and young. I'd ideally like to be within 2 miles of my work, and would like to walk or bike to work from my place. I don't need an apartments that's too luxurious or with a lot of amenities, I'm a pretty simple person. I'm also a big sports fan. I'm a hard working and motivated individual, and it's important that I'm somewhere safe and that doesn't get too crazy loud during the weeknights.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[fusillirob1983]

Although downtown is not that big, you'll need to be more specific about 1) location of your workplace, if you're looking for something specific like "within 2 miles of my work", 2) how you define "downtown", especially since people define "downtown" differently.

Your workplace could be at 900 N. Michigan and someone might call it downtown, and some place in Lincoln Park would qualify.

Your workplace could be in the Sears Tower and someplace at the south end of the South Loop would qualify.

Some people call the West Loop or Lincoln Park downtown.

[BOBNCHI]

Though making $80k/yr is good, what other debt are you carrying? This may impact the answers.

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by JAllenPrimack

Hello, I am a 22 year-old recent college graduate beginning my career in downtown Chicago this Summer. I'm looking at renting a studio apartment starting in June. With their being so many areas in Chicago, I'm having a difficult time determining the best place to live. I will be making $80,000/year and will be working near Union Station. I want to find an affordable studio apartment in a safe neighborhood. I'm not the biggest party person but like being somewhere where there is plenty to do. I want to be around people like myself who are kind, hard working, and young. I'd ideally like to be within 2 miles of my work, and would like to walk or bike to work from my place. I don't need an apartments that's too luxurious or with a lot of amenities, I'm a pretty simple person. I'm also a big sports fan. I'm a hard working and motivated individual, and it's important that I'm somewhere safe and that doesn't get too crazy loud during the weeknights.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Do you want to be near the lake, woods, the 606? Vintage apartments or newer builds? Do you want a traditional Chicago neighborhood feel or do you want something within or adjacent to the Loop? You have a lot of options here, especially right now.

[personone]

I believe the OP said he is working near Union Station and wants to be within 2 miles of work, so off the bat, I would have probably suggested the West Loop for a young person.

Although, there's not a whole lot of studios there, and at least during pre-pandemic times, prices in the West Loop were pretty expensive, as most of the buildings are either new/modern or completely renovated inside with all the luxury bells and whistles (as Chicagoans know, the West Loop is the old warehouse district with lots of lofts).

Another person made a good point about asking about debt. When I moved to Chicago, I was making 6 figures, but had a good amount of student loan debt. I liked the West Loop but found it expensive. So the $80K figure is a little hard to evaluate on its own.

That being said, with the impact of the pandemic, it's likely that costs have gone down pretty significantly, so things in that area may be really affordable. You just want to budget in any debt when you check out prices. If you have a lot, the West Loop and Loop (pre-covid times) are not the most affordable neighborhoods, mainly because the buildings are relatively new, which equals higher prices.

Getting a little farther out of downtown, your money would stretch farther, and they tend to be more fun neighborhoods for younger people. I would recommend Lake View or Lincoln Park, but given that it seems you want to be close to work, these would not be the best neighborhoods. Although, they are beyond 2 miles. You wouldn't be able to conveniently walk from either of those neighborhoods to Union Station area.

[ChicagoMeO]

also, the OP might want to spend more on rent to get all his desires in an apartment, and not so much money on other expenses. so an expensive rent could work, depends on what you want to spend your money on.

[citylove101]

You might consider apartments actually in The Loop. That’s certainly walkable to Union Station as well as the lakefront and all other El lines, so getting to areas with more entertainment, bars, etc. would be easy. Also remember that the Loop and adjacent areas of the South Loop will have plenty of dining and shopping options as well as the legit theaters. And FWIW, crime downtown is mostly property crime—a decent set of street smarts and you can do okay. And most parts of The Loop are quiet at night. There are, last time I looked at prices, a decent supply of studios and one-bedrooms that would be within your budget.

The big question is whether you like a dense downtown atmosphere. That is definitely not for all people. But some folks love it.

[OyCrumbler]

East Ukrainian Village / Noble Square might work. That's about at 2 miles and it's got some young people. If you want quieter, then maybe South Loop would do. Personally, I'd think that living in Chinatown would be more fun.

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by JAllenPrimack

Hello, I am a 22 year-old recent college graduate beginning my career in downtown Chicago this Summer. I'm looking at renting a studio apartment starting in June. With their being so many areas in Chicago, I'm having a difficult time determining the best place to live. I will be making $80,000/year and will be working near Union Station. I want to find an affordable studio apartment in a safe neighborhood. I'm not the biggest party person but like being somewhere where there is plenty to do. I want to be around people like myself who are kind, hard working, and young. I'd ideally like to be within 2 miles of my work, and would like to walk or bike to work from my place. I don't need an apartments that's too luxurious or with a lot of amenities, I'm a pretty simple person. I'm also a big sports fan. I'm a hard working and motivated individual, and it's important that I'm somewhere safe and that doesn't get too crazy loud during the weeknights.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!

If you want to be within 2 miles of downtown you are going to pay a high premium for it. There are apartments in the south loop, near north and near west sides that will be quite small and quite expensive designed for high paid professionals who's time is too limited and valuable to commute.

Safe, not loud, and crazy sounds like find a place in the outlying neighborhoods or suburbs and come in on the CTA or metra.

[Berteau]

Dang. 80k right out of college. What’s your job?