Safe CTA stops to live close to for a newcomer (Irving: home, tenant)

[surlycue]

Originally Posted by heartchicago

Is there anything a renter should know or make sure is taken care of with regard to "vintage" apartments in these old buildings? Common sense things are to make sure the stove, fridge, light fixtures, and peephole work. But is there anything in particular about these older apartments that is important to know?

Windows are the biggest problem in my vintage apartment. Put your hand directly against them as well as the pane to check the seals. I lose a lot of heat out of my windows in the winter so I have to seal them with that saran wrap stuff. It helps but not significantly.

If there are window ACs I would turn them on and run them for at least 3 to 4 minutes to make sure they blow cold air. The older units can lose their cooling agent so you should be able to stipulate in your lease that they need maintenance.

[mycrows]

Originally Posted by heartchicago

Is there anything a renter should know or make sure is taken care of with regard to "vintage" apartments in these old buildings? Common sense things are to make sure the stove, fridge, light fixtures, and peephole work. But is there anything in particular about these older apartments that is important to know?

Check the water pressure, see if it's to your liking.

Be wary if the apartment is meant to be heated by a single gas wall heater. I never saw this until I got to Chicago, but I found that it's common in lower-priced apartments. I suspect this is because it's the cheapest way to set up heat when you're rehabbing a place. However, it's just not efficient: unless the place is really small, you'll be cold all winter (and paying a lot for gas to run it non-stop). I'm having trouble finding a picture of one of these things, but they generally look like a huge black metal box with a large duct leading to a outside wall vent.

If the windows are new that's a plus.

[surlycue]

Originally Posted by mycrows

I'm having trouble finding a picture of one of these things, but they generally look like a huge black metal box with a large duct leading to a outside wall vent.

haha, i have one in my place, two actually. they heat the common rooms very well but the bedrooms are freezing all winter long. they are also super expensive in the coldest months.

[Venom]

The hell is that?

[surlycue]

Originally Posted by Venom

The hell is that?

I call her The Mangler

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by Venom

The hell is that?

I'm fairly certain that it's Bender from "Futurama".

[Drover]

Originally Posted by heartchicago

While not convenient, there is one more route to get to the loop. One could take the 22 to near the Rogers Park Metra and then take the metra into downtown. I suspect that would be fastest, but since I pay for a UPass anyways, it is also the most costly. My wife and I were taking brown line during "rush hour" and it was nowhere as crowded as the others. I figure I could even get a half hour of reading done.

The 22 would take all week to get you to the Rogers Park Metra stop. If you were to go the Metra route, you'd be far better off taking the Damen bus to Lawrence and hopping on the train at the Metra station a couple blocks from Lawrence and Damen.

I'm in the same boat as you where there's a Metra station right next to my L stop that would get me downtown in about half the time, but I have a U-Pass (during the spring and fall semesters anyway) so the economics of that fact dictate that I take the Blue Line train instead.

As far as older apartments, as long as the appears to be in decent repair and upkeep, about the only thing I can think of to keep in mind is they frequently have leaky windows. If your heat is included in your rent, that's little more than a drafty inconvenience. If you're paying your own heat, it can result in a murderous heating bill in the winter. This winter my January gas bill was $225, and that was with the thermostat rarely above 68 and that plastic-sheet crap covering my windows.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by surlycue

haha, i have one in my place, two actually. they heat the common rooms very well but the bedrooms are freezing all winter long. they are also super expensive in the coldest months.

Now you know one reason why your rent is so cheap.

[surlycue]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Now you know one reason why your rent is so cheap.

My rent is cheap because it's a storefront unit. The landlord charges the second floor tenants an exorbitant amount and they have the same furnaces and sh***y old windows that I have. Even with my $200 bills in January and February I still pay about $300 less a month than most of my neighbors so I have no complaints.

Thanks for your increasing concern for me in the last few days, you're a real chum!

[heartchicago]

Our apartment is heat included (radiator), which I doubt is actually going to do a decent job. I would guess that with a 3/4 open valve, the heat will radiate to about 5 feet from the radiator? We will have a portable heater that we will use on the coldest days in the winter, but hopefully, the radiator is sufficient. I talked with other tenants, almost all of whom have lived there for several years, and they did not complain. The family owned building and management seem to be good people who care about the quality of the place and who is living there. I am hoping that means things that need to be fixed will be fixed. Regardless, I need to learn about "winterizing" an old apartment and learning how to deal with radiator heat.