Which apartment should I choose in Ravenswood/Lincoln Square? (Cullom: transfer to, live)

[peanut24]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Stay away from the addresses closest to Amundsen High School if possible.

Thus these would be my top two choices:

4600 block of Lincoln
4800 block of Wolcott

I lived for 2 year at Argyle and Ainslie about 2 blocks from the highschool and it was a GREAT area! You can use the outdoor track at the high school if no one is using it for running and the park next to the school is beautiful with a great playground for kids. also a nice walk to the Western brown line stop and downtown Lincoln Square.

[Gelasia]

You should pick Lincoln Square.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by outdoors123

I live in the 2200 block of foster near the school. Surprisingly, it isn't bad at all. It is only busy right before and after school...

Really? Why does your header state you live in St. Louis?

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by peanut24

I lived for 2 year at Argyle and Ainslie about 2 blocks from the highschool and it was a GREAT area!...

Argyle and Ainslie run parallel to each other .

[outdoors123]

I moved here in August. I didn't realize it says I live in St. Louis. sorry avengerfire

[UnsunnedSnow]

Hi, I'm relocating to the Lincoln Square/Ravenswood area soon and wondered if folks had thoughts on these apartment options:
1900 block W Montrose
4500 block N Oakley
4500 block N Maplewood
4700 block N Damen

I'll be renting sight-unseen and would appreciate any comments about pros/cons of these areas. I don't need parking, don't mind some street noise although prefer not to live right by excessively loud businesses/etc. Want to be close to brown line and Damon bus and library/parks.

Also, has anyone had interactions with either Bertsch or ICM property management? The yelp reviews of both are a little scary, but both seem to have a lot of properties in the area and in my price range (1 bd < $950). If anyone lives in a bldg in my price range that they'd recommend, please let me know! Thanks so much in advance! This forum has been massively helpful.

[Drover]

Well if you want to be close to the Brown line and the Damen bus, you can't beat the 4700 block of N. Damen because it puts you right on top of both the Damen bus and a Brown Line station. Damen is only a "semi-busy" thoroughfare so the street noise isn't bad. It's only two lanes wide, has a mix of business and residential, and there's a lot of stop signs to slow traffic down. So most people don't use Damen as a thru-way to get from one end of the north side to the other -- they'll use Ashland or Damen instead. That said, you'll be close enough to the Brown Line that you'll get quite a bit of train noise.

If you'd prefer a little more distance from the train line, the 1900 block of Montrose would put you one block away from both the Damen bus line and a Brown Line train station. The tradeoff is Montrose tends to be a little busier than Damen.

Oakley and especially Maplewood would put you further away from Damen -- about a 10 and 15 minute walk, respectively. Or you could hop on the Brown Line at the Rockwell or Western station and ride it to Damen. But the other two addresses would put you right on or near Damen.

[UnsunnedSnow]

Drover, thanks so much for the info! How does commerical density compare on the east and west sides of Welles park? I was unfortunately only able to spend a total of about 40 minutes in the neighborhood scoping things out and definitely hope to be close to businesses/restaurants.

Argh, just realized the apartment in 4700 block of Damen has no laundry. I promised to myself long ago that I'd never live in a bldg without laundry facilities again!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by UnsunnedSnow

Drover, thanks so much for the info! How does commerical density compare on the east and west sides of Welles park? I was unfortunately only able to spend a total of about 40 minutes in the neighborhood scoping things out and definitely hope to be close to businesses/restaurants.

Argh, just realized the apartment in 4700 block of Damen has no laundry. I promised to myself long ago that I'd never live in a bldg without laundry facilities again!

If you're talking commercial density on Montrose east versus west of the park, I don't know that it makes much difference. But if I had to guess, I'd say west is denser than east.

I wouldn't sweat the no-laundry situation, and here's why: around here, drop-off service costs around 80 cents to a buck a pound. The wife and I did the math one day and discovered that by the time we pay for the coin-op machines and our own soap and fabric softener, it cost us maybe $15 a month extra just to have the laundromat do it for us. If you're single, it may cost even less. So I wouldn't let "no laundry" be a deal-breaker. (Then again, the wife and I have a car -- might not be so easy to do drop-off if you don't.)

[UnsunnedSnow]

Wow, that's amazing that laundry service is so cheap. Sadly, I doubt I could ever talk my partner into using such a service- he's extremely thrifty and DIY about such things. But, since we'll have no car, I'm really hoping I can talk him into using Peapod or someone for grocery delivery. Nothing worse than dragging home 20 lbs of cat litter on the bus! Again, thanks for the info on the neighborhood. After spending an exhausting amount of time researching all the different neighborhoods, Ravenswood seemed appealing for safety and proximity to parks and transit. Worried my partner may find it a little dull but since we're moving from a much less urban area I think it will be a good choice for us.

Would still love to know if anyone has experience with Bertsch or ICM property management.