Empty nesters moving to Chicago - where? (Lincoln, Roscoe: for sale, apartment)

[rbnwdln]

We are thinking of moving to Chicago when we retire. We would like to live in the city and have walking access to grocery stores, restaurants, etc. Can you recommend an area of the city? We would like to find a small house or possibly condo or loft apartment. Lakeview? Roscoe Village? or any other recommendations? Thanks.

[oakparkdude]

How much can you afford for housing?

[Avengerfire]

...and size requirements?

[Irishtom29]

Depends on what you want to spend and how much action you want or can stand. My wife and I are empty nesters and enjoying the south Loop area at 14th and Michigan quite a bit; there's alot going on but not too much going on, know what I mean? Good mix of ages here for one. Close to the Lake, close to downtown, plenty of buses and El trains. Several good taverns, coffee shops and restaurants around but none are hectic or trendy. I'm taking piano lessons at the Fine Arts Building on Michigan at Congress and it's just a short walk or if I'm lazy a short ride on the Michigan Ave bus.

Can walk to the Jewel or Dominics on Roosevelt or a short drive to the much better Dominics at Ashland and Archer in McKinley Park. Close to Chinatown and Bridgeport, both neighborhoods I enjoy.

Lakeview would drive me crazy, too much going on and too noisy and too many young adults, kind of a YPG--young people's ghetto.

There are a great many condos for rent at reasonable rates and condo prices seem to be going down. This website is good for finding condos for sale and rent, it's where we found the place we're renting
http://www.urbanspan.com/

[snoylekim]

West Loop ( east of the expressway) - Fulton Gate is similiar..close to a lot, but not too close or in the center of the action 24 by 7 . We have a few empty nesters in my building and a few others nearby. The younger demographic in the condo buildings seems to be mostly represented by post-grad school working the first or second stint of the career, so there's not a lot of 'party all night every night' going on .. Some of the rental buildings, that's a different story

[rbnwdln]

Thanks for the info. Size requirements are two bedrooms, price is variable, depending on sale of our home. The prices of the places I have seen so far are 'gulp' more than I thought. We are a few years away from this but are starting to think along the lines of Chicago because we have a kid living there and I have worsening vision and would like to be able to walk or take public transportation. Good info so far!

[chet everett]

Small houses in desirable parts of Lakeview, Roscoe Village, or Lincoln Park are still HUGELY expensive. The reasons for this have to do with the fact that most will have offstreet parking and/or a garage and that alone is NOW far more expensive than ever due to the crazy lack of foresight that has spawned an explosion of big box retail in those areas -- people pretty much need to have a "suburban style" drive-to-store experience and are willing to pay a very large premium for it...

Condos in those neighborhoods are also warped by some of the same factors, as the large number of people in those neighborhoods that rely on cars to commute to jobs in the burbs and/or routinely drive for vacations and such has sky rocketed...

As Irishtom states, the over-building of condos in the South Loop may work to the OP's advantage as the savings can be quite significant and one can still walk / take public transit to a large number of stores, without the same level of "young person" overload that is common in other areas. Big difference between a neighborhood bar where one could watch a sporting event and sip some libation vs one packed with kids that have known each other since they were on some fraternity drinking binge together a decade and a half ago...

I would caution that Chicago is NOT an inexpensive place to live, high property taxes, high cost of living, drive many retirees to more affordable parts of the country. And of course our weather is not agreeable for those who suffer with weather related ailments...

[heyho]

We have to relocate to Boston and are considering leasing our house in quiet Jefferson Park, walk to all transportation 10 minutes away.

Though there really isn't a 'restaurant scene', it's a short drive up the road to Edison Park and Sauganash with terrific dining (French, Mexican, Italian, Brazilian, Polish, Irish pubs... name it). Whole Foods is 1 1/2 mi. away as is Caldwell Woods Forest Preserve for biking riding and trails.

pm if you might be interested and I can offer up details regarding features of our wonderful home!

[rbnwdln]

Yikes, now I am getting scared off. Perhaps we should look at the 'burbs, although that doesn't necessarily work in all regards. Can someone tell me the name of neighborhoods in the 'south loop' or that the name of the neighborhood? Also, can anyone recommend a suburb, not too far from the city, that has an actual nice downtown area? Perhaps that would be an option, if we found a place that would allow walking access to the amenities like stores and restaurants, etc. Thanks!

[Avengerfire]

^ Scared off because of what? You still have not revealed an estimate of how much can you afford. ^