chicago in the summer! (Champaign, Gurnee: to rent, hotels, find a job)

[irish-rover]

hello,

me and a few friends (all aged 20) are hoping to come over to the chicago area to spend the summer months working and experiencing the american way of life.

because we dont know a great deal about the areas in the city, we're wondering where best it would be to rent. ie cheap, studenty area where thered be plenty parties and the craic would generally be good

alternatively, would it be easier to find a job/accom at one of the resorts outside chicago ie north up the lake. is there a particular place young people tend to go and work during the summer months?

any help you could provide would be much appreciated. visited chicago last easter and was amazed at the hospitality you showed to irish people.

Slàinte

[Avengerfire]

Try the parts of Rogers Park and Edgewater near Loyola University.

The portions of Lincoln Park near DePaul University and the portion of Lake View close to Wrigley Field are good for partying too, but for the most part, they are not nearly as affordable as Rogers Park and Edgewater.

Keep in mind the legal drinking age in the United States is 21.

[knitgirl]

FYI, a lot of Americans aren't going to know what you mean by "craic" and will think you mean the drug, crack.

[Avengerfire]

^ Well that is what Google is for. ^

[Drover]

Has coming to Chicago at around age 20 become some traditional Irish coming-of-age ritual or something? It seems every year in early spring we get a wave of these questions -- and sure enough, brogues start showing up in the service industry in summer, esp. in bars and restaurants. I wonder if this happens in other cities with historic cultural ties to Ireland like Boston and NYC? Or is there something specific about Chicago?

Anyway, if you're not all going to be 21 yet, a party scene that will be available to you and relatively safe can be a little hard to come by. For the under-21 set, I'd almost say you would be better off in a traditional university town like Madison or Champaign except that the party scene in these towns pretty much shuts down in summer.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Drover

Has coming to Chicago at around age 20 become some traditional Irish coming-of-age ritual or something?...

...Or is there something specific about Chicago?

The lasses come to experience the legend known all over the globe as Avengerfire.

[irish-rover]

craic - good fun.

sorry for the confusion.

so there would be no resorts north of chicago which become very touristy during the summer that would have alot of seasonal employment?

[surlycue]

Originally Posted by irish-rover

craic - good fun.

sorry for the confusion.

so there would be no resorts north of chicago which become very touristy during the summer that would have alot of seasonal employment?

If you'd like to stay in the state you can check the hotels and the park itself around Six Flags Great America in Gurnee. You might be better off with the Wisconsin Dells though but then you'd be a good 3+ hours from Chicago.

[Feeling Brackish]

I don't know what kind of work you're looking for, but pretty much all restaurants in Chicago hire a bunch of extra people for the summer. There are a ton of restaurants downtown and near north that do a ton of tourist business in the summer.

[ToriaT]

Maybe you could find work at some of the restaurants and bars at Navy Pier. Also hotels in the city. But the economy now is very depressed and many hotels are not doing well. There is a restaurant I go to on Jackson in the board of trade building and it seems most of the employees are either Irish or hispanic, basically waitstaff.