usa :: chicago :: general

[mojinho]

i lived in Wrigleyville/Boystown for 4 years, first on Grace & Kenmore and then on Cornelia & Wilton, near the Addison Red Line stop. loved, loved, loved the neighborhood although i left in 2005 so it may have gotten prohibitively expensive since then and i wouldn't be aware. parking is a royal pain but if you want to live without a car, as i did, then it's a great place to be. i rented a small 1-bedroom for $900/month with heat included. it is pretty fratty but i didn't care. there are plenty of cool bars that don't only contain people from the suburbs.

Brown Line neighborhoods are way more affordable but not as bitchin' in terms of nightlife. hopleaf is a fantastic bar. wouldn't live in these areas if you're under 30, though.

careful in Uptown . . . parts are still block-by-block. somehow Wrigleyville and Andersonville managed to get all safe and clean and Starbucks-y and Uptown got skipped, despite a gleaming Borders on Broadway.

Blue Lline/Pilsen/Near South Side has got a cool vibe but could be difficult without a car (do they still shut down the 54/Cermak Blue Line on the weekends?). soon-to-be-gentrified, no?

Suggestion: what about Irving Park and Sheffield, and that neighborhood north of Irving Park between IP and Montrose? not quite uptown, certainly not fratty, lots of nice buildings, Red Line access (Sheridan) and there's a great bar called Bar on Buena that has Belgian beers and a great grilled cheese with guacamole.

[pete mcstunna]

^haha i live at cornelia and wilton

[mojinho]

NO SHIT i lived at 927 (courtyard building) on the south side of the street right in the dead end of Wilton into Cornelia

[persephone]

Gracias everyone

We ended up getting a steal of a deal in edgewater glen/ andersonville area. Huge apt. (2 bed) with vintage built-in's, heat/ water and laundry (brand new washer and dryer) all included, 3 min walk to red line, 10 min walk to ardmore beach...etc... for 1,000/mo

[Wolves]

Hmm. I live near the north side. At the end of the brown line sort of. Right before Chicago becomes Lincolnwood.

[persephone]

We'll be at broadway and elmdale, right off the thorndale stop (red)

[sungrak]

it sounds like you got a great deal. congrats.

did you have the mussels at hopleaf yet?

man, i could rant about that place for days.

[mojinho]

it sounds like you got a great deal. congrats.

did you have the mussels at hopleaf yet?

man, i could rant about that place for days.

me too, can you believe i only went there TWICE in FOUR YEARS?! one of my top 3 regrets in life (i guess that's not too bad if going to a specific bar too little is in the top 3)

[denimfan45]

Hmm. I live near the north side. At the end of the brown line sort of. Right before Chicago becomes Lincolnwood.

Really? I grew up in Edgebrook and live there now. Devon and Central area. Mohers is a really cool pub in Edgebrook.

[B-15C]

Moving to Chicago in May and will be scoping out some apartments in a week. Prob gonna look in Uptown, Ravenswood, or Edgewater (want cheaper and heat/water incl)

Would like some opinions on neighborhoods and curious about pricing for places in general

Before you get your heart set on any particular neighborhood, here are a few resources that have always helped me figure out where to live. I've lived here for too long, and only just renewed a lease for the first time.

HousingMaps is a craigslist/google maps mashup, but it gets the job done.

http://www.housingmaps.com/

Anything I can't find here, I usually check the

Reader Apartment Search:

http://classifieds.chicagoreader.com/chicago/Results?subsection=oid%3A122

When I have a definite address or intersection to check, I run it through Chicago Crime:

http://www.chicagocrime.org/

Chicago Crime is an amazing site that breaks down all the demographics for you about local crime, classified by time, date, and type (violent, non-violent, property crime, theft, etc) in a similar google maps mashup. It's a clean no-nonsense page that helped me steer clear of a few places I might not have had the better sense to not take, had I checked the places out in person. It's a helpful filter.

Unfortunately, it does not list crimes against fashion or taste. This is how I wound up in Wicker Park.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the guys who made Chicago Crime made Every Block which aggregates all the local news for a zip code, all sales, crimes, posts, things for sale, etc. It's pretty impressive, and I have no idea how they make money.

I used to check:

http://www.tastypopsicle.com/maps/cta.asp for a map of El stops, so I could figure out whether or not places really were "steps from the El." Now that google maps has their own trip planner and station locations, it's really only helpful for being distinctly marked.

My take on Edgewater, Uptown, and Ravenswood:

These are inconvenient locations if you need quick access to downtown. They are all decent places to live, despite what you might here, but it's nothing that fact-checking and seeing the neighborhood for yourself wouldn't catch. If you aren't around to find places, Chicago Apartment Finders offers a local service where you can arrange a pickup and a whirlwind tour of apartments, if you're around for a limited amount of time. They have a few private listings, but I remember going in and basically being shown craigslist-- it's free so you get what you pay for. I've had some friends who have had good experiences with them, so your mileage may vary (well, free for you-- landlords pay their finders fee.) So before this turns into another ad spot too, Edgewater is host to a ton of communities, and has the best cheap (price not quality) Indian food in the city, and were it not for the stupid distance between there and downtown, I would probably still live there.

Either way, good luck. Summer is when everyone moves here, so reserve a truck early and move yourself.

[thorough]

^she and i already moved to edgewater but thanks for the crime links. that stuff is always interesting. it is a bit far from downtown but the express bus can get us thier in under a half hour and when the red line is running at full speed we can get thier in a half hour. the commute does suck sometimes expecially when you were used to a 10 minute drive to work. to us right now our apt is so cheap that its worth it.

[Leeacto]

A little thread revival

I'm flying into Chicago next Friday to pick out an apartment. The stuff on here so far has been really helpful. I was wondering what Irving Park was like. I'm probably going to look for a spot in Logan Square, but I want to have backup ideas if there aren't any good apartments open.

Also, what is generally cost of public transit? Can you buy passes that work for months at a time?

Thanks

[B-15C]

A monthly pass is $75 for the CTA. Rides are $2.00. :: CTA Fares

The people I know who work in Wicker Park live in Logan Square. Logan Square is a little like the old Wicker Park still, where it's gentrified but there's still some patches of actual human beings still hanging around. It's affordable, comparatively.

The fallback from Logan Square I hear most often is Ravenswood, which is inconvenient by mass transit, but still in the area. Good luck.

Edit: Almost missed the point.

My new favorite link:: Irving Park Demographics

It's not awful, but it's neither convenient nor safe. Irving Park is the division line between the semi-awful and the awful, but it's got a lot of flavor. When I lived next to Irving Park, I remember it as a line of demarcation for 'unsafe' Northside neighborhoods, which seem to become safe again around or just after Bryn Mawr.

Verdict: I'd pass, but look just to make sure. It's easy to see a few places in a day.

[Lab]

I live on Michigan when I'm over there. I hear Wicker Park's not bad, but I don't like it.

meh.

[B-15C]

I live on Michigan when I'm over there. I hear Wicker Park's not bad, but I don't like it.

meh.

Michigan's a long street, but I'm guessing inside some place that looks like a castle.

Sufu is still 10% rich kids who dress like they're poor and 90% poor kids dressing like they're rich.

[pete mcstunna]

signed the lease for a studio right off the MORSE red line stop. living in rogers park has always appealed to me. spent some time cruising the neighborhood and decided to stop at a cozy little spot called taste of peru. the paella there is probably the best i've ever had.

[Lab]

Michigan's a long street, but I'm guessing inside some place that looks like a castle.

Sufu is still 10% rich kids who dress like they're poor and 90% poor kids dressing like they're rich.

wtf castle

what kind of injun lives in castle

it ain't even my joint. it's just where I b livin' at when I'm there.

[B-15C]

signed the lease for a studio right off the MORSE red line stop. living in rogers park has always appealed to me. spent some time cruising the neighborhood and decided to stop at a cozy little spot called taste of peru. the paella there is probably the best i've ever had.

That's a bit of a trip. Taste of Peru is one of three joints in RP I see a ton of people who come in from the suburbs to eat-- the others being Hema's Kitchen, Viet Bistro, the latter of which I still fail to see the appeal. The lounge area in VB looks cool, but the food ruins it for me. I love Vietnamese food, but their food and service was terrible the last two times I was there. This is also where I heard my two favorite restaurant conversations ever:

On my left: "I lived in Japan for three months, but I ate Subway sandwiches the whole time I was there."

On my right: "Do you remember that guy who was stalking me? He sure was a creep after I let him fuck me in the ass with his huge dick. Several times."

If you're in it for the food, you're still only a short walk from Devon.

wtf castle

what kind of injun lives in castle

it ain't even my joint. it's just where I b livin' at when I'm there.

Get it together, Grouch.

[Guest umhaha84]

Jackson and Michigan,,,

building's called metropolitan tower, I have architecture tourists looking at my building from across the street...I wave and they wave back...

Hema's Kitchen,

their garlic naan is beast.

[avatar]

51st and lake shore.

[readytoignite]

^^ regents park?

kenwood has some nice houses but i'd never live in that area again

[twistedtrees]

Roscoe Village is a cool little spot. We looked at a 2bdrm place that was $1200/month right near the corner of Wolcott and Roscoe. Ended up passing on it, but Damen and Roscoe was a cool little corner.

BTW, I've only been to the Hema's Kitchen on Clark. Is the other one pretty good? Or are there more than 2?

[Lab]

Get it together, Grouch.

neg repped.

[B-15C]

neg repped.

Eh, it's a Dave Chapelle bit about

. In defense of my ego.

BTW, I've only been to the Hema's Kitchen on Clark. Is the other one pretty good? Or are there more than 2?

There are just the two, but the one in Rogers Park is the original location. It's a little cheaper than the Clark one, but it's also the one that has to deal directly with competition from other Indian and Pakistani joints in the neighborhood. It has a weird little Galapagos effect for the folks who come in from the suburbs-- they walk right by clean and fancy looking joints right to it, probably sniffing out the homely authenticity. Unfortunately, this stops them from being the only white people around.

Or because it's really fucking good.

[monochrome]

51st and lake shore.

53rd and woodlawn. Are you a u of c student?

[Leeacto]

just went last wk to pick out a spot. founda place in wicker pk for 700. should be decent

[persephone]

wp is alright; a little busy and overratted imo but, some really cute places over there. Plus lots of bars/ restaurants + my fave store called gamma player is over there

[avatar]

53rd and woodlawn. Are you a u of c student?

i just graduated.

[Leeacto]

Kinda off topic, but

what shoes would you suggest wearing while walking around in the winter? I have my dress shoes for work, but it'd be stupid to wear those and get them all shitty in the street first.

boots maybe? redwings?

[Guest suckdick]

fuck chicago sucks

worst city ever