Chicago living areas

S

SephirothCat

Veteran X
Hi Guys, looking to move to Chicago for work, but not sure where i should be looking to live.

Curious if anyone here lives in Chicago or actually has been there enough times to know what are safe/good areas to live in.

Thanks in advance,
 
Do you need to live downtown or are you thinking suburbs? Lots of good options in the 'burbs and if you're by the Metra you barely need a car.
 
130 a month Barrington to Downtown on Metra

That's cheap money. Fuck traffic if you're working downtown. I drove my Tahoe downtown to work for the first quarter of the year, and the gas and parking is just fucking ridiculous after you add it up. Train it up.
 
Dude, do you have to live in Chicago?.

That's your first question.

If the answer is Yes...
God Willlng.

Don't bother with an umbrella.

Hee hee.
 
Well i will definitely be working in downtown. So i think if there is a good metro system there being close to the metro would be awesome. then like you guys mentioned i would hardly need a car.

Since i am moving back to the states from overseas, i wouldn't have a car to begin with so having good access to the metro would be great.

Is the metro system decent in Chicago?
 
Bucktown and the metro system is fantastic. At least compared to Shittsburgh, PA. I'm going to be there from the 2nd-6th of July and I can't wait!
 
bigmannie said:
130 a month Barrington to Downtown on Metra

That's cheap money. Fuck traffic if you're working downtown. I drove my Tahoe downtown to work for the first quarter of the year, and the gas and parking is just fucking ridiculous after you add it up. Train it up.
Click to expand...

yea i can imagine parking and just having a car now a days is just totally fucked.
 
What are you looking to spend?
What ammenities are most important to you?

Most burgeoning young professionals are in the Southloop or LoganSquare neighborhoods.
 
TrojanMan421 said:
What are you looking to spend?
What ammenities are most important to you?

Most burgeoning young professionals are in the Southloop or LoganSquare neighborhoods.
Click to expand...
really? i would've figured lincoln park/ wrigleyville

i think i'm gonna move down to the wicker park / bucktown area before i start work
 
ayz said:
Google Maps
Click to expand...

googlemapschicagogf7.jpg


It's been removed.
 
I live way, way out in the western suburbs and take the Metra train downtown into work. Costs about $150 a month, but my work is 2 blocks from the train station.

The commute sucks sometimes (over an hour), but it's a good time to catch up on games and movies and sleep and reading and sleep.

My neighborhood is awesome. It's got fewer homes on bigger pieces of land, everyone knows everyone, and it kind of has that "stuck in the 1950's" feeling to it. Great for kids, but if you're single, you'd hate it.
 
Whistler said:
really? i would've figured lincoln park/ wrigleyville

i think i'm gonna move down to the wicker park / bucktown area before i start work
Click to expand...

Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville/Lakeview are both great areas, but can get quite expensive. Actually living in Wrigleyville is also probably not the greatest idea unless you enjoy listening to screaming Cubs fans all night long... I live in the Southport Corridor about eight blocks from Wrigley, and I like it a lot better.
 
my gf is in palatine and I hate the burbs. there's nothing to them. We're moving to Lakeview/wrigleyville/lincoln park in december.
 
I live in Roscoe Village - about a mile west of Wrigley. General guidance:

If you are 22-25, live in Lincoln Park or Wrigelyville. This is generally the jeans / tshirt / hat crowd at the bars. Very rowdy, lots of drunk hookups. Great time for that age. You can probably rent from anywhere from $700 w/ roommates to $1100 - $1300 for your own 1bd apt. Getting roommates from Craigslist is actually fun - I did that when I moved here. Great way to meet a ton of new people, even though most of my friends were already here. Take the redline straight downtown to the loop.

If you are 25-29, live in West Loop, River North, or if you are a little Edgy / Emo, Wicker Park is cool. These places tend to be more clubby / loungy. Smaller
places, more expensive, dress codes, yuppie crowds. You can buy 1bd condos for about $300K, or rent a nice place for around $1700 - $1900. Either take the blue or green line straight down to the loop depending on where you pick, execpt for River north, you can pretty much walk to the loop.


If you are 30+ live in Roscoe Village, Bucktown. More family oriented - young married couples, little kids. Tons of restaraunts, small neighborhood pubs, and a handful of everything from the above neighborhoods as well. Condos tend to be only in 3 flats, 2 and 3 bds, anywhere from $400K - $800K. A bunch of single family homes as well, these typically run anywhere from $800K - $1.3M. Take the bus west to pickup the El - either Red or Brown line down into the loop.

South loop is overbuilt and is basically a big concrete jungle. All the green space is on the north side, mostly in and around lincoln park and the neighborhoods west of Wrigley, or close to the lake. 1BD condos can be had for like $260K - $280K. 2BD for around $350K - $400K. There are some townhomes in Museum Park that are about $800K.

All of these places have easy access to the busses / El. If you are planning to buy a car, keep in mind parking will be about $200/mo. Insurance is high in the city - mine was $200/mo on an 06 Grand Cherokee and my driving record was perfect. Add to that gas - maybe $400/mo with prices the way they are now, and maybe a $600 payment, it adds up.
 
Last edited:
Also, now is an awesome time to buy in Chicago. The real estate prices have been relatively unaffected here, but the inventory of properties for sale is very high so the spread between asking price and selling price is getting wider.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top