God knows how long this has been on my list of places to visit, but I am finally going this weekend and — as I found out recently — will likely be moving to the Windy City in the near future. Hence this weekend’s visit. So if anyone has any suggestions about where to hunt for housing when I will be working downtown, I invite your ideas!
over 3 years ago
unsinkablemollybrown
Chicago
Hi there! Did you move to Chicago yet? There are a lot of cool neighborhoods with their own personalities. If you still need advice, just send me a message and I would be happy to give you my two cents. :)
FlyGirl
Houston
I haven’t moved yet. It is still up in the air. But I would love some advice. I looked around Taylor Street and a lot of different places while I was there. One friend suggested I look for a place along the blue line, since that is the line that seems to go the places I will most habitually go. How would you go about finding a cool place to live there?
Thank you for offering!
unsinkablemollybrown
Chicago
When I was deciding where to live, the top things I considered (in no particular order) were:
1) commute to work
2) access to public transportation
2) neighborhood personality
3) safety
If I were you, I would try to find a sublet so that I wouldn’t be stuck in a place for a whole year. You can try out a neighborhood and see if it works for you. As time goes on you will get know what’s out there through all the people you meet plus doing a little exploring on your own.
I ended up in the Old Town neighborhood where I found an affordable place among the really expensive homes. It’s safe, close to the highways (55 and 94), plus I have access to the bus and trains. My commute to work takes no more than 15 minutes. I found it on Craigslist, but then again, I am familiar with this area.
I used to live near Taylor street which is also a fun area. I also like Bucktown/Wicker Park.
It’s hard to look for an apartment while you are out of town. There are a lot of For Rent signs up right now because many leases are up on 9/30. Walking around on a Saturday morning might work, but perhaps you should go with a service like The Apartment People. I’ve heard that they can be pretty good.
Hope that helps… Good luck!!!
danimatian
64 places
living in The Chi, you need to balance rent cost with safety, like any big city.
When I first moved to Chicago I moved to my friends house in Humbolt Park. This area is ridiculous, people out all hours of the night (even the ice cream trucks will circle around at 2am, and there are a bunch of small kids still out that late)
Then I moved to a weird industrial zone, Kinzie Industrial Corridor, where I had a cool loft, just south of Ukrainian Village.
I would recommend most of West Town, Ukie Village, University Village, Wicker Park. Or farther north like Logan Square or go east to Lakeview or Uptown.
Don’t worry about being close to subways, just get a bike and make sure you’re near a 24 hour bus, that’s the most convenient way to get around.
