Housing in Chicago

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mossyfiber12

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I will be moving to Chicago in June. I know that I want to live in the city and that my price range would be 900-1300. What's the best way to go about apartment hunting with this in mind?
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mossyfiber12 said:
I will be moving to Chicago in June. I know that I want to live in the city and that my price range would be 900-1300. What's the best way to go about apartment hunting with this in mind?
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I'm actually in the same boat! I am moving to Chicago this June for my intern year, a city I have only visited once for the interview day (but obviously really loved), and am looking for an apartment in that range. I am using padmapper and a whole host of other websites, but I am having trouble figuring out where exactly are the safe neighborhoods or what types of areas are resident-friendly...
 
Craigslist is usually decent , but full of apartment hunter services which suck. If you're going to be around downtown look in the south loop, university village, and west loop in downtown for the cheaper rent. Gold coast, streeterville and river north are pricey. Of before mentioned, south loop Is probably nicest and most affordable.
 
Safe resident friendly neighborhoods:
South loop, west loop, river north, streeterville, gold coast, Lincoln park, lake view, university village.

Slightly less safe but nice enough and a bit cheaper:
Tri taylor/ little Italy, west town, river west, Andersonville.

A "nice" 1 bed with parking is doable for 1300-1600 a month depending on neighborhood, an "average" one probably 1000-1200. I live in river north and pay 1500 with parking for a newer loft.
 
karizma098 said:
Safe resident friendly neighborhoods:
South loop, west loop, river north, streeterville, gold coast, Lincoln park, lake view, university village.

Slightly less safe but nice enough and a bit cheaper:
Tri taylor/ little Italy, west town, river west, Andersonville.

A "nice" 1 bed with parking is doable for 1300-1600 a month depending on neighborhood, an "average" one probably 1000-1200. I live in river north and pay 1500 with parking for a newer loft.
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Thank you! Definitely a good place to start 🙂
 
I'm in the same boat too. I was thinking of going out in late April/May to look at a few places with an agent. I wanna see as many places as possible while I'm there and I think having an agent line up places will be more efficient.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I have been looking into south loop. Decent area, and cheaper than rest of the downtown. Although given a resident's salary, I don't see how I can afford ~$1500/month apartments!

btw...what do you guys think about wicker park? just from googling, seems like a lot of young people live there.
 
I'm having a hard time trying to find a studio/1-BR under $1000/month in a good neighborhood that is within 25-30 minute commute to U of C. South Loop is actually quite expensive. the cheapest studio I've found is $1200/mo for a very small, old studio, not including $200 for parking. Not that doable on a resident's salary. Plus, there are only very few rental options open in South Loop and West Loop, according to padmapper and Craigslist (including the apartment finder companies, which just keep reporting the same apartment for 5-10 listings, #annoying).
 
Check out the museum campus area, too... a little east of south loop, and south of Grant Park, over by McCormick Place. Good access to Lake Shore Drive (major N-S arterial with many of the university programs along it). Also access to the El station at Roosevelt & State.

It was overbuilt during the boom, so lots of places can potentially be had for a decent price.

Finally, talk with your new residency family... new interns = graduating seniors = potential "ins" with resident-affordable housing.

Welcome to my city!!!

-d

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
 
iwumd07 said:
I'm having a hard time trying to find a studio/1-BR under $1000/month in a good neighborhood that is within 25-30 minute commute to U of C. South Loop is actually quite expensive. the cheapest studio I've found is $1200/mo for a very small, old studio, not including $200 for parking. Not that doable on a resident's salary. Plus, there are only very few rental options open in South Loop and West Loop, according to padmapper and Craigslist (including the apartment finder companies, which just keep reporting the same apartment for 5-10 listings, #annoying).
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What's wrong w/ Hyde park?
 
mossyfiber12 said:
Thanks for the info guys. I have been looking into south loop. Decent area, and cheaper than rest of the downtown. Although given a resident's salary, I don't see how I can afford ~$1500/month apartments!

btw...what do you guys think about wicker park? just from googling, seems like a lot of young people live there.
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I'm personally looking in the Wicker Park/Bucktown area. I have friends who have lived in Chicago say it's a nice, younger area with a lot of great restaurants and bars, and it's also safe and more reasonably priced. Also, Ukranian Village is supposed to be pretty safe and a little cheaper than Wicker Park, but is more residential and has less stuff going on, which some people might prefer. I have just heard that if you do live in those areas, don't go too west close to Humboldt Park or Logan Square, or too far southeast close to Noble Square, since these areas are known to not be as safe.

Although I may not know what I'm talking about, never living in Chicago or anything. Maybe someone more familiar with the city can chime in and confirm or correct me on these assumptions. 🙂
 
neuronotes said:
I'm personally looking in the Wicker Park/Bucktown area. I have friends who have lived in Chicago say it's a nice, younger area with a lot of great restaurants and bars, and it's also safe and more reasonably priced. Also, Ukranian Village is supposed to be pretty safe and a little cheaper than Wicker Park, but is more residential and has less stuff going on, which some people might prefer. I have just heard that if you do live in those areas, don't go too west close to Humboldt Park or Logan Square, or too far southeast close to Noble Square, since these areas are known to not be as safe.

Although I may not know what I'm talking about, never living in Chicago or anything. Maybe someone more familiar with the city can chime in and confirm or correct me on these assumptions. 🙂
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Yeah I'm also looking in the Wicker Park area..nearly everyone I've asked said it's perfect for young professionals. Haven't had much luck looking through Craigslist for Wicker Park 1 bedroom apartments though. I swear there are more 2 bedroom apartments available than 1 bedrooms or larger studios ( as in at least 500 sqft)
 
arielred said:
Yeah I'm also looking in the Wicker Park area..nearly everyone I've asked said it's perfect for young professionals. Haven't had much luck looking through Craigslist for Wicker Park 1 bedroom apartments though. I swear there are more 2 bedroom apartments available than 1 bedrooms or larger studios ( as in at least 500 sqft)
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I'm having the same problem. I am looking at Wicker Park as well and everything seems to be 2 bedrooms!
 
arielred said:
Yeah I'm also looking in the Wicker Park area..nearly everyone I've asked said it's perfect for young professionals. Haven't had much luck looking through Craigslist for Wicker Park 1 bedroom apartments though. I swear there are more 2 bedroom apartments available than 1 bedrooms or larger studios ( as in at least 500 sqft)
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Yeah, there should be a lot more places opening up for June in the next couple months. I think March is too early to really look for openings. And try padmapper - you can actually specify it to look for only 1 bedrooms in certain areas, and it goes through several different apartment listing websites, including craigslist. I just got a place close to Wicker Park in Ukranian Village that I really like through that site. Good luck to everyone else!
 
I lived in Bucktown for several years. It was insanely awesome.
 
My friend has a 2 bdroom/ 2 bathroom furnished apt, nice hrdwood floors and one protected parking spot, with plenty on the street. One bdroom is relatively small. The master bdroom is bigger with an attached bathroom. Apt is around western & north. about $1400 and will be available towards end of june. Its not the nicest neighborhood by itself, but about a 0.5 mile from the north ave district.
 
I just moved out of the South Loop not too long ago.

Although I had a friend who was my landlord, I got to live to live in a brand-new, full service (doorman), high rise building with indoor heated parking on Michigan Avenue.

Discounted Rent= $1550 for 873 square ft 1 bed. (Market rate probably $1700-1750 with parking). All units have a balcony. Outdoor pool and deck. Dog run. Community Room. Fitness Room. AC/Heat/Basic Directv included. Just pay for ComEd ~ $20-40/month.

It was perfect for commuting the 1.8 miles to Streeterville, the VA, and CMH. Only downside, traffic during Bears games sucked and Columbus Avenue can get blocked off for special events like Taste of Chicago, Chicago Marathon, etc.

You might want to think about buying if you are going to do more than an intern year here. I probably should have. Mortgage estimate ~ $977.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1400-S-Michigan-Ave-APT-1307-Chicago-IL-60605/2128123394_zpid/

Rental listings:

http://yochicago.com/rental-options-at-michigan-avenue-tower-ii/19821/
 
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I'd really recommend living downtown, Gold coast, or West Loop. The commute from Lincoln Park can still take ~1 hr in the afternoon. It's ridiculous. The morning will take you about 15 minutes from LP.
 
Green Grass said:
I'd really recommend living downtown, Gold coast, or West Loop. The commute from Lincoln Park can still take ~1 hr in the afternoon. It's ridiculous. The morning will take you about 15 minutes from LP.
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I've heard downtown is kinda dead in the evenings though?
 
We can always just take the L for 10 mins to Lakeview or Lincoln Park if living in the west/south/loop area.
 
i'm interested in the modern high rise apartment complexes in the near south side/south loop area. does anyone have any experience with them? for example, amli 900, astoria towers, burnham pointe, the lex? i see a lot of negative reviews online, but it's probably a misrepresentation of reality. thanks for any input!
 
A lot of useful responses so far! I am actually going to be in Loyola. I was wondering if you guys have any idea about the actual commute time from Wicker Park or Bucktown (that's if I find an apartment here) to the hospital.

Google map says 20 minute ish but who knows...
 
I used to live in wicker park and work out in oak park (not quite as far as maywood) 1-2 days a week. Suffice it to say that it'll take you more than 20 minutes depending on where you live in wicker - and even more for bucktown.

By the time you get on the eisenhower and all the way out there you are looking at more like 35/40ish minutes without terrible traffic in the morning. A bad storm might set you back awhile too. Generally I think the traffic tends to clear up after harlem or so.
 
iwumd07 said:
I'm having a hard time trying to find a studio/1-BR under $1000/month in a good neighborhood that is within 25-30 minute commute to U of C..
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I lived WELL north of downtown (Ashland and Irving Park) and my commute to U of C was 25 minutes door-to-door. Granted, I was an anesthesia resident, so I was driving very early in the AM. My point is that you definitely don't need to live in the southloop, which is overpriced and largely lacks anything but highrises, to commute to U of C.
 
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