Moving to Chicago in January 2012, working in North field. Looking for best neighbourhood (criteria inside) (Evanston: rental, crimes)

[BC86]

Hey All,

Thanks for any help upfront.

I'm moving to Chicago with my wife in January. We'll both be working in Northfield, IL. We're relatively young (25).

We're looking for advice on the best places where we can live. Our criteria, in order of importance, are:

1. Safety
2. Being in the Chicago city-proper
3. Minimizing daily commute
4. Walk able grocery stores, cafes
5. Close to culture/nightlife. We're not big drinkers so leaning on the side of good restaurants, music, theater vs. bars, bars, and bars.

Let's ignore budget for now

Also - if I have to bite the bullet and live in the burbs, are there any suggestions considering again we're 25 and not having kids anytime soon?

Much appreciated folks.

[chet everett]

Northfield is about 12-15 miles up the Edens from Chicago. You should have no problem driving that in under 30 minutes from someplace like St. Ben's or Ravenswood Gardens -- those tend be quieter more "family oriented" parts of Chicago, but that tends to apply to lots of northside neighborhoods that are bigger on diners that dive bars...

Safety is pretty much a non-issue in those areas other than the sort of property crimes like garage break-ins and such.

Not exactly sure what sort of "cafe" you might be looking for but if you head to the core of Lincoln Park and places like Andersonville will lengthen your daily commute and probably drive up rental costs significantly. Walkable grocery stores are sort of a trade off too -- even if you can load up a granny cart and head to Jewel it probably is a lot nicer to drive to Costco once a week when the weather is bad.

Up in Lincoln Square the Old Town School of Folk Music has some nice options for music and such, again a quick drive, but longer overall commute if you wanna walk there once you negotiate city streets from Northfield...

If I was 25 and not planning to have kids anytime soon I can't thing of any good reason to prefer a suburb over Chicago unless I wanted a better deal on a small house to rent / buy, but that is more of a financial decision than social / cultural...

[Vlajos]

Chet has good ideas on this one.

[cubssoxfan]

Understand desire to live in City. However, Evanston is a decent suburb for walkable shopping and entertainment. It also puts you closer to work and if location is chosen properly puts you close to the L for trips into the city for fun.

[Attrill]

Evanston and far North neighborhoods of the city are definitely worth checking out. You should also check out neighborhoods on the NW side that would give you easy access to the Blue line (i.e. Jefferson Park or Montrose) and a short drive to the Edens. The Blue Line can get you to Wicker Park, Logan Square, and downtown fairly quickly, and while the commute from that area won't be quick it will be comparable to any places on the Red or Brown lines.

[chet everett]

I would hesitate to live west of the Edens if I wanted the simplest commute -- while one can hop off the Edens before the junction and navigate surface streets I doubt someone new to the region would appreciate doing so when they move here is January. The potential for nightmarish traffic delays snarling surface streets with snowfall would keep me close to an expressway route to work...

Similarly the various routes from the Edens through to Evanston would not be nearly as easy as just sticking with the OP,s desire to live INSIDE Chicago itself for access to all CTA modes of intra-Chicago transportation.

Not saying there is no charm in living in Evanston, just given the OP seems to have their heart set on have a 606xx address and already is consigned to working in Northfield I am not going to tell 'em that life for this mid-20s, no kids on the horizon , living the "cafe" lifestyle is easier anywhere that the north side areas with good access to the Edens...

[Cuito]

Originally Posted by BC86

Hey All,

Thanks for any help upfront.

I'm moving to Chicago with my wife in January. We'll both be working in Northfield, IL. We're relatively young (25).

We're looking for advice on the best places where we can live. Our criteria, in order of importance, are:

1. Safety
2. Being in the Chicago city-proper
3. Minimizing daily commute
4. Walk able grocery stores, cafes
5. Close to culture/nightlife. We're not big drinkers so leaning on the side of good restaurants, music, theater vs. bars, bars, and bars.

Let's ignore budget for now

Also - if I have to bite the bullet and live in the burbs, are there any suggestions considering again we're 25 and not having kids anytime soon?

Much appreciated folks.

Nos. 4 and 5 are the hardest criteria to satisfy.

The area along I-94, then S on I-90/94 presents a number of good alternatives. The area around the junction of I-90/94 & Irving Park Rd is semi-walkable with some good restaurants. You also have access to Metra and the El here, so the whole city can be yours.

If culture is rather important, you could go farther south and move to around Logan Sq. The commute would, of course, be a bit more difficult.

[jsk1983]

Originally Posted by Cuito

Nos. 4 and 5 are the hardest criteria to satisfy.

The area along I-94, then S on I-90/94 presents a number of good alternatives. The area around the junction of I-90/94 & Irving Park Rd is semi-walkable with some good restaurants. You also have access to Metra and the El here, so the whole city can be yours.

If culture is rather important, you could go farther south and move to around Logan Sq. The commute would, of course, be a bit more difficult.

I'd take Evanston over Irving Park any day. I suppose there's things to walk to around Irving Park but its a bit scattered. Much more going on in downtown Evanston and its all concentrated in a relatively small area.

[BC86]

Thanks for the input all, really appreciate the insight.

I'll check out both Evanston and the northern neighborhoods of Chicago. Definitely looks like I'll have to make a compromise between fun and practicality (traffic infuriates me), but no worries I'll be here many years to explore the city.

Cheers and thanks again!

[Cuito]

Originally Posted by jsk1983

I'd take Evanston over Irving Park any day. I suppose there's things to walk to around Irving Park but its a bit scattered. Much more going on in downtown Evanston and its all concentrated in a relatively small area.

In terms of criteria 4 & 5, certainly. But nos. 2 & 3 are better met by Irving Park.