Chicago Neighborhood advice (Evanston, Irving, Erie: apartment, crime, neighborhoods)

[gmkellogg]

Hello, first off let me apologize if these questions have been asked before. I've tried searching but haven't found much. I am moving to Chicago in January and in the process of apartment searching. I've accepted a position working downtown so public transportation will be important to me.

Does anyone have information on these neighborhoods? I'm looking for distance to public transportation and safety, safety being a higher priority. Night life isn't too important to me, but distance to stores, etc would be nice.

W ARMITAGE AVE and N. Albany (east of Kedzie)

N MILWAUKEE AVE (Between Montrose and Irving Park Rd)

N WESTERN AVE (by Fullerton)

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[chitown85]

By downtown, do you mean the Near North Side (actual downtown like Michigan Ave, Streeterville, River North) or do you mean the Loop (business district). That's how we know the out of towners haha. They don't distinguish between the two.

But anyway: There are shopping centers and grocery stores all over Chicago. The nice thing about Chicago is the convenience to everything. We have big grocery stores in the city and some big box stores like Target have locations in the city.

W ARMITAGE AVE and N. Albany:

In between Logan Square and Humboldt Park. A bit far from the Blue line L stop at California & Milwaukee. That area itself is a little bit rouger than what you might be used to. But that is relative depending on where you are coming from. It is not a bad neighborhood and not gang infested, but you need to be extra careful.

N MILWAUKEE AVE (Between Montrose and Irving Park Rd): Near Portage Park. Generally a nice area. Far from nightlife, but you indicated that wasn't a huge factor. Near Blue Line L stop at Montrose and the Mayfair METRA (suburban commuter rail) stop that goes into the Loop.

Western & Fullerton: The best area of the 3. Near the Bucktown neighborhood, plenty to see and do. Closest to downtown. It is a bit of a walk to the Blue Line L stop, but someone might be able to chime in on the express buses to the Loop from there.

Chicago has the CTA and METRA. CTA runs the "L". All of your choices are on the Blue Line that runs right into the Loop. The METRA is the suburban commuter rail with stops in outlying city neighborhoods. The benefit of living in the Portage Park location on Montrose is the Mayfair METRA stop that takes you right into the west Loop at Union Station.

If you are commuting to downtown as opposed to the Loop, buses are a better choice, but I am not as familiar with the buses.

Options 2 and 3 are safe. Neighborhood 1 might be a little bit rough for you, though in comparison to some neighborhoods on the west and south sides, it is relatively calm.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by gmkellogg

W ARMITAGE AVE and N. Albany (east of Kedzie)

There is quite a bit of gang activity around there still. It is not the worst, but I would not venture too far south or west of there. The Armitage bus sucks with a capitol S. If you can do the 6 block walk each way to the Blue Line everday then the bus will not be an issue.

[gmkellogg]

Thanks for the advice! Downtown as in Erie and Fairbanks (roughly). I was also looking at Evanston, which looks like a nice area.

I'm from Detroit, so some crime I'm used to. Definitely not into gangs though.

[chet everett]

...you really want o spend a lot of tome commuting and quote of money too.

If I you had kids maybe the school hassles might warrant looking to the suburbs.

Northside neighborhoods would make for eaiwest commutes.

If you want area with perhaps more minority mix you moth look t9 South Loop...

[gmkellogg]

How is Rogers park? Like Howard and Chicago ave or Newgard and Pratt?

[nana053]

Unless it has changed a lot, the area around Howard and Chicago Ave seems to have quite a bit of crime. There used to be a lot of illegal drug busts there.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by gmkellogg

Thanks for the advice! Downtown as in Erie and Fairbanks (roughly). I was also looking at Evanston, which looks like a nice area.

I'm from Detroit, so some crime I'm used to. Definitely not into gangs though.

I actually don't think you would be crazy to consider Evanston. I lived in Evanston for 3 years when I first graduated college and started working in the loop. The downtown Evanston area is very cute (defined by me as being between Dempster to the south, Noyes to the north, Asbury to the west and the lake to the east; not an official definition by any means). There were tons of restaurants I could walk to and it felt very safe for a single person. I lived near the Davis street Metra and Purple line stops. That's one of the things I liked a lot about Evanston, the ability to use both the CTA and Metra, depending on what I was doing.

Given where you say you'll be working, I think you could live in Evanston and get to work easily by taking the Purple line to Fullerton and taking the red line to Chicago. During the nicer months or if you were in the mood for a longer walk you could stay on the purple line until the Chicago stop, which would put you a few blocks farther west. Either way, not a bad commute.

Another option is to look more at the north side neighborhoods that are on the red line, since that is probably the easiest way for you to commute.

Of the addresses you mentioned, my personal vote would be for Western and Fullerton. It's not far from the blue line, but given where your office is, the blue line isn't the ideal way to get to work. You'd probably be better off taking a couple buses. But, you could take the Western bus south to the Western Blue line stop, take the blue line to Grand, and take the 33 bus east and you'd get there... in theory that would take 37 minutes, so it would get you there in 45 in reality, I think.

[gmkellogg]

Hello me again...

Wondering if anyone had an opinion on Devon ave and Clark area? I think it's listed as edgewater.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by gmkellogg

Hello me again...

Wondering if anyone had an opinion on Devon ave and Clark area? I think it's listed as edgewater.

Devon is the border between Edgewater and Rogers Park.