moving to chicago (Oak Park, Addison, Lincoln: real estate, 2014, apartments)

[dpowers113]

my girlfriend and i are moving to chicago in october. we are considering some neighborhoods and would love some feedback. we want to find a 2 bedroom to rent until we buy. these are the neighborhoods we are looking at:

humbolt park, garfield park, logan square, bucktown, wicker park, ravenswood, albany park, edgewater, uptown, irving park or out of the city in oak park. we'd love some feedback on these neighborhoods. we want an interesting neighborhood with diversity, but still relatively safe. we will both probably be working downtown. probably can't spend much more than $1500. thanks for the feedback

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

You can live easily in any of those neighborhood for under 1500. I'd recommend Craigslist for the apartment, though people I know swear by services like Apartment People. CL is more direct.

Humboldt Park, Garfield Park, and Logan Square are all nice in spots and dodgy in spots. It's a crapshoot, and might not be the best bet for a first apartment.

Wicker Park and Bucktown are 'hip'... though they aren't what they used to be. Less dingy, sure. Kinda poseur-ish now, though.

Edgewater and Albany Park are super-diverse, but it depends on what you are looking for in a neighborhood. Albany Park is a little more spread out and residential. Edgewater has lots of high rises, ethnic restaurants, and a college (Loyola).

I like Lincoln Square and Roscoe Village because they are clean and safe and I can walk to restaurants, bars, theatres and more, but are safer and less traffic-ridden than Lakeview or Lincoln Park. (Yeah, people will tell you these places are safe, but most everyone I know who's been mugged has been mugged in those neighborhoods. Muggers can take trains, too. High rents don't equal safe hoods.)

Another neighborhood you might like is Andersonville. Uptown's good in spots, too.

Oak Park is charming, but a little remote imho. Irving Park is like Albany Park, but less interesting and with worse access to trains. Farther east along Irving Park Road is North Center, which is kinda part of Ravenswood.

Like the rest of Ravenswood, it's pretty good all-around. Bars, restaurants and shops of its own, plus access to Lincoln Park, Andersonville, and Uptown.

Hope this helps. Feel free to pass along additional questions.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by dpowers113

we want to find a 2 bedroom to rent until we buy. these are the neighborhoods we are looking at:

humbolt park

Stay east of California. It goes south very quickly west of there. Even east of there it's somewhat sketchy (or QUITE sketchy, depending on how accustomed you are to urban living);

garfield park

Stay away. This place is owned by gangs and drug dealers. Murder is a fact of life in this neighborhood. You'll hear a lot of talk about how Garfield Park (or more accurately, East Garflield Park) is "up and coming." It's certainly not "up," nor is there much indication that it's "coming" beyond some real estate speculation and marketing hype.

logan square

There's an "official" definition of Logan Square and a colloquial definition of Logan Square. Most people consider "Logan Square" to be the portion about two blocks on either side along Logan Boulevard. That portion is pretty nice. Much of the rest of the "official" Logan Square is pretty trashy and run-down; I would not recommend living any further west than Kedzie and any further north than Diversey.

bucktown

This is the exception to the above. Bucktown is part of the "official" Logan Square neighborhood. It's one of the most sought-after neighborhoods in the city. It's fairly eclectic, fairly diverse (white/Hispanic split anyway, not a lot of blacks or "other"), pretty safe by urban standards, lots of yuppies, quite a few bohemians/emos/indie-rockers (though they are getting steadily priced out of the neighborhood), great bars, great restaurants, great boutique shopping, plus a good dose of "old-school" Chicago vibe (read: modest mom-and-pop shops) along the Milwaukee Avenue Corridor.

wicker park

See above. Bucktown and Wicker Park are neighboring areas -- Bucktown to the north and Wicker Park to the south. The differences are inconsequential; if you're not familiar with neighborhood boundaries, you won't know where one stops and the other starts. Wicker Park has perhaps a slightly higher indie/bohemian-to-yuppie ratio than Bucktown, but they both have the same overall vibe.

ravenswood

Quite a bit of variation within Ravenswood. It includes rather expensive (starting at 500K and running easily into the 1MM range) single-family homes on double lots in family-oriented places, plus more down-scale multi-unit apartment areas with a higher concentration of immigrants. It has one "hip" area in the center known as Lincoln Square. This used to be an old German neighborhood and you will still see a lot of German elements mixed into the new "hip" elements.

albany park

Not a lot going on in Albany Park. If you're looking for relative peace and quiet while still being in an urban setting, this is your place. Because it's not a "hip" or high-demand area, you can typically get lower rents in Albany Park. Another draw is that the CTA Brown Line goes to the heart of Albany Park and can quickly whisk you to more vibrant nightlife areas like Lincoln Square, Lincoln Park, West Lakeview, Wrigleyville, et cetera.

edgewater

Same deal as Albany Park -- for the most part, not much going on there; only this time it's the Red Line that can whisk you to other nightlife areas instead of the Brown Line. The exception would be the southwest corner, where you'll find a sub-neighborhood known as Andersonville. It is one of the most "hip" neighborhoods in the city. It's a more upscale and mature nightlife area than many of the other hotspots like Lincoln Park and Lakeview. Andersonville draws a slightly older and far more mellow crowd. It's also a renowned gay/lesbian neighborhood.

uptown

See my post here for my take on Uptown.

irving park

Another place that is relatively safe, relatively quiet, and more residential/family-oriented than dining/entertainment/nightlife-oriented. Again, this makes rents cheaper, and quick access to more vibrant nightlife areas is provided by the Blue Line train and the Addison and Irving Park bus lines.

oak park.

Mostly a very nice area with a very walkable downtown shopping/dining/bar area. A bit on the upscale side of things; draws more of a quiet late-30s to mid-40s crowd. Possible downside is that it borders a particularly rough neighborhood in Chicago called Austin. Most of Oak Park is just fine, even the part near Austin, but you might do well to live at least three blocks west of Austin Boulevard to keep a buffer between you and the bad parts of Austin.

Finally, $1500/mo should get you, at a minimum, a very comfortable 2-bedroom apartment in all of these neighborhoods, and even a 3-bedroom in some of them.

[dpowers113]

thanks for the great feedback. is $1250-1300 enough to get a nice 2 bedroom place in these parts of town?

[maluibon]

hi , i have 4 kids and will be moving to chicago early next year, im from uk. i will be working in harvey but heard that the place is not an ideal "family " place to settle. we are thinking of renting a house initially. any suggestions of a safe neighborhood for foreigners like me??and if i may ask , what is the average hourly rate for a worker in harvey? thanks for the info.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by dpowers113

thanks for the great feedback. is $1250-1300 enough to get a nice 2 bedroom place in these parts of town?

Most parts, yes; including the ones discussed above.

[Magdeleine]

Originally Posted by dpowers113

thanks for the great feedback. is $1250-1300 enough to get a nice 2 bedroom place in these parts of town?

Good lord, yes. I had a huge 2-bedroom in Ravenswood for $995.

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this yet, but besides Craigslist (which is, of course, awesome), check out HousingMaps.com which cross-references Craigslist apartments with Google Maps (invaluable for making sure you're near the El). Highly recommended; it's how I stumbled over my latest apartment.

[dpowers113]

is el transportation better from albany park, irving park, or lincoln square? thanks

[jessiegirl_98]

You can even get 2 bedrooms for that price in Lakeview, Roscoe Village, and Lincoln Park, which are very fun places. Also check out Wrigleyville. Just a hint, I would also search for coachhouses. They are a great find in chicago, there are a lot in my old neighborhood (west lakeview) and I rented a 3 bedroom one recently for $1500!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by dpowers113

is el transportation better from albany park, irving park, or lincoln square? thanks

I suppose it depends on what your most common destination(s) will be. If it's downtown, Irving Park is best because the Blue Line is a straight, diagonal shot to downtown with fewer stops. Lincoln Square and Albany Park are served by the Brown Line, which makes a series of 90-degree turns as it snakes its way to downtown, with more stops along the way. If you're looking for access to more dining/entertainment/nightlife areas, then living near the Brown Line (Albany Park, Lincoln Square) would be better as it serves more such areas, either in its own right or by direct transfer from the Brown Line to the Red Line.