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Old 06-16-2011, 02:53 PM
 
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I'm a 40 year old straight male moving to Chicago in 1 month. My office is downtown and I'll be traveling a lot so I need to be able to get to O'Hare easily. I'm looking for an upscale, but not a snobby/pretentious area. Hopefully in not too crowded an area but still within a walkable neighborhood to shops. Looking to spend $1000-$1400 for a big studio or 1 bedroom. Last weekend I visited Lincoln Park which was fun, but way too young a crowd for me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Old 06-16-2011, 03:32 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
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^Old Town is close to LP, but an older, quieter crowd all around. West Lakeview is also a very nice area with a slightly older crowd than Lincoln Park and Lakeview, but I'm not sure I'd really call it upscale.
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Old 06-16-2011, 03:34 PM
 
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Old Town / River North/Gold Coast / Illinois Center-Millennium Park-Streetville are older crowd than Lincoln Park, but you might be disappointed at what your budget will afford AND I suspect you would HATE the late night commute coming back fromm O'Hare.

You might do better in Edison Park, but if you are out that far you might also check out Park Ridge and DesPlaines -- though you might have limited number of shops that are walkable...
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Old 06-16-2011, 03:48 PM
 
Location: Jefferson Park Chicago, IL
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Commuting downtown and to Ohare, your best bet is to be close to the blue line. I'd focus on Bucktown around the Western blueline stop or Wicker Park around the Damen stop.
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Old 06-16-2011, 03:51 PM
 
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Move to Hyde Park and fly out of Midway. The area is accessible to the downtown and only a half hour from the airport, which you can get to by train, bus or private car. No rush hour jams, either.
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Old 06-16-2011, 04:04 PM
 
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The west loop might work well if you find a place close to the blueline (for ohare anyway).

Average age is a bit higher than the north side and there are a lot of great loft type units for good prices. It's walkable but not congested, you'll be very close to downtown etc.

If your traveling on the company dime and expensing cabs to O'hare, any of the areas mentioned above could work as well, but your money won't go quite as far.
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Old 06-16-2011, 04:27 PM
 
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Thanks everyone for the quick suggestions.... A couple people mentioned Wicker Park... I've worked in the music industry my entire life, so I wouldn't mind being in the area that's "hip" or "trendy"... Don't need it to be stuffy upscale... more concerned about it being safe... the way i look at it in Los Angeles (where I live now) is if there's a whole foods in the neighborhood, it's usually a nice neighborhood... sounds strange, but it's true. Any thoughts on Wicker Park?
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Old 06-16-2011, 06:13 PM
 
Location: Chicago
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EddyT View Post
Thanks everyone for the quick suggestions.... A couple people mentioned Wicker Park... I've worked in the music industry my entire life, so I wouldn't mind being in the area that's "hip" or "trendy"... Don't need it to be stuffy upscale... more concerned about it being safe... the way i look at it in Los Angeles (where I live now) is if there's a whole foods in the neighborhood, it's usually a nice neighborhood... sounds strange, but it's true. Any thoughts on Wicker Park?
They don't have a Whole Foods though.
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Old 06-16-2011, 06:23 PM
 
Location: Jefferson Park Chicago, IL
537 posts, read 1,034,508 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EddyT View Post
Thanks everyone for the quick suggestions.... A couple people mentioned Wicker Park... I've worked in the music industry my entire life, so I wouldn't mind being in the area that's "hip" or "trendy"... Don't need it to be stuffy upscale... more concerned about it being safe... the way i look at it in Los Angeles (where I live now) is if there's a whole foods in the neighborhood, it's usually a nice neighborhood... sounds strange, but it's true. Any thoughts on Wicker Park?
The closest Whole Foods is the one in Lincoln Park, basically North and Sheffield. This is a few blocks from the eastern edge of Wicker Park. Wicker Park is safe, I'd have no problems living there.

Wicker Park, West Town | Chicago Neighborhoods | Explore Chicago
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Old 06-16-2011, 06:48 PM
 
10 posts, read 30,527 times
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I'm not necessarily looking to live in a neighborhood that has a Whole Foods, I was just using Whole Foods as an example of how you could tell the nicer neighborhoods in Los Angeles -
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