Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
nope, I meant exactly what I said. Do not be a troll and put words in my mouth, you don't know me. Frankly, the stores on the Mag Mile are nice and I've done my fair share of shopping there, but they aren't that special to be honest. most can be found anywhere in the country. I prefer smaller, more unique boutiques and vintage stores. Frankly, name 3 stores downtown that can't be found elsewhere?
"You don't know me!" Cute, in an adolescent struggling with self-identity sort of way. I didn't put words in your mouth, I simply paraphrased the words that were already there. Calling me a troll is hardly leading by example.
I'm not saying other parts of the city are crap. I'm just pointing out that downtown is not crap, either. The retail scene downtown is far more than just Michigan Ave. If you'd let down your smug guard, you might come to realize that.
Three stores downtown that can't be found elsewhere? Seriously?
Here's four. I threw in a vintage/resale shop as a bonus just for you. Ikram Lissa
Blake Designer Resale
Quote:
Originally Posted by eevee
as for restaurants, there are good ones downtown, but the selection is limited. I like in Lakeview now and have access to African, Thai, Japanese, Indian, and other cuisines. Can I find all that in downtown-and they won't be closed after 8pm? are you you a Tilted Kilt/Panda Express fan and can't dream of anything else beyond these?
Okay ...
I can think of five Indian places (all local) downtown (by my definition, which I'll summarize as Division to Roosevelt, the River to the Lake) off the top of my head. I can think of probably ten Japanese places downtown off the top of my head (again, all local). I can think of at least five local Thai places downtown. I'll admit, I can't think of any African places downtown, but there is a local Pakistani place on the corner of my block, and a local vegan place a little over a block from my place. Then there are at least two great Spanish places within a 5 minute walk of my place. There's a great one-location local breakfast/lunch spot right by the Chicago Brown Line stop. There's a great local champagne bar, a couple great local jazz clubs, there's local Italian, local German, local Russian, local Armenian. If you think that downtown Chicago lacks a diverse, local dining scene, you don't have any clue what you're talking about. And all of those places I just mentioned? They don't include the nationally and internationally-recognized places that cost $100+/person. And downtown certainly has plenty of those, too.
It's fine if you don't know downtown, and you don't like downtown. But take your own advice and quit being a hypocrite:
"You don't know me!" Cute, in an adolescent struggling with self-identity sort of way. I didn't put words in your mouth, I simply paraphrased the words that were already there. Calling me a troll is hardly leading by example.
I'm not saying other parts of the city are crap. I'm just pointing out that downtown is not crap, either. The retail scene downtown is far more than just Michigan Ave. If you'd let down your smug guard, you might come to realize that.
Three stores downtown that can't be found elsewhere? Seriously?
Here's four. I threw in a vintage/resale shop as a bonus just for you. Ikram Lissa
Blake Designer Resale
Okay ...
I can think of five Indian places (all local) downtown (by my definition, which I'll summarize as Division to Roosevelt, the River to the Lake) off the top of my head. I can think of probably ten Japanese places downtown off the top of my head (again, all local). I can think of at least five local Thai places downtown. I'll admit, I can't think of any African places downtown, but there is a local Pakistani place on the corner of my block, and a local vegan place a little over a block from my place. Then there are at least two great Spanish places within a 5 minute walk of my place. There's a great one-location local breakfast/lunch spot right by the Chicago Brown Line stop. There's a great local champagne bar, a couple great local jazz clubs, there's local Italian, local German, local Russian, local Armenian. If you think that downtown Chicago lacks a diverse, local dining scene, you don't have any clue what you're talking about. And all of those places I just mentioned? They don't include the nationally and internationally-recognized places that cost $100+/person. And downtown certainly has plenty of those, too.
It's fine if you don't know downtown, and you don't like downtown. But take your own advice and quit being a hypocrite:
well, as long as you've been here, you've been far from helpful, your rep proves that. and you've been pretty trollish on this thread.
The Chicago Brown line is downtown? that's news to me. not being facetious when I say that, just agreeing w/ many here that it's hard to define "downtown". frankly, if I want good ethnic cuisines, downtown wouldn't be the first place on my mind. why go downtown for German food when there's an ENTIRE neighborhood w/ German roots?
I spend nearly every day walking around downtown and frankly, it doesn't appeal to me in the way places like Lakeveiw, Lincoln Sq., and Andersonville appeals to me. Never knocked downtown, just told it as it is. most of the area that people think of as downtown is dead after a certain time. you can knock me down all you want, but in case you haven't read this thread properly, I'm not the only one who thinks this. Sorry if you feel that I'm picking on your neighborhood and you feel that the only way to defend its honor is to be rude towards me, but for the OP, downtown doesn't work. there are dozens of neighborhoods in Chicago they can consider, places w/ far more to offer than. what does downtown have to over the OP that they can't find elsewhere, especially since the whole point of this thread is that they can't afford downtown?
honestly, I don't want to derail this thread having a useless argument w/ the likes of you, so you can go on thinking that downtown Chicago is the best neighborhood ever, and me and everyone else will try to help out the OP. okay?
I like to be in the middle of everything as soon as I set my foot outside. Galleries, theaters, museums, bars, restaurants, clubs, beautiful architecture, lots of small shops and lots of people on the sidewalks. I like to try new things and to visit a new place every day. I like vibrancy and when things are constantly happening. I like to have an access to reliable and frequent public transportation so I don't have to worry about scarce downtown parking and/or drinking and driving. It's pretty much the reason why I'm moving to Chicago.
I couldn't live in a studio though. Tried it with my girlfriend while in college, no thanks.
On a side note: has anyone here used the services of chicagoapartmentfinders.com or heard of them? Their website is really nice and just as informative as the domu.com (thanks to the poster who pointed me there.) They say their services don't cost the renter anything, but is it actually true? Am I better off using an agency as my guide, or just by going house to house on my own (I will have a car)?
you can't have all of that, plus parking for your car, for under $1000. somethingg will have to give. if you can, I would ditch your car since some of the densest neighborhoods which have most of these to offer also has the worst on street parking and pricey off street parking. if you're just planning on commuting to downtown, all the train lines and several buses will get you there. unless you plan on making multiple trips out of the city that requires a car, I would get rid of it and join a car sharing service like Zipcar or iGo where you can rent cars for short trips and big shopping trips:
if you ditch the car, options w/in your price range will open up. Museums may be tough to fulfill, since the big ones are mostly located downtown, but you may find smaller ones scattered throughout the city (e.g., the Mexican Fine Arts Museum is in Pilsen. I'm NOT suggesting Pilsen as a place to live since it doesn't fit your requirements, but it is a short distance away from downtown on the Pink Line). If you don't want to deal w/ a cramp studio, I'd maybe look in Lakeview, Wicker Park, Andersonville, maybe a couple of others that I'm forgetting right this moment. Don't go too far west or too far north. I'm not sure going south of downtown would benefit you too much. You can find a vintage 1 bed apartment w/o many upgrades in these areas (my roommate and I almost signed a lease for a 2 bedroom near Southport and Addison for $950). Do some research, especially on the borders of different neighborhoods so you don't end up in "West Wicker Park"- aka Humboldt Park, a so-so area.
some examples of places in your price range (note: everyone's perception of "safely" differs a bit. I picked areas I think would be fine for a savvy person to navigate, but, as usual, YMMV):
these are a bit more than $900/mo. I think if you bump up your budget to $1000, you'll find a bit more
Charming Vintage One Bedroom with Hardwood Floors! (http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/2565270509.html - broken link)
http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/2565270873.html (broken link)
http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/2565199147.html (broken link)
Last edited by eevee; 08-25-2011 at 11:03 AM..
Reason: added links
..
honestly, I don't want to derail this thread having a useless argument w/ the likes of you, so you can go on thinking that downtown Chicago is the best neighborhood ever, and me and everyone else will try to help out the OP. okay?
You're a real piece of work. You're the one who first threw out dismissive, insulting terms and I'm the bad guy for calling you out on it?
And you diss my rep? Your rep is higher, but you've also made five times as many posts as I have and have about six times the rep. Neither of us have more rep points than posts, both of us have over 50% as many rep points as we have posts - which is much higher than the average poster here, so objectively we both contribute well on this board.
We both have stuff to add, but only one of us is calling a neighborhood boring and implying that people who live there only visit chains and are too dumb to know the difference and then trying to claim the high ground. That hypocrite is YOU, not me.
If you want to take the high road, just admit you don't really know what you're talking about when it comes to downtown. I've said that I'm not dissing other neighborhoods, but you keep on dissing me and downtown, while what I'm doing is pointing out your hypocrisy.
BTW, I did help out the O.P. in my first response. I helped them out by recommending affordable yet interesting neighborhoods (which happened to actually be Lakeview, the hood you keep giving props to). I also helped them out by correcting your uninformed opinion about downtown. And, yes, Chicago Brown Line is downtown to more than just me, by almost any objective measure that doesn't hinge on downtown being exclusively the Loop. One objective way to measure would be how much commercial activity there is in the area and the answer is quite a lot. The Chicago Brown Line stop serves the entire River North gallery district, it serves the two millions square feet of commercial space in the buildign Groupon occupies, and it's a ten minute walk from Michigan Avenue.
You may not agree with my definition of "downtown," but it's not arbitrary. And the area I defined is about the same size as Lakeview. Lakeview is 3.2 square miles, my definition puts downtown at less than 4 square miles, probably about 3.5 if it were worked out completely.
If you want to play the "you can go to any other neighborhoods" game, downtown is hard to beat, given its central location. You can take Metra anywhere. The CTA anywhere. Drive anywhere.
So, to the O.P.:
Downtown, defined as most people living in Chicago would at least accept as reasonable if not quite identical to their own personal definition, has a lot to offer. It has the best transportation to the most other parts of the city. It has a great mix of a wide varieties of ethnic cuisines. It has local boutiques. It has resale/vintage shops. It's about the same size as Lakeview. But, it's generally more expensive than other parts of the city to live in. While at least one person on this board finds it "boring" because she quite obviously isn't familiar with it, most people who don't like it, don't like it because it lacks trees and parks, because it's not very human-scaled and can be overwhelming, it's not exactly quiet most of the time and you do have to put up with inane tourists a lot.
My original suggestion to you for either West Lakeview or the far eastern edge of Lakeview still stands. eevee may not know much about downtown, but she and I do agree that much of Lakeview offers a good experience for a good value and good transportation. It's also greener, has more parks, and while it has noisy sections it's on the whole quieter than downtown. I've lived in both Lakeview and downtown, and while I like downtown better (it's where I chose to buy when I got tired of renting), Lakeview was a close runner-up in my search process. I think you'll like it.
You lost me here. Are you saying the Brown line doesn't run downtown?
sorry, badly worded that. I meant the area/neighborhood around the Chicago Brown line. I don't consider that to be downtown Chicago.
neither do I consider the Gold Coast to be downtown Chicago, where a lot of the stores emathias listed seem to be located. River North and the Gold Coast=/= downtown Chicago, IMHO. The Gold Coast would be nearly perfect for the OP if they could get a 1 bedroom apartment there w/in their budget.
as people as said, there really isn't a "downtown" neighborhood, hence my original question, "what is a downtown lifestyle?" from what the list of stuff the OP wants, those can be had in areas outside of "downtown".
sorry, badly worded that. I meant the area around the Chicago Brown line. I don't consider that to be downtown Chicago.
neither do I consider the Gold Coast to be downtown Chicago, where a lot of the stores emathias listed seem to be located. The Gold Coast would be nearly perfect for the OP if they could get a 1 bedroom apartment there w/in their budget
The Loop is not Downtown? What the hell is downtown Chicago then?
who said anything about the Loop not being downtown? The Gold Coast=/= the Loop. River North =/= the Loop.
Now I get it, you are saying the Chicago stop on the Brown Line.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The Gold Coast=/= the Loop. River North =/= the Loop.
