Housing options for UChicago (Lincoln, Manhattan: real estate, sublet, apartments)
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I'm coming to UChicago for a short certificate program this fall. It starts in late September and ends in mid June. I need to find housing for an 8 month period. Most of the apartments require a 1 year lease agreement. I am not interested in subletting for those other 4 months. I don't want to deal with that hassle. Also, I'm a Graduate Student At Large, so I am not eligible for living in campus housing.
First off, where should I live? In the Hyde Park area where I can walk or take the local UChicago buses to class? Or farther away to where I just commute to school? I have a car and my wife has a car. We both commute about 30 minutes each way to work right now, so commuting isn't an issue for us. We were figuring that we wouldn't take our cars with us if we decided to live near campus. Is that a smart idea or should we take one car just in case? Also, we will be bringing along our two chihuahuas, so dog-friendly living is a must.
Our priorities are: safety, proximity to conveniences (grocery store, drug store, etc.), and the ability to rent for less than a year. Any other general tips about housing and getting around Chicago would be much appreciated. Thanks!
I'm coming to UChicago for a short certificate program this fall. It starts in late September and ends in mid June. I need to find housing for an 8 month period. Most of the apartments require a 1 year lease agreement. I am not interested in subletting for those other 4 months. I don't want to deal with that hassle. Also, I'm a Graduate Student At Large, so I am not eligible for living in campus housing.
First off, where should I live? In the Hyde Park area where I can walk or take the local UChicago buses to class? Or farther away to where I just commute to school? I have a car and my wife has a car. We both commute about 30 minutes each way to work right now, so commuting isn't an issue for us. We were figuring that we wouldn't take our cars with us if we decided to live near campus. Is that a smart idea or should we take one car just in case? Also, we will be bringing along our two chihuahuas, so dog-friendly living is a must.
Our priorities are: safety, proximity to conveniences (grocery store, drug store, etc.), and the ability to rent for less than a year. Any other general tips about housing and getting around Chicago would be much appreciated. Thanks!
We're looking forward to enjoying Chicago!
Very cool. I cannot speak of the 8 month vs. year thing because what I am aware of is that most leases here are a year except around some schools I believe. Some other posters can help with that. if you can't find anything for 8 or 9 months, then you might have the bite the bullet and sublet your place out for the remaining months of your lease.
A few questions for IF you do not want to live in Hyde Park:
1) What is your monthly rental budget?
2) What type of commute time to school would be ideal? Not sure where you're from, but Chicago area is big, and traffic can be a problem in a few places sometimes.. So if you wanted to live in Lakeview for example and wanted a commute time of 15-20 minutes..might not happen.
Hyde Park is safe, and although there's some things to do (since U of Chicago is there), it's not the same as other neighborhoods. Other posts will know more about the grocery stores and all that in the area.
The public transit in Chicago is pretty good and cheap (especially versus private transportation). The problem with U of Chicago is that the train (Metro - inter city travel) does not go right to campus. However, there are buses that do from downtown and there is also a metra train (Metra is used mainly to get to the burbs...the line is called Metra Electric. Fare would be $3 each way versus $2.25 on a metro bus) which comes from the loop. Of course, since buses have to go through traffic, the arrival times from downtown via public transit will be slower on bus vs. a metra train. Driving of course is all dependent on where you are and when you are traveling. Sometimes certain roads are packed, and a few hours later they might be pretty light.
Are you sure the coursework will be done in Hyde Park? Many of the certificate programs are offered at the Gleacher Center. There are big differences in the rental situation in Hyde Park vs the relative abundant supply of rental options accessible to the Gleacher Centerr which sorta bridges the North Michicagn Ave and Streeterville areas.
Even if you are going to be in Hyde Park you might want to think about getting a place in maybe the South Loop where the massivve overbuilding has lots of options...
Cars are not the liability that they would be in say Manhattan . Even the most walkable parts of Chicago have grocery stores with sizeable parking lots to accomodate the preferred methods of shopping -- no fun schelping through crummy winter storms or having long walk for ice crea to melt...
Cars are not the liability that they would be in say Manhattan . Even the most walkable parts of Chicago have grocery stores with sizeable parking lots to accomodate the preferred methods of shopping -- no fun schelping through crummy winter storms or having long walk for ice crea to melt...
This is true except for the Loop, and 90% of River North/Streeterville. River North has some, but they aren't big lots or anything. A place like Lakeview and Lincoln Park, yeah there are stores with lots, but most stores do not have parking lots, and if they do, they aren't very large. But it's true, it's less of a liability than Manhattan, but I wouldn't paint the picture of Chicago having big parking lots everywhere.
You're not the only person in Hyde Park who would prefer to rent only for the 9-month academic year instead of for a full year. Unfortunately, the rental landlords in that neighborhood know that if they offered 9-month academic year leases, most of them wouldn't be collecting rent for three months of the year and the burden of finding 3-month tenants for the summer would fall on them. That's why they are completely inflexible on this issue. So Hyde Park is going to be out for you if you're looking to rent for only 9 months and don't want to have to hunt down subletters.
Unfortunately for you, because of your wife and dogs, you won't even have the option of taking a room in an apartment in Hyde Park with a lease signed by someone else, where you could arrange upfront to pay only for the time you're there.
If you're willing to live outside of Hyde Park, you should try to rent a condo directly from an owner. Chicago is still recovering from our smaller version of the real estate bubble, so there has to still be plenty of owners of shiny new condos out there who bought them as investments but are now underwater and can't sell, so are forced to rent. If there's more supply than demand for these units, you could probably persuade someone to give you a 9-month lease. The South Loop is probably the first place to start looking condos like this, since that's where the biggest construction boom was. It's also only a 10-15 minute drive to U of C (the university is really pushing the "UChicago" nickname now, but I'm an alum and it will always be U of C to me).
Otherwise, most any lakefront neighborhood will be an easy drive (Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Edgewater). Rogers Park is on the lakefront too, but in addition to being the furthest away from U of C, it's also a much worse commute because you'd have to go 1-2 miles extra on local streets before getting to the freeway (Lake Shore Drive).
The best place to start looking for condos for rent by the owner is Craigslist. A lot of the apartment listings there are posted by commercial landlords, but it's pretty easy to tell which ones are being offered by individuals by the contact information. You can also post your own ad describing the 9-month lease scenario you're seeking and see if anyone bites. Put it in the "Housing Wanted" section and maybe the Temporary section and the standard Apartments/Housing section.
1) What is your monthly rental budget?
2) What type of commute time to school would be ideal? Not sure where you're from, but Chicago area is big, and traffic can be a problem in a few places sometimes.. So if you wanted to live in Lakeview for example and wanted a commute time of 15-20 minutes..might not happen.
1) My monthly rental budget is about $1250/month. We're just looking for a 1 bedroom or larger studio.
2) Less than 20 minutes would be ideal, but I can do 30. Right now I'm in Knoxville, TN and commute 25-30 minutes to work. At one of my past jobs (New Orleans, LA), I did a 40 minutes commute, so I'm fine with a longer commute if need be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
Are you sure the coursework will be done in Hyde Park? Many of the certificate programs are offered at the Gleacher Center. There are big differences in the rental situation in Hyde Park vs the relative abundant supply of rental options accessible to the Gleacher Centerr which sorta bridges the North Michicagn Ave and Streeterville areas.
Even if you are going to be in Hyde Park you might want to think about getting a place in maybe the South Loop where the massivve overbuilding has lots of options...
Cars are not the liability that they would be in say Manhattan . Even the most walkable parts of Chicago have grocery stores with sizeable parking lots to accomodate the preferred methods of shopping -- no fun schelping through crummy winter storms or having long walk for ice crea to melt...
The classes are being held in Hyde Park. The courses will have a mixture of students from a graduate degree program (MS/PhD) and the certificate program. I believe the classes will be near the medical center, but I can't be 100% sure on that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin J
You're not the only person in Hyde Park who would prefer to rent only for the 9-month academic year instead of for a full year. Unfortunately, the rental landlords in that neighborhood know that if they offered 9-month academic year leases, most of them wouldn't be collecting rent for three months of the year and the burden of finding 3-month tenants for the summer would fall on them. That's why they are completely inflexible on this issue. So Hyde Park is going to be out for you if you're looking to rent for only 9 months and don't want to have to hunt down subletters.
Unfortunately for you, because of your wife and dogs, you won't even have the option of taking a room in an apartment in Hyde Park with a lease signed by someone else, where you could arrange upfront to pay only for the time you're there.
If you're willing to live outside of Hyde Park, you should try to rent a condo directly from an owner. Chicago is still recovering from our smaller version of the real estate bubble, so there has to still be plenty of owners of shiny new condos out there who bought them as investments but are now underwater and can't sell, so are forced to rent. If there's more supply than demand for these units, you could probably persuade someone to give you a 9-month lease. The South Loop is probably the first place to start looking condos like this, since that's where the biggest construction boom was. It's also only a 10-15 minute drive to U of C (the university is really pushing the "UChicago" nickname now, but I'm an alum and it will always be U of C to me).
Otherwise, most any lakefront neighborhood will be an easy drive (Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Edgewater). Rogers Park is on the lakefront too, but in addition to being the furthest away from U of C, it's also a much worse commute because you'd have to go 1-2 miles extra on local streets before getting to the freeway (Lake Shore Drive).
The best place to start looking for condos for rent by the owner is Craigslist. A lot of the apartment listings there are posted by commercial landlords, but it's pretty easy to tell which ones are being offered by individuals by the contact information. You can also post your own ad describing the 9-month lease scenario you're seeking and see if anyone bites. Put it in the "Housing Wanted" section and maybe the Temporary section and the standard Apartments/Housing section.
I'll make a note to refer to it as U of C in the future . Thanks for the detailed post. Based on the input in this thread and what I have read in some other threads, it seems that the South Loop area is where I should/will be looking since I want a shorter term lease and there are more options in that area that may be able to accommodate that request. 15 minutes of commute time isn't bad at all. I'm used to a 30 minute commute time right now.
How is the public transportation in South Loop? I'm thinking I may just bring one car for my commute to and from U of C.
1) My monthly rental budget is about $1250/month. We're just looking for a 1 bedroom or larger studio.
2) Less than 20 minutes would be ideal, but I can do 30. Right now I'm in Knoxville, TN and commute 25-30 minutes to work. At one of my past jobs (New Orleans, LA), I did a 40 minutes commute, so I'm fine with a longer commute if need be.
I'll make a note to refer to it as U of C in the future . Thanks for the detailed post. Based on the input in this thread and what I have read in some other threads, it seems that the South Loop area is where I should/will be looking since I want a shorter term lease and there are more options in that area that may be able to accommodate that request. 15 minutes of commute time isn't bad at all. I'm used to a 30 minute commute time right now.
How is the public transportation in South Loop? I'm thinking I may just bring one car for my commute to and from U of C.
Well here's the thing with Soup Loop + your budget. I'll bet average rent for a 1 bedroom in the South Loop is between $1350 and $1400/month. The studios might be within your budget, but I'm not exactly sure how large they are. Parking might be different too as there's a lot of high rises down there. I live downtown in a high rise, and while I don't own a car anymore, I do know that it would cost me $180-$200/month extra ontop of my rent to park in my garage. So you have to consider that too when looking for a place in a downtown-ish area.
As others have said, it's been brought on by the building boom, so buildings are newer and hence nicer, and thus more expensive on average. Also, it's decent, but the options for walking to whatever you want (bars, restaurants, book store, whatever) isn't as much as other neighborhoods for sure. The public transportation there isn't bad..the red line and green/orange line have stops there and some busses go there too of course. To me though it seems a hell of a lot more dead on average than other lively spots of town (Lincoln Park, Near North Side, Old Town, Lakeview, Wicker Park, etc), with a few spots here and there with a little bit going on. It is getting better though as it's a fast growing neighborhood, but it's still Streeterville-lite to me.
It's a nice area don't get me wrong, but for you, I would also expand your search to a place like Lincoln Park and Lakeview. They're older than South Loop and more established. It has more going on IMO, and there's public transit everywhere. It's cheaper than South Loop, still not cheap universally, but you should be able to get a 1 bedroom within your budget I'm pretty sure, especially in Lakeview. As far as commute time goes from there...I bet in light traffic, you could get to U of Chicago in under 25 minutes from LP and around 30 from Lakeview (depending on where in Lakeview you lived). In medium traffic, add a few more minutes. If it were heavy traffic, maybe 40. It's not that bad though...Just take Lake Shore Drive. once you get passed the Loop and Soldier Field, it's pretty smooth sailing down to U of C usually. Depending on the time of day, LSD will be free downtown too, except at the rush hours. The buildings there are less high rise (but high rises do exist there), so the parking is either on street or shared alley-way type of parking. There is stuff all over there too..many different types of cuisines, bars, different types of stores, etc. Extremely walkable. IMO for your budget and your dog constraint, you'd have better luck in Lakeview.
Of course, out of all of those, Hyde Park is probably the cheapest (and of course closest) but you have to think about what you "want" from your little stay in town here 20 minutes less of commute a day total or be in the heart of some action? Don't worry, Hyde Park and South Loop have stuff going on, but when people "go out" on the weekends, it's usually not in those areas. Neither one are in my mind ever to go to, unless it's to go to Target (Lakeview has one of those).
There's also places like Wicker Park and Bucktown which are hip areas too with a lot going on that would probably be the same commute time. There's public transit there (blue line and buses), but it's not as good as an area like Lincoln Park.
How is the public transportation in South Loop? I'm thinking I may just bring one car for my commute to and from U of C.
Public transportation in the South Loop is very good. I agree that if you bring one car only, you should use that one for your commute to Hyde Park. You could do that commute by public trans too, but driving would be so simple and quick, particularly if your classes are near the U of C hospital, as you suspect.
Getting around the rest of the city on public transport from the South Loop is a breeze. There are several el stations in that area itself (Roosevelt, Harrison, Van Buren). Plus, you're so close to the Loop itself where all the el lines and most bus lines converge, that transferring from one line to another or to a bus will be very easy. But the Red Line, which is the main line running through the South Loop will get you to North Michigan Ave in 5-10 minutes and to Wrigley Field in 20-25 minutes.
Note that in the South Loop, all of your everyday needs (grocery stores, drug stores, Target, dry cleaner, Starbucks) will be within walking distance or a very short drive. It also has become a major restaurant area within the past 10 years. And the rest of the downtown area is so close that what you don't find in South Loop you can get to in 15 minutes or less.
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. Thanks for the detailed post. Based on the input in this thread and what I have read in some other threads, it seems that the South Loop area is where I should/will be looking since I want a shorter term lease and there are more options in that area that may be able to accommodate that request. 15 minutes of commute time isn't bad at all. I'm used to a 30 minute commute time right now.
20 minutes less of commute a day total or be in the heart of some action? Don't worry, Hyde Park and South Loop have stuff going on, but when people "go out" on the weekends, it's usually not in those areas. Neither one are in my mind ever to go to, unless it's to go to Target (Lakeview has one of those).
