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I just got a job in Chicago and I am looking for places to live. I am married and have a kid.
I'm pretty limited on funds and am looking for a place that is around $1200-$1300 a month. I've been scouring the crime maps (Chicago crime map and trulia crime map) and been reading up on forums so I picked up that some of the best neighborhoods for kids are like Norwood Park, Lakeview, Lincoln Square, North Center, and saw a couple mentions of West Ridge because of its affordability...depending on the area of course.
I know that the nicer neighborhoods are VERY expensive and getting a 2 bedroom for my price range is rough. We saw a few apartments today: One in Norwood Park (neighborhood is nice, but inside is small and worn down), one on Bryn Mawr and Lincoln (but the crime map showed theft, burglary, and car theft all around it), and then one on N. Claremont Ave/W. Peterson Ave. It's on that last block on N Claremont right before Peterson. I saw all the articles and whatnot and saw crime maps to the north (all north of Grandville) and then to the east (Hoyne), but not a whole lot on the block that the apartment is on.
I read the whole West Ridge area is very block by block. I'm not planning on walking at night or anything like that. I've lived in Orlando and Seattle and definitely have the sense to avoid pretty much any low foot traffic area at night. I really liked the inside of the apartment, it's closer to work, and the cars on the block didn't look bad (I wouldn't have the nicest car), but my main concern is the proximity of this apartment to the activity surrounding it. I saw some young and old couples out walking their dogs while I was checking out the apartment, and then another couple walking their baby. Is two blocks away (like 1/3 mile) away from the gang activity a reasonable distance, or should I definitely give it up and not try to push for the apartment?
Does anyone who lives in this area, or know people who live in this area have any input?
Claremont and Peterson? I'm not aware of any major gangs around there to be honest...maybe a few very small things, but nothing that would hurt you..If you go north to Touhy and/or Howard then yeah maybe, but you don't have to worry about that I don't think. It's near Devon, little india, but crime is the last thing on my mind when I go up there honestly. I bet most of the crime is petty theft.
For your price range, if you want to live in Chicago and a 2 bedroom, you'll have to do with that. Just one thing though. Do you own any cars now? If you own 2 for example, consider getting rid of one. You might be able to afford better housing as a result. OR if your kid is old enough, consider getting rid of the car and going with public transit if your work is near public transit. You might be able to afford better housing that way, close to things, safer area, etc.
My son is 13 months. My husband is a stay at home dad at the moment while he is going to school so more than likely someone is going to be home almost all the time. He's looking to do a part time job at night and weekends when I'm not working since day care is astronomical. I'm just wondering about how safe he would be getting out of his car and walking the 10 feet to the apartment kind of thing. That would be the only reason any of us would be out past dark.
We do have 2 cars, but we were planning to sell one anyway. I'm definitely not a public transit person. I'm not really worried about anyone stealing my car though. The places I looked at had free/street parking anyways, so it wasn't really a cost issue with the car. I have one of those ones that have the computer chip in the key, so the car won't start without it. But in the event that someone *actually* got the car to start, I'm considering either OnStar, or a GPS (which installs under the car) to track where it is.
My work isn't downtown. It's on the north side of town near Avondale. Definitely just easier for me to drive there since they have a parking lot anyway. There's also *kinda* gated parking right behind the apartment and the cars back there were nicer (sorta) than mine. If I was going to see my car next to the other cars back there, mine isn't the slickest looking one and the other ones don't have that chip in the key (thanks Mazda). Stealing is about convenience right!
The other thing about the apartment is it's kind of subterranean. It's kind of like the basement of a building where the windows are at ground level...like I'd see people's feet if they were for some reason walking by. To break in through the windows (which are crazy sturdy), you'd have to kick it in and then bend crawl through it. Plus I have dogs who I know will flip the heck out the second they hear something.
How unsafe is the Target on Peterson in that area? I saw a couple murders behind it, but they kinda looked like gang-banger murders. Like how many of the murders in that area are gang-banger related 'cause it's probably quite a bit.
My son is 13 months. My husband is a stay at home dad at the moment while he is going to school so more than likely someone is going to be home almost all the time. He's looking to do a part time job at night and weekends when I'm not working since day care is astronomical. I'm just wondering about how safe he would be getting out of his car and walking the 10 feet to the apartment kind of thing. That would be the only reason any of us would be out past dark.
We do have 2 cars, but we were planning to sell one anyway. I'm definitely not a public transit person. I'm not really worried about anyone stealing my car though. The places I looked at had free/street parking anyways, so it wasn't really a cost issue with the car. I have one of those ones that have the computer chip in the key, so the car won't start without it. But in the event that someone *actually* got the car to start, I'm considering either OnStar, or a GPS (which installs under the car) to track where it is.
My work isn't downtown. It's on the north side of town near Avondale. Definitely just easier for me to drive there since they have a parking lot anyway. There's also *kinda* gated parking right behind the apartment and the cars back there were nicer (sorta) than mine. If I was going to see my car next to the other cars back there, mine isn't the slickest looking one and the other ones don't have that chip in the key (thanks Mazda). Stealing is about convenience right!
The other thing about the apartment is it's kind of subterranean. It's kind of like the basement of a building where the windows are at ground level...like I'd see people's feet if they were for some reason walking by. To break in through the windows (which are crazy sturdy), you'd have to kick it in and then bend crawl through it. Plus I have dogs who I know will flip the heck out the second they hear something.
How unsafe is the Target on Peterson in that area? I saw a couple murders behind it, but they kinda looked like gang-banger murders. Like how many of the murders in that area are gang-banger related 'cause it's probably quite a bit.
Oh okay. Yeah definitely keep a car then since your son is pretty young of course. But yeah as you know selling one will help with the rent. Avondale is probably 5 miles away from where you're looking and you can take Western straight down. Of course, Western is a busy street so depending on when you leave and what day, it could take longer than normal.
The apartment you're looking at is called a garden apartment. Does it have bars or anything on the windows? You'll want to look for that. Also did you notice the "lay of the land" near the door and windows? Just make sure it's not susceptible for flooding.
Honestly though the area is safe. I was up there the other night and the last thing on my mind was catching a stray bullet or someone coming up and stealing my girlfriend and beating me up. I think East of there at Clark and Devon or south at Peterson and Western are more dangerous places, but probably not by much. A lot of the violent crime here is gang on gang or drug related, so I wouldn't be too worried about that. The most you'd have to be worried about is stray bullets, but not in that area IMO. The thing I'd be more worried about is making sure nobody would break into the garden apartment if there's not bars on the windows. Not saying it will happen, but there's always the possibility.
I've only been to the Target on Peterson a few times, but again I wasn't threatened by the area. If you're going to most places during the morning/day or before 9pm even in real dangerous places, you have much less to worry about. The trend seems to happen that a lot of the violent crime in Chicago (on the west and south sides mostly) happens late at night between say hmm 11pm and 4:30am. Not to say it doesn't happen during the day, but it's just something i've noticed.
Most murders in the city are actually gang banger or drug related. It's rare someone picks a random person from the street and just shoots them. Even armed robberies it's rare to see the clerk just shot dead. I have heard of it, but it's fairly rare IMO.
I know you said you aren't a public transit person, but you will find out here that if you want to go certain areas, it's much better to take the train or bus. The transit system here is the most like New York City of any other city in the US. DC comes after. For example, if you want to go to the Cubs game, I'd tell you that you're crazy to want to 100% drive to it. Even going to a place in Lincoln Park or half of Lakeview to eat? It's one of those things where I'll just say "Well, good luck finding parking." There's a lot of areas that are street zone parking, meaning the people who actually live there will park on the street. There's a lot of areas where it's hard to find parking if where you're going doesn't have its own private lot. Finding parking in some areas involves driving around for awhile until you get lucky.
As far as other areas, someone mentioned Lincoln Square. That might be doable. Lincoln Square or Ravenswood area. Very nice areas (the mayor actually lives in Ravenswood). Go to a site like padmapper.com or domu and look. The Lincoln Square/Ravenswood area is very, very safe and has many families living in the area. There are even older buildings up there where you could get a 2 bedroom for around $1000/month or maybe less.
The apartment didn't have bars on the windows or anything, but I was thinking we could do the 3M plastic layer on the windows....the kind that make it impossible to shatter the glass. I know they could still be kicked in and junk, but the dogs would be freaking out by the time someone even touched the windows. I could at the very least make it difficult for someone to break in. It's not like we have spectacular stuff anyways and renters insurance will cover everything even if there was a burglary.
I had a HUGE list of apartments I wanted to look at yesterday. There were two in Lincoln Square, one up in North Center, and a couple further northwest in West Ridge. I emailed the list to the agent and he had told me there were a ton of them that were already rented. A lot of the ones off padmapper are already gone. I definitely did try the Lincoln Square, Armour Square, North Center route already. It's hard in that price range.
My other thought was to try another nicer area in the same price range, but do a one bedroom and just have the baby sleep in the room with us....which he does anyways since he screams when he's alone. I talked to 3 complexes and they said there was a 2 person limit to a bedroom and once he turns 2 years old, then it would be a violation. Sure not making it easy here!
It's rough because I've never had such an issue finding apartments before. Chicago is definitely a different kind of beast than what I'm used to. When I was living in Washington, $1200/month would give you a nice 2 bedroom/2bath with an in-unit W/D and free parking in a nice neighborhood in the suburbs of Seattle. Orlando was the same deal. I actually lived adjacent to a street that had the highest concentration of murders in Orlando (which so happened to have the nicest shopping area in Orlando across the street practically) and I didn't mind that since the community was gated. It was a really nice community really close to work that had its own restaurant/bar on property kind of deal. I suppose I could just take that experience too. I lived near some garbage places that are probably even worse than this area where people literally did get mugged in broad daylight and never had a problem with it because I always avoided situations. I never put myself out there alone, I was never alone in dark parking lots, I took the dogs out while it was still light outside, and I most likely won't walk my son in that neighborhood since it's not a huge deal to just take him with the dogs to a park.
I do feel a little better though. I know that I have a higher probability of the apartment completely flooding out than I getting shot by a gang banger. My other indication that it might not be a bad area were the cars. Like I said before, I was looking for a place that had at least equivalent cars to what I have and there were places there that had decent vehicles.
The apartment didn't have bars on the windows or anything, but I was thinking we could do the 3M plastic layer on the windows....the kind that make it impossible to shatter the glass. I know they could still be kicked in and junk, but the dogs would be freaking out by the time someone even touched the windows. I could at the very least make it difficult for someone to break in. It's not like we have spectacular stuff anyways and renters insurance will cover everything even if there was a burglary.
I had a HUGE list of apartments I wanted to look at yesterday. There were two in Lincoln Square, one up in North Center, and a couple further northwest in West Ridge. I emailed the list to the agent and he had told me there were a ton of them that were already rented. A lot of the ones off padmapper are already gone. I definitely did try the Lincoln Square, Armour Square, North Center route already. It's hard in that price range.
My other thought was to try another nicer area in the same price range, but do a one bedroom and just have the baby sleep in the room with us....which he does anyways since he screams when he's alone. I talked to 3 complexes and they said there was a 2 person limit to a bedroom and once he turns 2 years old, then it would be a violation. Sure not making it easy here!
It's rough because I've never had such an issue finding apartments before. Chicago is definitely a different kind of beast than what I'm used to. When I was living in Washington, $1200/month would give you a nice 2 bedroom/2bath with an in-unit W/D and free parking in a nice neighborhood in the suburbs of Seattle. Orlando was the same deal. I actually lived adjacent to a street that had the highest concentration of murders in Orlando (which so happened to have the nicest shopping area in Orlando across the street practically) and I didn't mind that since the community was gated. It was a really nice community really close to work that had its own restaurant/bar on property kind of deal. I suppose I could just take that experience too. I lived near some garbage places that are probably even worse than this area where people literally did get mugged in broad daylight and never had a problem with it because I always avoided situations. I never put myself out there alone, I was never alone in dark parking lots, I took the dogs out while it was still light outside, and I most likely won't walk my son in that neighborhood since it's not a huge deal to just take him with the dogs to a park.
I do feel a little better though. I know that I have a higher probability of the apartment completely flooding out than I getting shot by a gang banger. My other indication that it might not be a bad area were the cars. Like I said before, I was looking for a place that had at least equivalent cars to what I have and there were places there that had decent vehicles.
Yeah, the thing about garden units is that they're easier to break into since they're at street level. I'm not sure what you can do to fortify them as in what the landlord will let you do. You might want to just check with the landlord and ask how fortified the windows and stuff are just to make sure.
Lincoln Square and the area is great though. I believe North Center is in the top 5 least amount of homicides since 2007 with like 2. Good areas. Some other ones you might want to look at are Irving Park and Edgewater. They're both pretty nice, although Edgewater is close to the lake and that is pretty nice. Check within Andersonville there. Andersonville is right next to Edgewater (technically within it) and is very community oriented. Lot of families, gay couples, nice people, etc. Good places to eat and shop too and some entertainment. A friend of mine used to live in Irving Park and had a 3 bedroom apartment for $1500/month there. It would also put you closer to Avondale.
There's actually a bunch. I'm a fan of Edgewater and Andersonville. Cool areas and the good part is that they're on the Red Line which makes it easy and cheap to get to downtown on the train (parking downtown costs a lot and is much easier/faster using the train). Irving Park isn't bad either. It's closer to the freeway so for you, your commute would be very simple if you lived there. There's a number of things to do there and it's fairly safe (again, another part of town I've walked alone at night in and never thought twice about it). It's also on the Blue Line which goes downtown (to the Loop) if you need to, although it has a longer journey than the red or brown lines, but still a good thing.
Also, I would suggest looking in areas of Ukrainian Village, maybe Wicker Park but I doubt you'd have luck. Ukrainian Village is mostly fine, although still a little sketch in some areas, but a good area. The whole area of Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park, Logan Square is a little bit more artistic than some other parts of the city.
You're right though about Chicago here. It's another animal entirely. The market is really hot and the vacancy rate is pretty low. It is possible though. My girlfriend found a place recently within 2 weeks and her budget was similar to yours ($1300-$1400 for a 2 bedroom).
I'm coming back into town again this week and I'll take a peek at another few. There was one in Lakeview that is like $1230, but then it's like $200 for parking. I can't sell my main car because my parents cosigned it and they live in another state and I just make payments on it. It's not really my call to dictate what to do with their credit, but they definitely trust me with their car anyways. That makes that apartment out of the picture 'cause it's just way too expensive.
I'll check out some of the other ones that you linked as well.
I went ahead and applied to that apartment (just $30 to apply anyways) and if all else fails, I have a fall back. If someone broke in at night, the dogs will scream bloody murder and give me time to call the cops/find a taser or something. If it's during the day, pretty much the same where the dogs will scream their heads off and probably draw some attention.
I applied at the one in Norwood Park as well. I read that Norwood Park is so stinkin safe that it's almost boring. Two murders since 2007 and it looks like they were both kinda domestic issues. There's one apartment on North Center that looks available, so I'll go check that out as well.
I don't expect to live here forever too (the apartment that is). I just changed career paths and starting out entry level again (from civil engineering to software engineering) so when I move up income-wise, it won't be so painful finding another place. As long as the place seems safe enough (not like I'm throwing block parties in the street at night or anything), then it should be at least a reasonable living situation. There were some cool apartments coming up in like October or middle of September, but I can't live out in a hotel for that long, so it's kind of like a rush to find a place before I start work.
I'll probably push for Norwood Park (like 7 miles away instead of the 5 if I lived in West Ridge) and if that doesn't work out for whatever reason, I'll see what comes up. When I head back up this week, I'll actually talk to some of the residents I see, and maybe knock on a neighbor's door, to see what their opinions of the area are. I read somewhere a lot of quiet, nicer people tend to occupy that area (south side of N. Claremont towards Peterson), so I'll try to pick up a vibe from talking to them since I did see a few younger couples walking their babies and dogs.
I'm coming back into town again this week and I'll take a peek at another few. There was one in Lakeview that is like $1230, but then it's like $200 for parking.
Where is it? There is always street parking, which is like $25/year...it might be harder to find parking but it's much less expensive than $200/month. I live downtown and that's how much my parking costs, which is just one reason (of many) that I sold my car.
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I went ahead and applied to that apartment (just $30 to apply anyways) and if all else fails, I have a fall back. If someone broke in at night, the dogs will scream bloody murder and give me time to call the cops/find a taser or something. If it's during the day, pretty much the same where the dogs will scream their heads off and probably draw some attention.
That's good. Is the apartment facing the street/sidewalk or is it in a courtyard? If it's facing the street/sidewalk, I would make sure if you have blinds open, that you don't have anything obviously expensive being shown. Robbers want to get their hands on stuff they can sell, so if you aren't showing anything they might skip your place anyway.
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I applied at the one in Norwood Park as well. I read that Norwood Park is so stinkin safe that it's almost boring. Two murders since 2007 and it looks like they were both kinda domestic issues. There's one apartment on North Center that looks available, so I'll go check that out as well.
Yeah Norwood Park is safe but it's almost like a suburb. North Center is just as safe and more interesting. Everyone is different though. I love living in the city and feel like places like Norwood Park are too far removed from things. I'm going to stress it again about public transit, but trust me on this one. The public transit here isn't a small thing. It's the 2nd most extensive in the entire country after New York City.
It is Reside at Barry. I *barely* meet their income restriction. I could have handled the rent, but the parking is UUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHH. I'm sure I could probably find a different lot or something and hoof it back to the apartment, but I'll check them out when I get there.
I didn't think to even do a sexual offender search until today. Oh boy bleeding sexual offenders! Well, the ones that bothered me were the ones in very close proximity who are child sexual offenders who got caught luring kids into their car. My son isn't that age, but it still screams a giant "OH HELL NO" to me.
Norwood Park of course had nothing. LOL. It is pretty suburby, but I would definitely feel safe walking down the street at night. The crime map has people complaining about "digital harrassment." What is that? Like, harassing emails? Interesting....!
I'm definitely going to look away from that area and go as an absolute last resort. If it were just myself and my husband and my dogs, I suppose I'd just let it ride, but I wanna be more cautious with my son. I'm going to take another peek at some more apartments (going on like a week straight here!) and see if anything new popped up and I'll talk to the agent again to see if I can get something in North Center set up, or even in Irving Park so I could ride my back to work and then let my husband keep the car during the day to take our son around.
I wouldn't be completely opposed to public transit. Especially going downtown. After driving down there for the first time during rush hour, I will do anything and everything to not do it again!!! Definitely for like weekends out and junk, it would be a fun adventure.
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