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Well I am very much looking forward to finding out if I enjoy it!
It certainly does seem cheaper than London - thats really a big plus for me having to leave here, money going that bit farther will be nice!
....and although granted it did feel smaller than London, im originally form a smaller city in the UK, which bears no comparison to chicago size-wise and frankly I only ever really see about a 3sq miles of london anyway, so I dont think I'll miss it too much !
Yeah, it's much cheaper than London. The thing is that downtown here is considered expensive. You could easily live in an area of say Lakeview or Lincoln Park for less. The buildings on average might be older and maybe not as nice as a 5 year old skyscraper, but your money will go much further. However, the cool thing is that if you did want to splurge on a place, there's a lot of multi million dollar condos/houses/duplexes/etc outside of downtown. The one thing I love about some neighborhoods is how a $5 million house could exist almost next to a $900/month 1 bedroom apartment building in some areas.
In all honesty, depending on what you like, the neighborhoods are better IMO. Areas like a Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Lincoln Square have much more independent places, and frankly on average better food. The best restaurants are not actually in Downtown. They are in areas like Lincoln Park, West Loop/West Town area (i.e. Alinea, L2O, Moto, Next, and just other great "cheaper" eats). There are good places to eat downtown, but a lot cater more towards the tourist since that's where tourists stay. There are some great places, but on average the best are in other areas of the city.
The financial district of Chicago is centered around the "south Loop" whose center is approximately the intersection of LaSalle St and Adams -- lasalle st and adams chicago il - Google Maps ...
Chet, you're confusing the poor fellow.
As you well know (or should), the South Loop is a distinct neighborhood adjacent to, but not part of, the Loop, and starts south of Congress. The Financial District is entirely north of Congress. It is (mostly) in the southern portion of the Loop, traditionally centered along Lasalle from the CBOT building at Jackson north to about Madison, but in the past two decades or so its center of gravity has arguably moved to approximately where the Sears/Willis Tower is, maybe even slightly to the northwest of that near the CME building on Wacker, as many financial firms are now located west of the River. The only meaningful financial operation south of Congress that I can think of is the Northern Trust building along Canal, but that's nearly all back-office operations and it doesn't sound like this guy is going to be doing back office work and it's only one location of one company anyway.
To the O.P.:
$170k is a fine income for a childless couple and will enable a comfortable lifestyle. Contrary to what jonnynonos says, $2,400 will not "get you anything," but it will leave you with good options in any neighborhood. What you choose will boil down to what you want out of a neighborhood and an apartment. You cannot find nice 2-bedroom places downtown for $1,600. You probably can't find any places in the central area with two real bedrooms for $1,600. But if you choose to live in a quieter area for some reason, you definitely can find 2-bedroom places an easy commute to downtown for $1,600 in some neighborhoods outside of downtown. I personally think Wicker Park/Bucktown has the most in common with London, but the central neighborhoods (Streeterville, River North, the Loop, West Loop and South Loop) plus the north lakefront neighborhoods (Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lakeview) are very popular with professionals working downtown. The Lincoln Square and Andersonville neighborhoods are a little longer commute, and slightly quieter than the other ones I've mentioned but still also very popular.
You do say your place in London was $3,400 "once all bills had been paid," which I assume you mean after paying for utilities. Depending on what all you consider part of housing costs (i.e. are you including heating, electricity, water? how about cable TV and internet and phone?) that can impact your budget. Some places here include heat. A few also include air conditioning or basic cable. So if that's part of your $2,400, be sure to include that. Landlords are required to give you a reasonable estimate of your utility costs (heating and electric) if you ask for them. For many 2-bedrooms in places that are either new or have been renovated with modern windows, your annual utility cost would be around $1,400-$2,000 for heat/electricity if you have to pay for both heat and cooling yourself. I have a 2-bedroom place where I pay all utilities myself with gas heat and electric air conditioning and I pay about $1,650 per year for gas and electricity (which also includes gas for cooking and heating water and electricity for TVs, etc). You can get basic cable TV for about $30/month. A nice digital subscription with some premium channels might run around $100/month. Internet service will range from about $30/month for something around 6mbps download speed to as much as $100/month for 75mbps service from local cable provider RCN. Home phones run around $25-30 I think, although I haven't had one in a long time, relying instead on mobile service and the occasional internet call.
Chicago's COL is probably nearly half of London's. That's always been my biggest problem with visiting London. It is so damn expensive.
I have to be careful watching the British version of Top Gear because they'll drive some mid-range luxury car and quote the price in Pounds and I'll be like, "That's pretty reasonable, actually" until I convert it to Dollars!
I don't think the OP took my comment to literally mean it will "get him anything."
He seems fairly intelligent and I am sure we are all aware there are more expensive properties than $2400 a month.
It was an offhanded way of saying it will enable him to live virtually wherever he wants without worrying about which neighborhood to look in--ESPECIALLY compared to London.
I think that is generally more useful than saying "You should look at LaSalle and Dearborn there is a good deal there blah blah blah."
To the OP, if there was any confusion: There are properties in Chicago that will cost you more than $2,400 a month.
Perhaps another poster will care to enumerate them for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emathias
Chet, you're confusing the poor fellow. Contrary to what jonnynonos says, $2,400 will not "get you anything," b
Yes I did appreciate you were essentially saying that budget would leave me with a decent range of options instead of literally anything!
When I said after all bills I meant, gas, elec, cable tv and internet - came to maybe $300per month (and also council tax - though not sure you guys have anything similar as it is a tax on the properties value paid to a very local level of government - about $230 monthly..... yeah the uk loves to tax!)
Have seen quite a few places in chicago that include bills (at least some) - one other thing id like is in-unit washer-dryer - how common is that? Pretty much standard in london, would be nice to keep
The financial district of Chicago is centered around the "south Loop" whose center is approximately the intersection of LaSalle St and Adams -- lasalle st and adams chicago il - Google Maps
That said nearly no younger finance professionals would choose to live particularly close to work. The Chicago weather is such that when winter strikes the prospect of needing to change snow covered shoes and outer layers is rather daunting. Further the neighborhoods nearest the financial district just are not as nice either visually or in terms of amenities as those a bit further north. A nice 10 minute ride on the El (CTA rapid transit) will get you to Lincoln Park where your budget ought to get you a lovely apartment in either a modern high rise or a smaller more charming building. Lincoln Park is filled with expensive shops and dining options which are designed to appeal to folks with high incomes.
If you do have kids and remain employed in a high paying field you ought to have time to navigate the byzantive process of school selection or do as many in your shoes eventually choose to move to a desirable suburb that is a short Metra rail commute away -- Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Station
If you're coming from London, American suburbia will bore you to death. You want to live in River North, Lincoln Park, or possibly Lakeview. Your budget will get you a beautiful 2-bedroom apartment in a high-rise with lake views in any of these neighborhoods.
Even if you have kids soon, there is no need to move to the 'burbs--if you've got a high-enough income. Most Chicago public schools aren't very good, but upper-income people congregate in certain neighborhoods in the city and at least the K-8 schools in those neighborhoods are very solid. And the process is hardly byzantine. The city maintains a website that gives you the school for which any address is zoned. Between that and Trulia, RedFin, and Zillow, it couldn't get any easier. There aren't any public high schools in the city of the same caliber as the good suburban schools, but that particular decision is probably 15+ years away for you.
Note bene: the best food is not in River North, Lincoln Park, etc. Chicago is quite segregated food-wise, so e.g. the best mexican food is going to be in Pilsen, the best Indian food will be around Devon, etc. It's not like London or NYC where you can walk a few blocks and pass 10 great restaurants of different ethnic cuisines.
Last edited by chicagolawyer; 09-05-2012 at 04:29 PM..
Yes I did appreciate you were essentially saying that budget would leave me with a decent range of options instead of literally anything!
When I said after all bills I meant, gas, elec, cable tv and internet - came to maybe $300per month (and also council tax - though not sure you guys have anything similar as it is a tax on the properties value paid to a very local level of government - about $230 monthly..... yeah the uk loves to tax!)
Have seen quite a few places in chicago that include bills (at least some) - one other thing id like is in-unit washer-dryer - how common is that? Pretty much standard in london, would be nice to keep
You don't really get taxed here property wise unless you actually own the property. If you are renting, then you aren't really getting taxed for it. The more expensive buildings will include a lot of amenities in rent. My building has a 24 hour door staff, gym, and I only have to pay for Electricity. Although, the cable included in the building is only a few channels. I pay separately for internet ($40/month), and Satellite TV ($80/month).
In-Unit washer/dryer aren't common unless you live in a newer and nicer buliding IMO (apartments at least). You might be able to get it in your budget if you go for a 2 bedroom, but not every place. Now, if you were talking about a 1 bedroom downtown for $2500/month then you could get it in many places I'm pretty sure. In condo buildings, the in unit washer/dryer would be a lot more common.
Look here for an example of what's available in River North: The Streeter - Pricing (2BR with in-unit washer/dryer starting at $2,800/month, in new building). This isn't even a particularly good deal--you can find very nice units in buildings built in the 1970's (in a modern glass-and-steel high rise, build age isn't as big of a deal if the apartment itself has been renovated) for less.
Look here for an example of what's available in River North: The Streeter - Pricing (2BR with in-unit washer/dryer starting at $2,800/month, in new building). This isn't even a particularly good deal--you can find very nice units in buildings built in the 1970's (in a modern glass-and-steel high rise, build age isn't as big of a deal if the apartment itself has been renovated) for less.
Eh, that place is in Streeterville, not River North. Streeterville tends to have more newer buildings than RN and usually a little bit more expensive.
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