grad student early 20s place to live. help plz :) (Chicago: apartments, home)

[meli21090]

I am attending Loyola univ for grad school. Most of my classes will take place on the Maywood campus. I will probably have to travel to Maywood like 3 times a week. I am willing to have a 30min commute to Maywood. I want to experience urban living with shops and nightlife. I also want to feel safe since I will be a female living alone. My budget is around $900 a month. I have done a little research and Lincoln park, Lake View, and gold coast seem to be good choices. Does anyone know of any other places that would suit my desires? How do places like oak park & bucktown compare? I am open to any suggestions

[ChicagoMeO]

Forest Park, which is the town west of Oak Park has some apartments that are reasonably priced. You can get a nice apartment for less money.. and it is a nice area.

[marothisu]

Well, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Gold Coast, etc is not going to work for a 30 minute commute to Maywood unless you leave early in the morning when not many people are on the road...coming back home though would be a different story. Not to mention that $900/month in those areas will buy you only a studio..unless that's what you want (maybe a one bedroom in Lakeview, but not a great one).

Anyway, I would suggest looking in an area like Pilsen. Lot of good Mexican food and such, some bars, very artsy there, but not a ton of nightlife. However, it's on the Pink Line train so you can do that. The problem with your constraints are wanting to live in the city with all that nightlife and wanting a 30 minute commute. You are kind of sacrificing that by living there. Or as someone mentioned, you can go to the suburb of Forest Park, which has nightlife and it's not like Chicago but it's better than your stereotypical suburb. It's also the last stop on the Blue Line train which runs 24 hours/day and it would put you close to your school.