Chicago for single woman in early 30's (Evanston, Oak Park: attorney, neighborhood)

[iheartlisbon]

As far as living goes, I'm still exploring my work options, which lucky for me, are many.
Here's what I would ideally like, but I'm flexible
*I'm into yoga, cross-fit, and I like to run so I'd like an area with access to parks and gyms/yoga studios close by
*If my neighbors were also in their 30's, that'd be a bonus. I'd rather live by people who are older though than live around college age people or hipsters
*I speak Portuguese & Spanish. I like ethnic diversity. I lived in Portugal for 5 years, so if I could find a place with markets that have entire pigs hanging in the meat display counter, old women yelling to each other from their windows, and a mixture of about 10 different pungent smells, that'd be cool- seriously!
*I do have a car but don't want to have to use it often, and I don't want to pay a lot for monthly parking
*I'd like to spend around $800-900 a month for a one bedroom apartment. If I could get as low as $700 without having bed bugs for roommates, that'd be even better. I may consider getting a roommate, but currently as I type, my 30-something roommate is letting her dog take a pee in the house which she won't get up to clean until around 2PM....sigh...

[marothisu]

The beauty of Chicago is that there is good public transit where if you live in one area, you aren't necessarily cut off from the rest of everything. So the areas that you describe may be ones that don't have a crossfit gym, but there may be one in another neighborhood close by. Chicago has a large Mexican population and other smaller ones from other Latin-American countries (Smaller is relative. There's 600,000 people in Chicago of Mexican descent and over 1 million in the area). There are Brazilians here but I don't think a ton of Portuguese. I have a friend from Portugal here who grew up in Brazil who lives downtown, but he is kind of saddened by the lack of true Portuguese food in town. There is some but maybe not as much as NYC or Toronto.

The budget won't afford you anything downtown, but you could probably live in an area like Pilsen which is a few miles SW of downtown and largely Mexican, but also kind of artsy/hipster at the same time with some of the non Hispanic residents. It's on the Pink Line train but owning a car there is easier than it is in some of the other dense parts of town. I know someone on this forum lives in the area and has a 2 bedroom for under $800/month. Some of the main streets can be pretty vibrant too with people selling stuff on the street and what not. Some good food in the area.

I met someone too who has a similar set up for that price. You may also want to check out areas like Logan Square or Avondale which is also still majority Hispanic and in these areas it is more than just Mexican Hispanic as far as the food goes. Maybe even Albany Park which is a big melting pot for people (East Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic). I'd say for Pilsen you could probably find a 1 or even 2 bedroom for your price, but the other areas you may have to go the way of a studio/convertible type of set up. Best to look around to see what you can get.

Oddly enough, the place I actively notice pigs hanging in windows is Chinatown. That is something you'll absolutely see there but it's not Latin there

[Bucktownbabe]

People in Chicago are probably a little more marriage-minded than in NY or DC, but not nearly as much as in smaller towns in the Midwest and (especially) South. I actually like that people in Chicago aren't so marriage-obsessed, though.

[marothisu]

^ I think it depends on where you are. Chicago actually has the second smallest percentage of married people of any city in the US. Only Philadelphia has a smaller percentage. There are a lot of marriage minded people here, and there's a lot of people who aren't for sure.

Grace Nasri: Top 7 Cities for Single Women (and Men)

Of course, this doesn't count the number of people in a relationship, but married wise? There's a ton of single people in Chicago.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by Bucktownbabe

People in Chicago are probably a little more marriage-minded than in NY or DC, but not nearly as much as in smaller towns in the Midwest and (especially) South. I actually like that people in Chicago aren't so marriage-obsessed, though.

Its all relative though. Out here in California single people in their 20s and 30s are widespread across many different areas across say, LA County. In Chicago you will only get that feeling if one restricts oneself to the usual suspect popular, urban neighborhoods (LP, LV, WP, RN, etc>) then yes, there can be a seemingly endless source of single people

I know for me personally, I have become much more relaxed, and an able to have fun socializing allowing things to naturally happen out here in LA, whereas at least in the areas I hung out in in the Chicago area, it felt like single women were a scarcity. Largely because I don't have to restrict myself to certain neighborhoods, and many more people are fine with driving further distances for social activities/events.

[Bucktownbabe]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

whereas at least in the areas I hung out in in the Chicago area, it felt like single women were a scarcity.

Wow...Where were you hanging out? The suburbs?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Bucktownbabe

Wow...Where were you hanging out? The suburbs?

No ****... The article I posted also takes data from the CDC, and it's the entire city of Chicago, not just select neighborhoods. Around 35% of people in Chicago, the city, are married and that is the second fewest of any city in the US.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by marothisu

No ****... The article I posted also takes data from the CDC, and it's the entire city of Chicago, not just select neighborhoods. Around 35% of people in Chicago, the city, are married and that is the second fewest of any city in the US.

Sure, but that doesn't necessarily translate to where would be the best city for dating. Its just as open to interpretation as those studies that show which cities has more men, which have more women.

First off, those differences in percentages are sort of minimal in some cases.

Secondly, cities that have a larger foreign born population are going to have an overall (both New York and LA have a larger foreign born population than Chicago) higher marriage rate, as foreign born are more conservative when it comes to that.

Thirdly it makes it much more challenging as some cities have many singles hot spots that are outside the city limits. For example, some of LAs biggest singles hotspots are not in the city of LA. (Santa Monica, West Hollywood, even Hermosa Beach, possibly Pasadena, etc., etc.).

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by Bucktownbabe

Wow...Where were you hanging out? The suburbs?

I lived in Oak Park for two years before I moved out to California. Most of the people in their twenties/thirties were young couples, married or engaged that moved. There were certainly some singles I met that lived in Oak Park/Forest Park, etc.

Judging by your username, I assume you live in Bucktown? Well, those are one of those "usual suspect" neighborhoods (I included WP). I did a quick search at your previous posts. You mentioned McKinley Park, as being mostly residential and boring, but close to Pilsen, etc. Well, Chicago has a lot more neighborhoods that are just like McKinley Park than Bucktown.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing. For those who love the concentrated, compact, never leaving far from your neighborhood because you don't have to, Chicago can be one of the best cities if your single.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Sure, but that doesn't necessarily translate to where would be the best city for dating. Its just as open to interpretation as those studies that show which cities has more men, which have more women.

First off, those differences in percentages are sort of minimal in some cases.

Secondly, cities that have a larger foreign born population are going to have an overall (both New York and LA have a larger foreign born population than Chicago) higher marriage rate, as foreign born are more conservative when it comes to that.

Thirdly it makes it much more challenging as some cities have many singles hot spots that are outside the city limits. For example, some of LAs biggest singles hotspots are not in the city of LA. (Santa Monica, West Hollywood, even Hermosa Beach, possibly Pasadena, etc., etc.).

Sure, in some areas it's more evident because some areas people are more apt to entertain in their own homes or go to their friend's/acquaintances homes, and in other areas there's more nightlife and people are more out and about. I guess I don't find this any different than other large US cities. Certainly there are some neighborhoods that have more married people,

In the end even if every single person was single in Near North Side, Near West Side, Near South Side, Loop, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and West Town - that's a total population of 396,671 people, or 14.7% of the population of Chicago. If 65% of people in Chicago are currently single, then that means there's 1,752,138 single people in Chicago. Subtracting the above, that leaves 1,355,467 single people out of a possible 2,298,927. That means 58.9% of people are single in all other areas of town outside of the big nightlife areas, or a marriage rate of 41.1%, which would still make it #2 in the US just slightly ahead of Los Angeles.

If you increased the above to say everyone in Logan Square, Avondale, North Center and Lincoln Square is single, that's another 184,217 people, or all together 580,888. That leaves 1,171,250 single people in other areas of town, which would be 50.9%, or 49.1%, which isn't too far away from Houston at #7.