Absolutely clueless and need help! (Chicago, Lincoln: rent, home, transferring to)

[shooz cuz]

Aloha and advance thanks for your help. I'm transferring to Chicago from Hawaii in May and am absolutely clueless as to where to start looking for a place to live. I'm looking for somewhere that is/has:

~relatively safe for a woman to walk a dog alone
~walking distance to some fun bars
~vintage architecture (or at least an eclectic feel to the neighborhood)
~decent rent (around $1400-$1700 a month)

Based upon what I've read here I've been looking at the Lincoln Park/Old Town/Wicker Park areas, am I heading in the right direction for what I'm looking for?

Are there any other neighborhoods that may be worth looking at? I'll be working out of Calamut Harbor so I would like to keep the commute time down to around a 1/2 hour if possible....

Thanks!

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by shooz cuz

~decent rent (around $1400-$1700 a month)

Boy, wish that was my idea of "decent"

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by shooz cuz

Aloha and advance thanks for your help. I'm transferring to Chicago from Hawaii in May and am absolutely clueless as to where to start looking for a place to live. I'm looking for somewhere that is/has:

~relatively safe for a woman to walk a dog alone
~walking distance to some fun bars
~vintage architecture (or at least an eclectic feel to the neighborhood)
~decent rent (around $1400-$1700 a month)

Based upon what I've read here I've been looking at the Lincoln Park/Old Town/Wicker Park areas, am I heading in the right direction for what I'm looking for?

Are there any other neighborhoods that may be worth looking at? I'll be working out of Calamut Harbor so I would like to keep the commute time down to around a 1/2 hour if possible....

Thanks!

Those are good, also look at Lakeview.

[Avengerfire]

Keep in mind just because an area is decent, that does not mean you should get sloshed and think you can walk home alone at any time of night and be safe. Perps like to lurk where and when people are least to expect them.

[wickedripeplum]

I would say that all those neighborhoods fufill your requirements except maybe for the commute. If you're trying to keep your commute down you might want to try Hyde Park too, since you're working on the way south side.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

The Dan Ryan expressway is pretty fast these days. Still, working way down there might make the North Side unrealistic. Hyde Park is nice, but I think the South Loop might be more what you're looking for.

[shooz cuz]

Thanks again for everyones help, I know the housing subject has been beaten like a dead horse on this forum so thanks for taking the time to hook me up.

Sooo, with that being said I have a couple more questions.

What's the traffic situation like? I'm used to 1+ hours to go about 5 miles (no joke, Honolulu traffic is a nightmare.) Is it comparable/better (or worse)? Does the traffic flow with the city? (Rush in the morning to the city, rush in the afternoon out). Can I expect being gridlocked traveling down to Calumet from the city at 6-7 am?

[Drover]

6am, no. 7am, yes, from the North side to downtown anyway. Rush hour starts to build at about 6:30am, so as long as you're past downtown by then, you should be OK. That's because traffic on the south side isn't too bad courtesy of the 14-lane Dan Ryan Expressway. No other part of the city has anything like a 14-lane expressway, so it flows pretty decently even during rush hour compared to the rest of the expressways and many parts of the tollways. But for the most part, there really isn't any such thing as a "reverse commute" any more. Traffic now sucks pretty equally in all directions during rush hour.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by Drover

6am, no. 7am, yes, from the North side to downtown anyway. Rush hour starts to build at about 6:30am, so as long as you're past downtown by then, you should be OK. That's because traffic on the south side isn't too bad courtesy of the 14-lane Dan Ryan Expressway. No other part of the city has anything like a 14-lane expressway, so it flows pretty decently even during rush hour compared to the rest of the expressways and many parts of the tollways. But for the most part, there really isn't any such thing as a "reverse commute" any more. Traffic now sucks pretty equally in all directions during rush hour.

Yeah, you're actually lucking out in terms of the expressway you'll be taking. Just a few months ago, really, the Dan Ryan was total mess (while this construction was underway). Now it's the best expressway in the city. If you're leaving even the North Side by 6, you can make some great (read "moving at quickly as speed limits allow") time down Lakeshore or the Kennedy and onto the Dan Ryan, on out to Calumet.

[youngurbanprofessional]

I think regardless of North or South side, as long as you're not too far from the Red Line you'll be alright.

I would NOT recommend Hyde Park, South loop is a better recommendation, but there's not exactly a whole lot going on there right now. It's in sort of a rehabilitation as a neighborhood. It's up and coming, maybe isn't super exciting now, but it should develop to a nice area in the next few years. Nice areas like wicker park/bucktown used to be in this rehabilitation stage and is now a pretty happening area.