Apartment advice (Chicago: apartments, rental, safe neighborhoods)

[Ankhharu]

Hello all,
I am a 32 year old actor moving to Chicago this August and wanted to get some locals advice. I have dipped in here periodically over the past year as I've always been in love with Chicago since my first trip there years ago. I've lived here in Dallas for 12 years and I'm finally making my great escape. In that time, I've used apartment finders, websites, magazines and the good ole fashioned way of "driving around" to find apartments here. In that 12 years I've found the best method of finding an apartment here is combination of apartment guide magazines and driving around. Others say they have found luck with apartment locator's but I have found them useless when looking for great deals for the most part. So, seeing how every city is different, I wanted to get the locals advice on what you considered the best method of apartment hunting in Chicago or if I should continue to apply my usual method of trying all methods. I guess this is somewhat of a ridiculous question in that common sense should dictate that you use all available tools, however, I guess I'm looking for the "secret" to finding the best places as they aren't always advertised, or general advice to make my search more efficient and/or successful.


One more thing, I've done many searches on here and have a good idea of what the safe neighborhoods are, one area in which 2 of my friends who are also making the move this summer are trying to convince me to check into. That area is Wrigleyville. I have one minor issue with Wrigleyville. It appears to be affordable and safe as my friends has suggested, and I'd love nothing more than to live near 2 of the 3 people I know in the city, especially since 2 of them are former residence, however, as a die hard White Sox fan since 1989, what kind of a person would I be to live in the heart of cubbie land? Is this a feasible option or am I just crazy?

TIA for any info

[Drover]

I believe it is against city ordinance for White Sox fans to live north of Lake Street and for Cubs fans to live south of it...

[soulful]

I've utilized many methods of apartment hunting. I find the listings on Craigslist to be very comprehensive and you might want to check out the Chicago Reader also.

There are also apartment rental services that charge a fee to the landlord.

I would use all of the above in my search