22 year old male looking to move to Chicago

[Durian Beach]

I grew up in the suburbs a stones throw from O'Hare, yet Chicago still creeps me out, I could never imagine living there. Myself, I much prefer Champaign, cheap and affordable, lot's of youth and partying, a "hipster" scene, everything within walking distance so little risk of ending up getting scammed by the "DUI industry." The only issue is a somewhat nasty Ghetto on the north side and a mostly service sector job market.

[Champion Willis]

Thanks for the advice paytonc. I think Im gonna end up in a hotel when I first come and a list of avaliable apartments to check out and get that hands on feel for each area.

[Lovegun]

Let's see. You say your a big city guy but don't necessarily need to live in Chicago? But you want to live 45mins away from downtown and still have access to night life...hmmm. I would consider living in a studio in Evanston. You will need to bump your budget up an extra 100. BTW, I moved here at age 24. I'm at age 26 now and I'm moving out. Live and learn. Chicago is quite expensive.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by cdubs3201

...
First off I wouldn't move here unless you've already locked in some sort of job or stable income. Eventhough Chicago is huge, and has a lot of jobs, it's still hard to find one (Unemployment is at 9.6% and still climbing).

Unemployment is high everywhere right now. Moving is a pretty classic - even necessary - response to an employment crisis. In other words, unless Chicago's unemployment was significantly higher than the national average (and it isn't), the unemployment rate isn't a valid reason not to move here. Most successful cities will always have a slightly higher unemployment rate than other places exactly because people want to move there for the opportunities available, and more new people means more people without jobs.

Originally Posted by cdubs3201

Secondly, there's a ton of people here like yourself, from a small town, trying to run away from something, thinking Chicago is the answer to their problem(s). It's not. No matter where you go, you're still going to have the same problems you think you left in your small town, and you're only going to pile on more problems when you get here.

How do you know he's running away from anything? Not everyone who wants to move somewhere is running away. In fact, most people who move somewhere aren't running away, they're moving to. They're chasing an idea for betterment, not fleeing something. As the Declaration of Independence puts it, "Life, Liberty and the PURSUIT of Happiness."

If his "problem" is that he wants a bigger pool, then "running" to a big city is exactly the right thing for him to do.

Originally Posted by cdubs3201

Getting settled in Chicago isn't easy. It's a big adjustment. Small town life and big city life are COMPLETELY different. I grew up in the suburbs, not urban, but far from small town, and Chicago took me about a year and a half to finally get settled and adjusted to the lifestyle. You said you will only be here 1.5 years. It's going to be a hassle for you. Whatever you think you know about living in a big city, there's probably a lot more you don't realize.

Actually, most suburbs are nothing like small towns. The only real exception are suburbs that were small towns and then got enveloped by development, and that only applies if you actually live in the original part that used to be the small town and not in new, auto-oriented parts. I grew up in a small town surrounded in all directions by farms, forest and vinyards for a minimum of 7 miles in every direction and at least 15 miles from the nearest expressway. That's a small town. And having grown up in a real small town, I have to say that adjusting to big city life is FAR easier than adjusting to suburbs was (I endured 2 1/2 years in suburbs before I just couldn't take it anymore - so dehumanizing compared to small towns and city neighborhoods). Because both most of Chicago and most small towns were built before the car became dominate, the way many Chicago neighborhoods function is more like a small town than 90% of the neighborhoods in the suburbs. With the exception of riding the "L," almost everything about living in "The Big City" related very directly to my life growing up in a small town. Walkable. "Local" shops. Human-scaled neighborhoods. And learning the "L" was not that difficult - they do still teach how to read a train timetable in schools, don't they? I'm only a dozen years older than the OP and they still taught that when I was in school.

Originally Posted by Lovegun

...
Chicago is quite expensive.

True. But keep in mind that most successful cities are expensive compared to the average for their region. Relative to other cities that consider themselves Global, Chicago is still a bargin, though.

[Champion Willis]

$750 is the absolute ceiling and I'm hoping for lower.

As for Evanston, it is actually on my radar for future reference coz I'm thinking about Northwestern University at some time or another.

[Aryan0414]

Chicago is a expensive city! I live one block away from Wrigley Field. My husband and I are looking for a roommate to share our three bedroom house. No kids/one cat. 650 for one bedroom 800 for both. Its a great place to live! Surrounded by restaurants and bars!

[Champion Willis]

Thanks for the offer I guess...?

[catlady_07]

Originally Posted by Champion Willis

The long and short of it is this. I've spent most of my life in a small town, a couple years in a college town. I've always felt like a big city guy stuck in a the wrong place. Now I'm at a point in my life where I am ready to take the leap and (re)start my life in the Chi-town. My plan for the next year and a half in Chicago is: read, work and party. After which I will likely move upstate to one of the state colleges.

As of right now, once I've accquired what I feel is the necessary funds to keep me on my feet, I'm gonig to cut my ties and catch the next flight to the Windy City. To make the move a bit less erratic, I'm looking for advice on an area that fits my criteria.

My budget is $650 a month. I am looking for a place crime-free and easy to access public transit. Other than that, I am not trying to turn a house into a home or make materialistic people think highly of me because of my neighbors. I just want a place I can lay my head at night, and not have to worry about someone breaking in while I'm doing so. Studio apartment, sharing a house, condo, it doesn't really matter.

I'm looking for a location close to the thick of things concerning nightlife because I intended to use it a lot. I went to university in a college town prior and saved hundreds of dollars because of my close proximity to the downtown area. Definitely a plus for me considering I'm only going to be using public transportation.

This is also why, besides the usual shared affection for partying, a close proximity to a decent-sized college campus sounds reasonable, especially if there are any community colleges nearby that I can enroll in during my spare time. Also, I like the fact that housing around college campuses tends to be more affordable. However, I don't want to be in a ghost town during the holidays and summer-time either. At 22, I don't need to surround myself with university students, but in my life so far it has been the main arena for meeting like-minded individuals.

I don't mind diversity, I actually prefer it. I also wouldn't mind staying in a poorer neighborhood as long as gangs and guns aren't present, I don't want anything to do with either and that thread on gangs in Chicago almost made me look elsewhere but I have faith in the city I suppose.

Technically, I don't need to be IN Chicago but if i can live there, why not? If not, I'm thinking no more than a 45 minutes away from downtown. Because I'm going to be asking the question, "Will the public transit allow get me home whenever <random club's name here> closes on a regular basis?" and I know things get a little shoddy as you move out of the main metropolitan area...

So there's what I can think of so far. Hope the responses are good. If I get shot at the place you recommend, my ghost is coming back to e-haunt you.

Definately consider the option of rooming with other people. It will open up your social network and if you move into an area like Lincoln Park or Wicker Park... you can stumble how from the bars and not worry about catching a cab.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by catlady_07

...It will open up your social network and if you move into an area like Lincoln Park or Wicker Park... you can stumble how from the bars and not worry about catching a cab.

And become a perfect target for the jagbags that have been mugging people lately.