Chicago Oppo's, I Need Your Advice.

"Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis" (Dwhite95)
08/22/2016 at 13:37 • Filed to: None

Bump just to hear any more suggestions. I just got a job offer for when I graduate in the spring and chances are I am going to accept it. Biggest thing I would need to figure out is where am I going to live since the job is based in Chicago.

The office is based in the loop about a block off the river, but I’m probably going to be traveling 4 days of the week so being near an airport would be nice. The salary is solid for first job, not 6 figures, but relatively high 5. Any ideas on where I should focus to find somewhere to live for not a crazy amount of money?

DISCUSSION (28)

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 00:39

Englewood or Austin.

Birddog > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 00:55

Indiana. Seriously. You can take the train all the way in and live cheap.

If you’re dead set on the Metro area I’d recommend looking at the Metra rail map. You don’t want to drive. Trust me. Too many people have accepted a 1 or 2 hour (one way!) commute in Chicagoland.

Birddog > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
08/21/2016 at 00:56

Evil.

shop-teacher > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 00:58

If you want to be near O’Hare, then you’re talking about the Western Suburbs. The ones right near the airport are shit, because who the fock wants to live under the takeoff and landing patterns of one of the busiest airports in the world, but once you get just a little bit further away, it gets pretty nice pretty quick. If you look at a map around O’hare, pretty much any town west of I-294 is nice (except Bensenville, it’s too close to O’hare).

For example, I live in a town called Villa Park, a nice suburb with reasonable housing prices, close to O’hare but not too close, and a Metra commuter train stop. Being near a Metra stop is key for living in the suburbs and working in the city. Commuting in and out of the city by car, will make you seriously evaluate the merits of slashing your wrists with a butter-knife.

That said, you being a young guy might want to live in the city proper. Apparently they have things to do at night, and other young people to interact with. I don’t know, that was never my thing. We don’t really have much of that in the suburbs.

I can tell you jack freaking squat about neighborhoods to look at in the city, because I never did that, but I can tell you the CTA Blue line goes directly to O’hare from the city.

If you live in the suburbs on a high five figure salary, you’ll probably be able to afford a place with a garage by yourself (my last rental was a nice 3 bedroom house w/a 2-1/2 car garage for $1200/month). If you live in the city, you’ll probably need a roommate and have to street park. Being a car guy who never really liked going out at night, I always went with the suburbs. It just depends on what your personal priorities are.

Good luck!

shop-teacher > The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123
08/21/2016 at 00:59

Wow, what did he ever do to you?

BIGBLOCK472 - wide and bizarre > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 01:03

Congrats on the job, but 80% travel weekly will eat your soul. It's fun for a while though! I just left an 80-100% (Sunday - Thursday/Friday) job that I had for 5 years. At first it was 80% then it slowly crept up to 100% or whatever the client wanted, whenever. I saw the writing on the wall so I transferred to our parent company which is M-F desk job with two telecommuting days. Of course, I had to move to Nashville but still... I love having a desk now and riding on airplanes will be fun once again.

Birddog > shop-teacher
08/21/2016 at 01:10

^^ This guy gets it! I escaped and moved to Almost Iowa.

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 01:19

i hear dumpsters are cheap right?

screw chicago traffic.

uofime-2 > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 01:27

Wicker park is hip and reasonably priced but s bit of a hike to the loop with good highway access.

Living in the loop is really expensive and generally not the most fun place.

West loop is more up and coming so more affordable but still not that fun, terrible parking and not the best highway access.

River north is really close kinda high priced and parking will be an issue but it’s s nice, fun area. Highway access isn’t great but not as bad as loop.

Lincoln park is s little further north but has good access to else and busses to the loop~20mins. Ok access to highway depending on where exactly you are. Kinda pricy, street parking is generally reasonable. Fun area

You can mov further north to lakeview and wrigleyville. Cheaper still, lots of young people, very fun. Parking can be a pain but not horrible. Not great highway access and your commute to the loop is getting longer

DeLM > shop-teacher
08/21/2016 at 07:40

I’m oringanally from Elmwood Park! Right on!.

DeLM > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 07:48

https://www.metrarail.com/ this is the train, it has a lot of lines that travel quite far, a couple of them go right past O’Hare and stop there, they end in the middle of the loop, I used to work at Merchandise mart and I would take the train in and walk up Canal st. This way you have a lot of options of where you can go and get to work and the airport relatively easy. the month pass for the train was lik$230, but I lived on the Wisconsin boarder.(this was about 2.5 years ago could have gone up. River North is Nice but crazy expensive. Lincoln park is good and the price has been coming down but it is not walking distance from the loop. either way, Congrats on the Job!

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 08:49

As a person that travels to Chicago for work, I like to fly into O’hare and then jump on the blue line to get to our corporate offices by the UIC halsted stop. It's about an hour on the train, but no traffic worries and consistent service. On the way in, there seem to be some nicer neighborhoods along the corridor the train runs through. I don't know enough of the city to tell what's what, but I know the proximity to the CTA service is nice and can alleviate some commuting headaches. So as long as you can find an area you like that has easy train access, you should be good to go. Especially if you find yourself flying out of Chicago regularly.

shop-teacher > DeLM
08/21/2016 at 09:27

Small world!

shop-teacher > DeLM
08/21/2016 at 09:30

My brother-in-law just started commuting by Metra a couple weeks ago. I believe he said the monthly pass was still $230.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 10:27

It sounds like someplace on the north branch of the Blue line will be a good fit for you. I would recommend Lincoln Square because it’s a little less hipster filled than Wicker Park, but there’s plenty of neighborhoods to pick from. You can get to both OHare and the Loop with ease. It’s fairly easy to find off street parking with an apartment, garage spots are much harder to come by.

Ike > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/21/2016 at 11:08

i would recommend maybe Naperville, you would be commuteing, but it has a great downtown and is close to Ohare and midway.

Also perhaps Bolingbrook (close to the promenade, because of commute, midway is close Ohare not far)

itaska (cheap and close to Ohare)

I now live in Maryland so some of my info may be slightly out of date, but I grew up thee

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/22/2016 at 13:40

Gary, Indiana.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/22/2016 at 13:48

My friend works in Chicago and lives in the Sheridan Park neighborhood, a bit north of Wrigley. He likes where he lives and I don’t think it’s too bad rent wise.

philipilihp > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/22/2016 at 14:06

I’ve only lived in Hyde Park myself, which is a really nice neighborhood. It’s the University of Chicago’s neighborhood, so it’s relatively safe, quiet, green, and reasonable amounts of street parking. Plenty of easy bus access to downtown, the #6 takes you right up lake shore drive and stops right by the river on State/Wacker. Metra is always an option there as well, of course, with plenty of stops in Hyde Park between 57th and 47th. And the #55 takes you to Midway airport in 30 min. O’Hare is trickier by public transit, between bus and blue line it’ll take close to 45 min.

Where have all the lightweights gone? > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/22/2016 at 14:11

You might want to look in the suburbs, too. I just moved into a condo in Downers Grove that’s a little over a mile from a Metra (commuter rail) station. We paid just around $100k for 2BR/1BA with a LOT of guest parking. HOA fees are $335/mo and include water and heat.

When you factor in a Metra monthly pass at around $175/mo, you’re adulting pretty well with more disposable income than if you lived in the city.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/22/2016 at 14:16

I suggest you become Oprah’s live-in dog groomer.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/22/2016 at 14:34

I lived in Chicago for five years and had to Google to figure out where that neighborhood was. Glad to see they keep slicing up Uptown and renaming it to make it less scary.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Little Black Coupe Turned Silver
08/22/2016 at 14:52

Haha...has that area traditionally been a “bad” area? My friend has been there for 4 years now and I can’t say I’ve ever heard him complain about it or have anything happen to him. It seems like a decent area any time I’ve been there to visit.

Bigjohn428 > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/22/2016 at 14:56

Ok, If you’re not worried about a place with a garage, You need to be in the Wrigleville area. North side of the city, lots and lots of public transportation to the loop and either airport. You are young go be with all the people your age and have some fun.

Little Black Coupe Turned Silver > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/22/2016 at 15:06

It’s been up and down. Back in the day Al Capone hung out there at the Green Mill. John Dillinger had an apartment in the building across the street from where I used to live. From about the 70s/80s on, Uptown has been a “bad” area, but it has pockets that are nicer, like the streets of all historic mansions. I lived there for two years, I’m still alive. The nicer pockets keep breaking away as they get better, and Uptown on a whole is getting better.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/22/2016 at 15:09

**Discalimer: This is a little long, sorry. Also, this is based on a decade of my wife and I renting in various neighborhoods in the city and having finally purchased a home in May. Just opinions, not necessarily facts.**

The nice is that we have great public transport so almost anywhere it will be relatively easy to get to/from work. This is not set in stone, but don’t go west of Western Ave, for safety reasons.

The Gold Coast/River North/Old Town neighborhood is way over priced and full of tourists who have no idea how to be a functional human in a big city. Also full of residents who live there just to say they live there. Rent is fucking crazy. Don’t live there.

Fulton River District is nice, and growing, but very overpriced with minimal things to do that would excite you. Though there are great restaurants in FRD.

West Loop has great food and some good entertainment. Prices here are high, it’s a weird mix of trendy and family. Not a bad place. Worth considering. It’s trendiness has plateaued, I think, fairly recently.

Most first timers usually end up in Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park, or Lakeview. Nice neighborhoods with more to do than you have time for. Rent can be fair or over priced, a little homework and the right person helping you and you can find a decent place for a fair price. Good starter neighborhoods while you get acquainted with your new home and figure out where you might want to be more permanent.

We live on the outer edge of Bucktown/Wicker Park. Again, lots to do, very trendy as you move more into the heart of the neighborhood but (like every other neighborhood here) home prices and rent are inflated a bit . But it’s very livable.

Which brings us to Ukrainian Village/West Town. You can find very nice, spacious places that may not be the most modern, but are certainly quite charming. Easy access to every neighborhood, up and coming so there are all kinds of new developments popping up all the time. Depending on budgetary and space requirements this would be a good place to start.

tl;dr — Start in Ukrainian Village/West Town; consider Lincoln Park/Lakeview and Wrigleyville as they’re good for first time residents; consider Bucktown/Wicker Park; don’t consider Old Town/River North/Gold Coast because $$$$!!!! Don’t go west of Western Ave.

WiscoProud > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
08/22/2016 at 15:36

If you can swing it, I would look in the west loop/Greektown area. It should be walking distance to work and the blue line is an easy ride to O'Hare. I lived there for four years. Great area, good food and bars on Madison and Randolph, and its easy to get pretty much anywhere as its centrally located.

WiscoProud > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
08/22/2016 at 15:38

I lived in Sheridan park from roughly 2012 to 2014. Nice big apartments, but crime does bleed over from the rougher parts of Uptown. Only place I lived in Chicago where I actually heard gun shots. However, now that the city seems to be pumping money into Uptown, the area may be changing for the better.