Moving to chicago, where do I live?

[daveymark]

If you're working on the south side, the farthest south you'll want to live in city proper is Hyde Park.

EDIT: i just saw your map. you won't be able to take the EL anywhere close to that location. Probably best to do as the other poster said and live in indiana.

 

[K1052]

As to the housing market in Chicago condo sales have been dropping like a rock over the last year. As a consequence speculators are stuck with units they can't move so they decide to rent them out instead. Condos typically rent for a little more than normal apartments but have a LOT more amenities (washer/dryer, dishwasher, new facilites, pools, exercise rooms, etc..). Check with the various apt search people to see what they can find.

Stumbled across this on CL: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/594103087.html

South Loop, new condo building, right on top of the Roosevelt CTA stop. $1500 parking included. Gives you the option of driving down the Dan Ryan/Bishop Ford, LSD to Stony Island, or taking the South Shore Electric.

As for the people advocating you live in the burbs, that's fine if thats what you want to do. Personally you couldn't drag me to the burbs with a truck. I'm not married, I have no kids, and I like actually having stuff to do.

 

[MotionMan]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: MotionMan

Originally posted by: Fmr12B
Yes its expensive, yes parking is horrible. But its a terriffic neighborhood.

Yeah, you can enjoy it after working two double-shifts to pay the rent and driving around for two hours to find a parking space.



MotionMan

Renting a space in LP runs 150-200 per month. Depending on where exactly you're talking about street parking might not be that terrible. The closer you get to the park though the worse it gets.

The OP said his budget is 1500/mo for an apartment. It is more than possible to find a 1bd apt and parking under that in (near) downtown neighborhoods.

I was being facetious.

MotionMan

 

[elektrolokomotive]

Originally posted by: Que-TiP

Originally posted by: arrfep
Seriously? WTF are you getting a job in a steel mill or something? That will be a PITA commmute. But at least you won't be living down there. The farthest south I'd be comfortable living is Pilsen. BTW, there was just a shooting today in the area you'll be commuting to. One dead, one in the hospital. It was over a dice game gone wrong. So I hope you're not a big gambler.

Anyway, best of luck.

haha, no not a steel mill, but it is a more blue collar position than I have now.
But I will not live there, so I'm looking in downtown. I'm just trying to understand what the commute will be like? I do 40 mins now, and I can do that again, but I don't want it to take an hour or more.

p.s. i will stay away from the dice games by work.

If you're planning on living on the north side, your commute will be well over 40 minutes. Multiply by a possible factor of 2 depending on the exact location of your job. Count on it.


Edited for poor spelling

 

[austin316]

Where I live in LP, street parking is readily available.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Schaumberg is a very nice and affordable area.

If you shop around in Streamwood you can get some nice places as well.

Affordable? I'm in Rolling Meadows and looking to get out of my condo and into a house. None of the homes in the NW suburbs are affordable.

And the commute from the NW burbs to the south side would suck! I've made the drive to Harborside golfcourse which is shown on the map from the OP and it has taken anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on traffic.

As someone else mentioned, look into NW Indiana. Much cheaper and the commute won't be too bad.

 

[Platypus]

Why the hell are people suggesting suburbs that are 2+ hours away.. have you ever commuted in and out of Chicago?!

ScottMac.. did.... did Chicago... touch you...? down there?

 

[elektrolokomotive]

Born and raised in Chicago. Lived there for 42 years before I moved to Seattle. The worst commute I had in the Chicago area was when I was living in Bucktown and had to drive to Itasca every day.

 

[Steve]

LOL @ Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, etc.


OP, where on the south side is your work? What neighborhood or suburb? Alsip? Tinley Park? Where?

EDIT: Just saw your map above. Blue Island is a short drive nearby (west) and a nice neighborhood, I'll be there Sunday after the parade. There's a Metra line into town inbetween there and where you linked.

 

[ScottMac]

Originally posted by: Platypus
Why the hell are people suggesting suburbs that are 2+ hours away.. have you ever commuted in and out of Chicago?!

ScottMac.. did.... did Chicago... touch you...? down there?

I lived on the NW side (Addison / Austin) for 14 years. I worked in Elmhurst most of that time. Now I live in Wheeling and work in Hoffman Estates.

I'm looking into moving (at the least) to DuPage, possibly to Wisconsin, since I can work from home / telecommute more that I used to be able to.

OP: Before you move to the city, into one of those "good deal" rents .. also check out what your car insurance will be. Typical is nearly double the rate in the city (the closer to the city, the higher the rate, with "in the city" being the highest, and regions in the city going potentially higher. For example, my rate (no tickets, no accidents, SUV, 40+ years old, was 1450.00 (full coverage), 100/300 ... when I moved to Wheeling, it dropped to 675.00 (a year).

Vehicle sticker is (was?) $85.00 a year. Neighborhood stickers so you can park on the street in your neighborhood (unless it a
"Snow Route" where you can't park there at all if there's snow) cost you. Gas costs ~0.30-0.50 more in the city. Every "sin tax" is much more. Restaurant food is taxed more in the city. Groceries cost more.

As far as the touching ... no. Da Mayor ("I'm not an idiot, I just sound like one"), and President Toad (easy to find, he's got Danny Davis standing behind him making his mouth move), and Blago the Gov ("Official A" on Rezko's indictment) are all into to full bend-you-over mode.

It may cost more to rent out of the city, but the cost of EVERYTHING you buy or use is less (with some rare exceptions). Living in Indiana is still probably his best move.

Chicago is "a nice place to visit" and is by far my favorite "big city" ... but I lived there, but it Sux Delux to be a resident because of the POS politicians (all Democrat, BTW) running the city, county, and state have to hire all their friends, relatives, and neighbors @ 100K+ each, all while running on a deficit budget.

Go ahead, move into the city .... but be prepared to handle all the additional overhead.

Good luck

Scott

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Que-TiP
moving for work, the office is on the way south side of town.
I want to live in the city, close to EL stop, in a decent neighborhood, and i will need parking [I have a motorcycle too].
1 or 2 bedroom. Any ideas of how to find a place? CL?
muchas gracias!

CL is best to find apartment.

Do not rent from Biel (or Beal management, whatever they're called).

I've lived in Lakeview for the last 5 years, which is great for public transportation and local everything (groceries, bars, restaurants, theaters, anything), but parking is dreadful. I would suggest ditching the second vehicle.

If work is on the Southside, look in the Cermack/Chinatown neighborhood or South Loop. rent is cheaper in Chinatown, (location sucks though, imo), and parking would be easier/cheaper. Finding places in popular neighborhoods (Lakeview, LP, etc) that offer parking will be about $100-200 per month for parking. Otherwise it's street parking....which is a PITA.

One are to consider is Roscoe Village, still Northside, west of Lakeview. Cheaper rent, and more manageable street parking. One or two Brown line stops in the area.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Que-TiP
wow I went out for some beers and there are replys!

Fmr12B-
Yeah I heard lincoln park and bucktown are decent. Also wicker park, old town? Is there a way to rank these places best to worst?

alkemyst-
Hoping to drop under $1500, but i guess i'm negotiable. Will the commute from lincoln park to the map below be bad???
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=...e=UTF8&z=14&iwloc=addr

Holy!

uh, that will suck. the only good thing about that is if you drive to work, you will be heading the best direction for rush hour traffic.

El doesn't matter for you. You need Metra.

 

[zinfamous]

as far as North Indiana suggestions...have you considered Gary? :evil:

 

[chuckywang]

Originally posted by: ScottMac

Chicago, Cook County, Illinois are major tax whores. Taxes just went up across the board, such that in most areas in Chicago, sales tax is now 10.25% (the "zone" in the Loop is 11.25%), a bottle of water now has an *additional* $1.00 tax, regardless of the bottle size (so a case of water now costs $24.00 extra).

Sales tax in Chicago is 9%. I bought something from Microcenter and the tax rate was 9%.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: chuckywang

Originally posted by: ScottMac

Chicago, Cook County, Illinois are major tax whores. Taxes just went up across the board, such that in most areas in Chicago, sales tax is now 10.25% (the "zone" in the Loop is 11.25%), a bottle of water now has an *additional* $1.00 tax, regardless of the bottle size (so a case of water now costs $24.00 extra).

Sales tax in Chicago is 9%. I bought something from Microcenter and the tax rate was 9%.

this went through last week. I believe the rate hike will hit quite soon.

 

[daveymark]

rate hike takes effect later this year

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Schaumberg is a very nice and affordable area.

If you shop around in Streamwood you can get some nice places as well.

Schaumburg FTW!

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: Acanthus
Schaumberg is a very nice and affordable area.

If you shop around in Streamwood you can get some nice places as well.

Schaumburg FTW!

and amazingly, it's about an hour north of Chicago. considering that the OP will be working 45 minutes south of Chicago, this would be a terrible idea.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: Dimmu

Originally posted by: compman25
If you're moving to Chicago I bet you'll be living in Chicago.

compman25, that's some sage-like advice there. :laugh:

Actually based on the OP's profile I'd bet on Troy, Michigan.

He won't live in Chicago until after he moves!

 

[FallenHero]

Joliet actually has some nice areas and is SW of Chicago. Plainfield is growing, but I think that might be getting pretty far out for you. Just don't move into the south side and you will be safe.

 

[Dimmu]

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: Dimmu

Originally posted by: compman25
If you're moving to Chicago I bet you'll be living in Chicago.

compman25, that's some sage-like advice there. :laugh:

Actually based on the OP's profile I'd bet on Troy, Michigan.

He won't live in Chicago until after he moves!

Brilliant! :laugh:

But in all seriousness... I live in Lincoln Park, and you can get a nice apartment in an amazing area here with the kind of money you specified.

 

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: Que-TiP
wow I went out for some beers and there are replys!

Fmr12B-
Yeah I heard lincoln park and bucktown are decent. Also wicker park, old town? Is there a way to rank these places best to worst?

alkemyst-
Hoping to drop under $1500, but i guess i'm negotiable. Will the commute from lincoln park to the map below be bad???
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=...e=UTF8&z=14&iwloc=addr

Dude that is not anywhere even close to Chicago proper. You will have to drive.

That is also a really really crappy area. If you want to live somewhere nice, you will have to drive far.



EDIT: ok so maybe it is in chicago proper, but that area is nowhere near an el station.
It looks to be fairly close to The South Shore Line metra, which runs from the Chicago Loop into Indiana.

Based on this I would live in Portage, IN. It's pretty nice and has a lot of new development so housing prices should be somewhat stable.

It's right on the South Shore Line.

Inbound: Schedule (Portage/Ogden Dunes station) -> (Hegewisch station).
Outbound: Schedule (Hegewisch station) -> (Portage/Ogden Dunes station).

Trust me you do NOT want to live in the city if you have to take south shore outbound.

 

[ebaycj]

Originally posted by: Steve
LOL @ Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, etc.


OP, where on the south side is your work? What neighborhood or suburb? Alsip? Tinley Park? Where?

EDIT: Just saw your map above. Blue Island is a short drive nearby (west) and a nice neighborhood, I'll be there Sunday after the parade. There's a Metra line into town inbetween there and where you linked.

I wouldn't exactly call Blue Island a "nice neighborhood".

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by: ebaycj

Originally posted by: Steve
LOL @ Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, etc.


OP, where on the south side is your work? What neighborhood or suburb? Alsip? Tinley Park? Where?

EDIT: Just saw your map above. Blue Island is a short drive nearby (west) and a nice neighborhood, I'll be there Sunday after the parade. There's a Metra line into town inbetween there and where you linked.

I wouldn't exactly call Blue Island a "nice neighborhood".

What I've seen of it has been nice, maybe I've only been in the nice part.