A hidden gem is A Tavola in Uki Village. On Chicago near Hoyne. Dinner for two with a good wine about $200 but this place is really great for a date night. Small and romantic.

DO NOT buy in any building operated by American Invsco. However, their foreclosure ridden buildings are often good for rentals. AI rents out units in Plaza 440, 10 Ontario, 33 West Ontario and Sterling for "investors" who massively overpaid a few years ago.

Poor construction is a huge issue with newer building in Chicago so be very, very cautious if buying.

HI GUYS!


I am moving to chicago, either next month or in January, I have been wanting to move there for a few years, and used to go up all the time in my early twenties (Im 28).

I was offered a job, but am not sure if I am going to take it yet as its not exactly what I want to do (looking for an IT security job in the financial district if anyone knows of anything); it has been about 5 or 6 years since I have been up there and always stayed with college friends so we hung out at college type places. W/o reading this whole thread (I will if someone says my answers are already contained here) I have a few questions:

Im 28, have a car, and am single, I want to get my student loans paid off before Im 32-33, so I dont want to blow a ton on rent (1250$ would be ideal for a decent place?), but I want something that isnt a **** hole. How is the single scene for late 20s/early 30s? The cost of living calcs that I have found seem way off, Im in St louis now, and there is like a 35% difference in COL, of which I dont think is accurate (every time I went up there things did not seem like they were that much more expensive). What areas are good for my age bracket (ie I dont want to have to creep on 19 year olds EVERY weekend, just some). I live in an area now that is probably one of the worst in the country in terms of crime etc, but there are small tracts of neighborhoods that are super super nice, and the rental in a price per sq ft/amenities is sick, anywhere up there like this? What areas should I concentrate on looking? Should I ditch the car or keep it? Should I even consider commuting, or live in the city/lp/wrigleyville etc area? feel free to PM me

is it worth finding a roomate in regard to extra sq footage/cost benefits vs having to live w/ someone you dont know?

luxuries that I have now that would be nice:

cheap butcher/produce
washer/dryer
walking distance to some kind of park and gym
walking distance to hole in the wall bars that hot chicks hang out at


I mean something like this:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/1678516803.html

seems awfully cheap for what I thought chicago rentals went for, how bad of a hood etc

Logan Square/Humbolt Park is not a very good area. Try to stay East of Western Ave. and within walking distance of the Red, Brown or Blue lines.

well, that area that guids is looking for isn't good, but there are some solid places west of western. Usually you won't get bothered if you are minding your own and if you live nearish to where think cafe used to be(and more in the heart of logan square), you'll be in BYO heaven without paying wicker park rent

Guids - Neighborhoods I'd recommend for your age, needs/wants and price range would be:

Wicker Park/Bucktown
Lakeview
Roscoe Village

Probably in that order, too. Lincoln Park is too young and too expensive. Try to avoid the Wrigleyville area, too, as that can get a little fratty.

Also depends on how you plan on getting to work. The El system is a popular means of commuting into the city, though some people prefer to drive. A garage spot will usually cost you somewhere in the $50-$100/month range, though I'm sure some places will throw it in for free.

guids wicker park sounds ideal 4u.

I'm also looking to possibly move back to Chicago soon, and possibly looking to buy.

What areas offer the best bang for the buck? The trulia heat map I'm looking at is pretty scary.

In the $300k - $330k range, where are the best options for a 29 year old. Minimum 2 bedrooms, prefer 3.

In my experience, among most major cities, the difference in COL ends up being all real estate. Everything else is pretty comparable.

^^^ When I moved here I thought, wow the COL isn't that much higher. Yeah things cost a dollar more here, a few cents more there, but it's just a dollar. But what people forget about is that we have the highest sales tax in the country at 10.75%. For every $1000 you spend, you are dumping another $107.50 to the gov't. Most states the tax is 5-6%, which would be an additional $50-60. If you spend 30k a year, you are paying $1725 more in tax than you would be spending the same amount in a state where tax was 5%.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you don't notice it day to day but it does add up.

Anyone familiar with good furniture stores, int designers, or good places for art/decorations?

Room and Board has been highly recommended on here and they offer some design assistance, but mostly just furniture. It seems like a great value and, from what I've seen, is at a perfect level of modernity. Some of the hyper modern Euro stores are way too much. I know that only with a designer, though, you can go through the whole Merchandise Mart to look around. Has anyone done this?

Sort of feel like a designer will be overkill unless you want really nice furniture, since all the midrange stores offer their own design services. Maybe can just ask one to suggest colors and a layout for a fixed fee and then do the furniture shopping alone. Can easily imagine myself spending a ton and then seeing something in a magazine that looks 10x better for a fraction of the cost.

Might also post some stuff here if people are interested in giving input

Are you a girl or a guy?

to the guys, how are the girls up there in the wicker park area? Im sick of nailing 21 year old morons, and the only hot chicks in my city are young (if you arent married with kids @ 25 you fail at life apparently in st louis). i assume it is different in large cities hopefully?

bar recommendations in the wicker park area? Im going up for an interview next Fri, and will probably hit some up

Is there a little italy area in chicago? I remember going to a sandwich shop near la salle i think that was supposedly the "little italy" part, but it was pretty small and defunct.

Chicks are really hot in Wicker Park, generally older than 21, and dress well.

Better most parts of the city because trixies generally avoid WP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trixie_(slang)

Yeah the amount of trixies w/ 7 handbags on any given Red Line train increases exponentially after stopping at the Fullerton Station in LP. Avoid LP at all costs.

I've been looking into similar furniture ranges (pretty weak acquisitions thus far in life). I'm not certain yet of any decent stores. There are a couple of warehouses friends have found deals in the area (I think along Elston), I'll ask.

Also, if you are indeed interested in the interior decorator route I have a friend who's mother does (or did, not sure?) that for a living. I can make certain but shoot me a PM some time...now that I think about it I believe the wife of someone I work with also does that. I think you're onto something about picking color schemes though. Furniture (while certainly EASIER when chosen for you) seems to be more of a personal comfort fit than simply aesthetic.


By the way, what are the units in that building running? I was actually looking at it as well. Certainly a nice area with plenty of shops/nearby food (I workout at the xsport closer to the lake and play soccer down in Lincoln Park South as well)....traffic is a B**** in that area though. Used to play indoor soccer/volleyball @ Halsted/Weed street...what a pain even at 8 PM.

Congratulations on the home though; big step...and yeah, it WILL save you not only time but I imagine $$ too since mortgage rates are still pretty low and home prices have dropped dramatically (the unit I was living in sold for $100k LESS than an offer I placed that was rejected a year before...lucky me!)

Prepare for a shocker to the number above. If you adhere to the wicker/roscoe areas you may be inline with $100~$150 but if you venture to the gold coast or near north side be ready for $200~300/mo garage parking. My advice? Get a job in the city and dump the car; traffic is TERRIBLE here anyway.

....and no, I have NOT heeded my own advice....and I resent it every day

QFT. I've been in Chicago without a car for 4 years now and haven't missed it one bit. Of course I'm fortunate that I work downtown so I don't really ever have to venture to the burbs. There are times when it's sort of inconvenient not to have one, but the money I save and stress I don't have because of it more than makes up for it.

Zipcar is an option but I've never used it so I don't know how good of a service it is.

ehhh I'm really not a fan of the Indie-Hipster scene, er whatever you want to call it.

Yes, through a couple PMs I found out that it is the hipster part of town...and I hate hipsters.

Im looking for a place w/ non yuppies (although I dont mind yuppies that much), non hipsters, that has a bunch of 25-32 year old single women, that arent gold diggers, that also has a bunch of quietish local bars that are populated during the weekday w/ these girls (who hang out at the trendy places on the weekend)

what would also work is somewhere w/ a 20 something crowd populated with married people so I could make some friends w/ couples who could hook me up with their single friends, as I wont know more than 2 or 3 people when I move up there


possible, or asking too much?

lincoln square or logan square would work well for both of those

the benefit of logan square is that its close to wicker park/buckton so you have lots of restaurant options, but you do have to walk it or cab it (depending on how close the blue line is to you)

with lincoln square you have lots of restaurant options and have the brown line right there. Lots of places within walking distance and fairly laid back and lacking the trixies that populate LP and Lakeview

Just one of the reasons why I would never ever rent in the gold coast (if I had a car).

guids,

lincoln square and roscoe village would be good, but I still think WP/Bucktown is better. Yes, there are hipsters but there are just as many 25-30 yr old normal, non-trixie women. Trust me. I work at a bar in the neighborhood. There are countless beautiful midwest women living here, most without the sorority girl ******ness of lincoln park.

With Roscoe Village and Lincoln Square I think you run the risk of being in too much of a family neigborhood.

Can't really go wrong, though. Just stick to neighborhoods that are close to el lines.

Ya I lived in Wicker Park and I really didn't think it was *that* hipster. Overall it's a good aread. Cosines what bar do you work at?

west loop.