Might be moving to chicago

cooters · Post by **cooters** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:45 am

I'm thinking about moving to chicago so i've been looking up stuff. What is with this chicagoland business? East west north Chicagoland? And I was wodering were a cheap not to seedy part of town to live would be? I've never been there and I was wondering if you guys could help me out?

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:54 am

"Chicagoland" refers to the surrounding suburban communities. "East' Chicagoland is Lake Michigan.

Mr_headphones · Post by **Mr_headphones** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 9:58 pm

Hey man, depends what your budget is. But if you need to be close to the hustle bustle of the music scene and what not I'd try finding a place around Bucktown/Wicker park. Lots of bars and artsy orientated folk!

ThePitz · Post by **ThePitz** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:32 pm

Born and raised in Chicago, here... Lived in Logan Square for a few years during college and absolutely fell in love with it. I highly recommend Logan Square - the rent prices will be about $500 bucks cheaper than wicker park - and you're just a mile or so away from all that action... I dunno how "seedy" your version of seedy is - I witnessed a drive-by in my time there... but never felt unsafe.

That said - I now live in a 'bad' neighborhood in the murder capitol of the country and have never felt more at home. Maybe i'm just dumb.

But seriously - my vote goes to Logan Square. If I were to move back to Chicago - that's where i'd go.

Rogers Park was on the up and up when I left, too... How much are you looking spend on rent and for what kind of place? I've done a lot of apartment hunting up there....

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:48 pm

Rogers Park is far north but I prefer it to Logan Square. YMMV.

MASSIVE Mastering · Post by **MASSIVE Mastering** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:48 pm

I hate this area. I hate Illinois for that matter. There are few things I'd rather do than leave this place in a hurry.

Cook County - Highest taxes in the United States. Dead people vote. Big tax increases on the horizon (that dead people will vote to approve, no doubt). Gasoline prices far higher than the rest of the country.

I'm not saying not to move here - I'm just saying to seriously consider your reasoning for wanting to move here.

ThePitz · Post by **ThePitz** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:05 am

MASSIVE Mastering wrote:I hate this area. I hate Illinois for that matter. There are few things I'd rather do than leave this place in a hurry.

Cook County - Highest taxes in the United States. Dead people vote. Big tax increases on the horizon (that dead people will vote to approve, no doubt). Gasoline prices far higher than the rest of the country.

I'm not saying not to move here - I'm just saying to seriously consider your reasoning for wanting to move here.

You've just gotta get out of Schaumburg. Schaumburg is not Chicago.

xonlocust · Post by **xonlocust** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 3:06 am

if you want to be involved in the music scene i'd recommend logan square, humboldt park, ukrainian village, pilsen, perhaps roscoe village. roscoe is very nice and relatively close proximity to stuff, but i think of it as more of a 'time to have kids' neighborhood, just like lincoln square. both great neighborhoods though. and the beat kitchen is in roscoe, so you'll inevitably see shows there. most people in bands i know live in LS/humboldt. wicker/bucktown is mostly yuppies now - the only young kids are the ones who just moved here, then 2 yrs later move to logan. wicker/bucktown was the music/artsy place in 90/early 2000s - now it's the new lincoln park - i lived there from 99-03. then again, i think a lot of people get the advice that wicker/bucktown is the 'artsy' place so you may meet a bunch of people who also just moved to the city who are like minded, but ya'll probably won't stay in the neighborhood long.

would not recommend rogers park myself - nowhere near any of the venues or nightlife. i hate going up there, major pain in the ass. it's like going to the burbs for me. sister in law lives in edgewater and inlaws in evanston so we make the trek frequently. andersonville is pretty - but wouldn't recommend for music types, great majority of venues are on the near north side. i've lived in LS/avondale for 5 or so yrs now, so much nicer even in that short time. you'll still hear shots fired in humboldt, but also way better than it was - have a number of friends there.

massive is onto something though, there's some crazy shit that's strictly illinoisian. [city stickers/corruption/parking meter fiascos] but, i'm in southern california right now and gas is 2.99+, is it that much in chi now? we paid $2.29 in the south somewhere about 4 weeks ago. it was 2.79 a couple weeks ago when i was home last. that said, i've been on tour about 5 weeks now, still like chicago most....

then again i'm old and jaded so YMMV! come for a while and check out the neighborhoods. think about what/where your job is gonna be, if you need public transit, etc. also my take is north side slanted because it's what i know best... there's also bridgeport/pilsen, where a number of creatives live on the south side....

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:20 am

xonlocust wrote: i'm in southern california right now and gas is 2.99+, is it that much in chi now? we paid $2.29 in the south somewhere about 4 weeks ago. it was 2.79 a couple weeks ago when i was home last.

Depending on where you go it's between $2.90 and $3.09.

Mr_headphones · Post by **Mr_headphones** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 10:57 am

Logan square maybe a little cheaper and less hoidy toidy, but you can still find decent apartments in the Wicker area.

& yes schaumburg is NOT chicago, totally different scene.

I'd suggest coming out in the summer though, otherwise winter might make you turn around and run like a madmen.

sound for sandwiches · Post by **sound for sandwiches** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:12 pm

Don't rule out Pilsen and Bridgeport. Both are right to the southwest of downtown. Pilsen's actually closer to the "action" but due to the wierdness of the CTA and highways, I find it a lot easier to get in and out of Bridgeport. I moved there a few years ago and totally love it. It's very affordable, no douchebags, and unlike basically every neighborhood on the north side, there's plenty of street parking unless you're over by Comiskey park during a game (can't bring myself to call it the "cell" for some reason).

We were so sick of renting apartments and practice space on the north side, bought a house, soundproofed the basement, and do rehearsals and a little recording down there with no hassle from anybody. Don't regret the decision for a second.

MASSIVE Mastering · Post by **MASSIVE Mastering** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:44 pm

ThePitz wrote:
MASSIVE Mastering wrote:You've just gotta get out of Schaumburg. Schaumburg is not Chicago.
For sure - Schaumburg doesn't levy a property tax. But I'm actually in Hoffman. That said, I was born on the south side...

And I still hate Chicago... But really, I hate IL.

cooters · Post by **cooters** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:50 am

I'm not really worried about the weather too much. I used to work at a ski resort. -15 F for 10+ hours. I think i can handle running from house to house for warmth. That's kind of like what i do here. I live in arizona right now and it's run from air conditioning to air conditioning. But yeah thanks for all of the advice. keep it coming if you want. You can never have too much information.

Archmart · Post by **Archmart** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:07 pm

Hey Hey!

When/If you do move here, or when you visit first, be sure to check out EARS.

http://www.ears-chicago.org/index.html

-Archmart

cooters · Post by **cooters** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:36 am

I will definitely join EARS when i get there. It sounds awesome.

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