Chicago Area Help...Daughter moving

My daughter will be attending grad school at Rush Medical College this fall and we are not very familiar with the Chicago area. While we are doing our internet due diligence...looking for any insight from folks here on good areas to start looking for an apartment.

Thank you in advance for any recommendations.

I have posted in the Silver Private Area also.

 

West Loop will be the most convenient. It is one of the hotter areas in the city right now with multiple restaurants/bars popping up all of the time among other companies (Google just moved offices there). Other areas that are closer would be River North to the east and Streeterville a little further east along the lake. Do you have a budget in mind?

 

Is your daughter planning to have a car? If so, I would recommend Ravenswood, Wrigleyville, or Boystown. Safe neighborhoods about 6-8 miles north of Rush. I work just north and east of the medical district, and unless your daughter has street smarts, I wouldn't feel comfortable with my daughter living near Rush except in the University Village area. The South Loop area is also close as is River North.

 

Dont get too caught up in the names like "river north" or "streterville"... its the same crappy piece of concrete just like 3 blocks from each other. Chicago is laid on a cartesian plane style grid. All you need are coordinates and you know more or less where a location is.

By the way, congrats to your daughter, my sister used to be an oncologist at Rush. Does your daughter drive? Rush has a very nice and safe parking garage, free or very reduced price for employees. If your daughter is going to have her own vehicle? (hopefully not your F-Car ), she can move to the suburbs. Oak park is very nice, safe, and the prices are not inflated like the north side of Chicago, she can get on I290 (like a 10min drive in the early morning) or take the train. She can take the blue line on Oak Park ave and commute about 15min and get off on "Illinois Medical District".

No matter where you are, you should always be alert. Im sure you have brought up your daughter to always pay attention to her surroundings and stay alert, she'll be fine .

 

My daughter is not planning on taking her car...I'm not so sure yet and will decide once we take a trip up to look around. Thank you for your inputs and recommendations.

 

Not having a car isn't that big a deal in Chicago. As ideloera pointed out, there is a medical district stop on the Blue Line. All of the 'L' lines converge in the loop. The Ashland bus stops at the medical district also. I'm a fourth generation, die hard Chicagoan, so let me know if I can help. Congratulations and welcome to Chicago.

 

Mac, congrats to your daughter! I've been in the River North area of Chicago for about 8 years now. I'll be first to mirror some of the sentiments here about not getting caught up in the neighborhoods too much and would rather focus on the convenience of her commute.

River North, Streeterville, Westloop, are all great in their own unique ways but you'll pay a premium. South loop and Pilsen areas are trendy, but not overly saturated like River North, Streeterville, and Westloop. I don't know too much about University Village. Wicker Park and Lincoln Park could work but now you're starting to add to the commute. I would avoid Wrigleyville at all cost - probably too far north anyways.

My girlfriend is in real estate on both the rental and sale sides, happy to introduce you and your daughter. If anything, she'd be able to give you a better overview than I could!

 

thanks for reaching out to what certainly is an emotional topic.

contrary to what others have been saying, neighborhoods are extremely different in chicago. so my answer would be that it depends on personality first of course taking into account ease of access to rush via the L (that's what Chicago's subway is called as it is elevated). if the neighborhood doesn't match her personality, doesn't matter how easy it is to get to Rush, she'll want to move... there are a lot of sites that try and pin this down... just type in "chicago neighborhood personality" into google and you'll see a few quizzes and attempts to stereotype neighborhoods. Once you come up with your top 5, then go and visit those neighborhoods and apartments/condos and see which one she likes by roaming around...

also, the university is off of the blue and pink L lines so if she can't walk, access to those lines might be preferable, however, chicago is a fantastic biking town even in the winter. we have a single family home in wickerpark and condo in river north and we bike most everywhere for everything that we can even in the winter.

i also know that many people start off in river north as it has access to many L lines and thus you can get off and explore many neighborhoods from there. i certainly have my thoughts and ideas on neighborhood personalities but strictly looking at the L, i would say pilsen near ashland (pilsen is chicago's largest neighborhood) river north, ukranian village, wickerpark, buck town, logan square. if she wants to be within walking distance, little italy or even west town. if she wants the lake to be part of her daily routine, there are others as well but the trade off will be that she will have to connect on the L making her commute longer. if she wanted this, i would suggest not going north of the north part of streeterville around oak street beach and an area they call viagra triangle -- that's a pun of sorts but it has some truth to it... this is close to the red line and she would connect to the blue to get to rush. based on where she works, there really isn't any need to go more north or here near the lake. if she likes a little more gritty neighborhoods and wants to be close to the lake, than bronzeville but don't go south of here as there is no need.

have fun and good luck! don't hesitate to PM me if you want further thoughts. here's an interesting pic that came across my desk a couple of years back:

This Infographic of Chicago Neighborhood Stereotypes Nailed It - Curbed Chicago



don't hesitate to PM me if you want more information; i would be more than happy to give you as much information as possible to make the best decision... good luck!

 

We spent last weekend touring around the city and looking at countless apartments and neighborhoods based on all of the inputs provided here (and in the silver area). My daughter has landed an apartment in the Gold Coast area in what appears to be a good building in a good area close to all of the amenities and transportation that she will need. Also took the L to get around as well as took it to Rush and got to tour the medical campus.

We were impressed by the city and the folks that we dealt with throughout the process. We happened to be there during fantastic weather and i know she will be in for a rude awakening once winter approaches...but she appears ready for it.

We'll be traveling again in a few weeks as now have to furnish her place.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you for your inputs, openness, honesty, and offers to help.

Thanks again--Mike

 

Congrats! I'm not far from Gold Coast should you need anything

 

Congrats! Chicago is an amazing city.