Chicago apartment and neighborhood advice?
 

Now that I'm back in Chicago, let's just say the original position I drove out here for has vanished, but now I've got another position just about landed. Only issue is it's well south of town down in South Holland. As a result, I've decided to search for apartments for my incoming roommate and I more on the south-side neighborhoods rather than those to the north/northwest (ie: Lakeview/Roscoe Village/Ukrainian Village/Humboldt Part/etc...) in order to minomize my commute as well as to ensure good transit access for my roommate. Any recommendations on specific neighborhoods to look into? From my relatively scant knowledge much south of the Loop area, it would seem that Bridgeport would be a great spot, but there doesn't seem to be much in the way of reasonably-priced apartments available. Seems like a much better place is down around Hyde Park and neighborhoods just to the north and west of there like Kenwood, Woodlawn, Washington Park, Grand Blvd.. Essentially anything east of the Dan Ryan.

Anyone have any thoughts? Tips, suggestions, anything would be appreciated! Looking for a 2BR unit that's not a shoebox when it comes to living space. Nothing needs to be new, but I'd appreciate a kitchen that's at least functional! :)

TUP, LVDW, I know the two of you are investors/developers. Any suggestions for me?

Thanks so much!

Aaron (Glowrock)

Plenty of apartments in south loop, but not sure what your price range is.

Hyde Park is getting more expensive too, based on grumbles I hear from grad students. Transit access is not the best there either. Woodlawn might make sense, especially north of 63rd.

Washington Park and Grand Boulevard may be uncomfortable depending on what you're comfortable with... I'd stick to east of Cottage or north of 35th for areas east of the Dan Ryan.

Pilsen, Chinatown and McKinley square might be worth checking out as well.

Bridgeport is the best option.

I own multiple buildings in Pilsen and it’s still cheaper than north side hoods, but Bridgeport is still cheaper than Pilsen

Also, why not Bronzeville/Kenwood? I’m sure you can get good deals in those areas, although they lack much retail density

McKinley Park.

Good transit access with orange line stops at ashland and 35th/archer, and a little more affordable than bridgeport.

And its home to La Palapa, my favorite mexican seafood joint. And very close by to Tio Luis Tacos just over the border in neighboring Brighton park.

Sorry, EVERYTHING is always about food with me.

South Loop is too expensive. Even with a roommate coming up here, I'm trying to keep in the $1500 range for a 2 bedroom unit with a decent amount of space. Not going to happen in the South Loop, unfortunately. Pilsen generally has units with shoeboxes for bedrooms and generally very small all around, McKinley Park is an area I've definitely been informed to check out!

Bridgeport is somewhere I'm looking into, same with Bronzeville/Kenwood. I kind of like the idea of Bronzeville since it's essentially in between many of the areas that have been suggested. Transit access is quite good as well.

Well, there's the McKinley Park trifecta! :D

Aaron (Glowrock)

2 McKinley Parks now :)

This is just a historical reality, most tenements in Chicago built prior to 1910 will have tight bedrooms due to the way they are laid out on a 25' wide lot.
Any neighborhood that was built-out before 1910 or 1920 will have this issue, including Pilsen, Bridgeport, or McKinley Park... these neighborhoods have virtually no newer buildings than 1915 or so, and certainly no buildings new enough to have decent bedrooms but old enough to be relatively affordable (nothing from the 1950s or 60s, for example).

To enlarge the bedroom, you have to move a load bearing wall so most rehabbers don't bother. Some developers will fix this as part of a total gut rehab, but a gut-rehabbed unit will probably be priced similar to new construction and out of your price range.

One pro tip is to look for units in brick corner buildings; often the corner buildings are a few feet wider since they were built with no setback, and that translates into wider bedrooms. Or you could look at units that front on major commercial streets inside wider buildings (double lot or wider).

Have you looked at Beverly? The South Side isn't all a crime ridden ghetto, it has lots of quiet, well kept neighborhoods but most of them suffer from commercial disinvestment and often are food deserts (thanks, segregation). Beverly is an exception to the rule. It's definitely a lot quieter than anywhere on the North Side, but will give you a great commute, easy street parking and it has some fun bars and restaurants (Horsethief Hollow, etc).

For example, here's a 2-bedroom in your price range. It's a 1920s building so the layout should be much better for you!
https://hotpads.com/10979-s-church-s...a-0aab322291ce

Hmm, I know nothing about Beverly at all, actually. Thanks for the tip, ardecila!

Aaron (Glowrock)

Beverly has less than great transit access though (either bus to 95th red line, or the Rock Island line).

Yeah the shoebox for a bedroom thing isn’t just a Pilsen thing. You see that in vintage building stock all through the north side as well.

But I’m pretty sure new construction still has higher rents than rehabbed older buildings. You get what you pay for.

I don't know why do people need huge bedrooms? I just use my bedroom for sleeping lol. I'm in a building from 1890 and I can fit a queen bed and 2 dressers easily, that's plenty for me. I have plenty of living spaces where I spend most of my time.

My friend works in the steel mill in Gary as a Steel Scientist, and lives in Bridgeport. He likes it there, lots of restaurants and pretty cheap. He lived in the south loop for a while and didn't even like it, all the restaurants there are really expensive.

I like McKinley Park a lot. My kids play soccer at the indoor facility down there. Go to La Palapa all the time. So good and BYO.

I can definitely tell you that this is a big issue. I've had a lot of prospective tenants pass up my older apartments because of bedroom sizes.

For that reason, in my gut rehabs I've always emphasized to make bedrooms as large as I can get them, and even then they are relatively small compared to what you can get in the burbs.

Reality is, very few tenants in Chicago are "born and bred Chicagoans". They are mostly from the suburbs or other areas of the country which are far more suburban than Chicago. They just want their space, and when they share apts with roommates that definitely becomes a priority to them.

I have a very nice apt on the north side which has the Brown Line running out back, and that's another zinger. A lot of people who aren't used to city living are turned off by that; I'm having a pretty tough time filling that particular vacancy, that's for sure, which is too bad because it's a very nice apt in otherwise a great neighborhood.

Wife and I had an apartment in Wicker Park where one of us had to crawl over the other to get into bed. Only enough room for a queen bed, literally nothing else. It worked just fine. I guess some people aren't willing to make that "sacrifice".

the fact that the brown line runs down the alley in back of our building was a big reason why our condo was so affordable.

our realtor said to us, "move this unit 2 blocks from the el and it's easily $50k more. that means it's a good deal to you now, but you will have issues if/when you re-sell because a certain percentage of people will never even entertain the notion living right next to the el no matter how good of a deal it might be. it's an automatic deal-killer for many, like living near an airport or something like that. "

fortunately for us, we're planting some serious long-term roots where we're at, so re-sale value was not a high priority of ours.

besides, you notice the train noise for like the first two weeks and then your brain learns to just tune it out.

life in the big city. i love it!

as for small bedrooms in city apartments, i've never had an issue with it. i've always prioritized living space over bedroom space.

i'm unconscious for 95% of the time i'm in my bedroom, but i'm awake for 100% of the time i'm in my living spaces.

my wife grew up in a giant 4,000+ SF suburban home with giant bedrooms. she required some education on this issue.

It all depends on your furniture, not to mention presence (or lack thereof) roommates, moorhosj. In my mind, a room that's just barely large enough to force a queen bed into without literally any other furniture really isn't a bedroom. I too appreciate my living space more than the bedroom, but even there, sometimes "cozy" is simply a euphamism for tiny cubby hole shoebox.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. But for me, a bedroom less than about 10x10 is pretty much not a bedroom. ;)

Aaron (Glowrock)

for sure, there is a point at which too small is too small. 10'x10' is getting close to that limit.

before moving to the city, my wife's mental idea of what a normal bedroom should be was about twice that size, maybe 13'x15', from growing up in a large suburban home.

but her urban re-education has gone well. i must be a good teacher.

i mean, i talked her into buying a home for our family literally right next to the el tracks. not bad for a girl born and raised in brookfield, wisconsin (metro milwaukee's naperville).

That's where I'm going with this, Steely Dan. Some of the places I've seen, the so-called bedrooms were quite literally just barely large enough to maneuver a full-sized mattress into, yet alone an actual bed with headboard/footboard. I'm talking in the range of 7x9, those kind of sizes. That's a closet, not a bedroom. Heh

Aaron (Glowrock)

I don't know guys but is Pullman safe enough anymore? I know its way down there but South Holland is a hell of a way down south. Or is Pullman just too far south and far away from "the City"? Because there's nothing in the south suburbs to do or live down by now.

Right now Bridgeport to South Holland is 37 mins by car.


https://hotpads.com/11336-s-saint-la...=-87.6012&z=15

Those two bedrooms are each 12"x12" upstairs. Full unit remodeled except the basement. $1400.


Here is a 3 bedroom unit for the same price.

https://hotpads.com/11345-s-langley-...=-87.6012&z=15




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman,_Chicago

The Pullman neighborhood is 29% White, 31% African American, and residents of any race who identify as Hispanic or Latino comprise 36% of the neighborhood's 1,422 residents.

By contrast, 96% of North Pullman's 1,995 residents are African American and 98% of Cottage Grove Heights' 3,084 residents are African American


….

Since the late 20th century, the Pullman neighborhood has been gentrifying. Many residents are involved in the restoration of their own homes, and projects throughout the district as a whole. Walking tours of Pullman are available.
Pullman has many historic and architecturally significant buildings; among these are the Hotel Florence; the Arcade Building, which was destroyed in the 1920s; the Clock Tower and Factory, the complex surrounding Market Square, and Greenstone Church. In the adjacent Kensington neighborhood of the nearby Roseland district is the home of one of the many beautiful churches in Chicago built in Polish Cathedral style, the former church of St. Salomea. It is now used by Salem Baptist Church of Chicago.
In a contest sponsored by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Pullman was one of seven sites nominated for the Illinois Seven Wonders.

…



Kind of its own Island but not too far from Beverly but closer to South Holland. The area is a registered historical factory town of the 19th century but is it livable and a viable place to live this day in age, or desirable enough to live there with the very low rents for housing that looks like it got properly rehabbed. ?


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EDIT

I forgot about your roommate that my have to commute north for a job. That would be a long commute for your roommate.

Whereas the commute for you would be easy for those two inexpensive rehabbed buildings I showed it would be brutal for the roommate to commute north. Perhaps the northern south side places suggested by others would be better for you and your roommate so you can actually co-exist and be happier with your surroundings but alas pay a bit more for less space and newer amenities but a better living [ quality of life ] neighborhood.