My husband is now working in downtown chicago, what are good rentals near the downtown?

Question

we are about to move to chicago ,do not know anything abt the neighborhoods near the downtown where my husband works, so it will be a big help if we could know abt the neighborhoods at approx 30 min

from the downtown and connected through trains also,family friendly etc.

thx

Answer 1

Get yourself a real estate agent. Your husbands new company should be able to recommend some. They will help you with finding a rental, and the neighborhoods. This will be at no cost to you.  

Answer 2

How much are you willing to pay for rent? That makes a difference. If money is no object, you can live right downtown. If you're looking for something in the $800-$1200 range, try Lincoln Park, Lakeview, even further north in Edgewater. Most chicago neighborhoods are well serviced by public transportation and on most days can get you to work within an hour. Lakeview and Lincoln Park are about a half hour away from downtown.

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NEW INFO: At that price range, you could find something nice in the Lincoln Park/Lakeview area. Both are about 30 minutes from downtown Chicago and are well served by CTA trains and buses. You might also look in the Old Town/Wells Street area, which is even a bit closer to downtown than the other two.

The other thing you might want to take into account is the type of neighborhood and the sort of amenities you want in the area, such as the proximity of grocery stores, shopping, restaurants, bars/clubs, theater, etc. All of these areas have a lot of activity. Below are links to brief descriptions of the areas. Hope it helps.

Answer 3

Bridgeport is a good neighborhood to rent in. The average cost of a 3-bedroom apartment is around $800. It's located near the CTA and is about 15 minutes away from downtown. Also, there's several highways near that neighborhood so it has easy access to basically everywhere in Chicago. Granted, it is not the most upscale neighborhood, but it's pretty safe and there are new franchises being built there and it has improved greatly over the years.  

Answer 4

I live on the near north side, where I never see school aged children. That's because as soon as kids get to school, the families move to the suburbs. City schools are not as good as suburban, unless you can pay for private schools. You need a real estate agent.

Answer 5

Lincoln Square is a nice family friendly neighborhood in Chicago, and is serviced by CTA trains (brown line) and buses, and there is also a Ravenswood stop on the Metra Union Pacific North Line.  If you have children, Bell Elementary is one of the best public schools in the city.  Lincoln Square is about 20 minutes north of downtown Chicago.

For about $2000 you can find a pretty livable apartment in Lincoln Park which is only about 10 minutes north of downtown Chicago.  The neighborhood is pretty family friendly with Lincoln Park Zoo, and both the Nature and History Museums being there and all...but having lived there with my wife and four year old son, I always got the impression that people were more happy to see little dogs around than children.  It's just that kind of neighborhood.  Lincoln Park is not serviced by the Metra becuase it's so close to downtown, but it does have plenty of CTA options.

Having lived and spent too much money on the north side of the city, my wife and I moved to the far south/west side of the city into the Garfield Ridge neighborhood where it takes about 25-30 minutes to get downtown on the Orange Line.  For what you're willing to pay, you can afford a house or condo that would be twice the size of the apartment you would be renting anywhere on the north side.    The drawback being the south/west side doesn't have all of the bars, more fancy restaurants, music or theatre happenings that you'll find on the north side.  We save a lot of money though, and it's not like that part of the city isn't a really short drive away.