I lived in Lakeview (just north of Depaul/Lincoln Park) right after undergrad. There's a ton of stuff to do, but, I agree with posters here that it might be a little pricey.
After Lakeview, I moved to the Ravenswood area, which is a bit north and west. You can get there via the Brown Line. It's a bit older crowd (think early 30s starting a family), but you can get A LOT more for your money in terms of living arrangements - and there are still plenty of young people up there. I'd recommend looking for stuff accessible via the Brown Line on the eastern side of the Western stop. It gets a little sketchy after Western. I know people that live west of Western up there, and it's fine, but if you're coming from the middle of Iowa, you might not care for it. If you live near the Damen/Montrose stops, you can easily get down to the Lakeview/Lincoln Park bars on the Brown Line in about 15 minutes. From the Damen Brown Line, it takes about 35-40 min to get downtown, which is perfect for scanning the WSJ or whatever you want before work.
After Lakeview, I moved to the Ravenswood area, which is a bit north and west. You can get there via the Brown Line. It's a bit older crowd (think early 30s starting a family), but you can get A LOT more for your money in terms of living arrangements - and there are still plenty of young people up there. I'd recommend looking for stuff accessible via the Brown Line on the eastern side of the Western stop. It gets a little sketchy after Western. I know people that live west of Western up there, and it's fine, but if you're coming from the middle of Iowa, you might not care for it. If you live near the Damen/Montrose stops, you can easily get down to the Lakeview/Lincoln Park bars on the Brown Line in about 15 minutes. From the Damen Brown Line, it takes about 35-40 min to get downtown, which is perfect for scanning the WSJ or whatever you want before work.