Chicagoans: help please...

LOL...

Jokes aside, for the first nice appartment I find in Lincoln Park, the girl is asking for a first month check to be sent by mail to "hold it"... Yeah for sure I will send 1500$ from France for an appartment I have never seen...LOL
 
Quote from nazzdack:

I had to look that up. It's more commonly known as "The Projects on State Street". It's bad, vetty vetty bad. :(

Those projects are mostly gone now. The area used to be, as you said, "vetty vetty bad." I still wouldn't recommend living there though. That map the OP posted is from 2006, I think things have DRAMATICALLY changed since then.

Lincoln Park is a great neighborhood with easy commute to downtown.
 
I've subletted a few places in the Gold Coast.

Check craigslists Sublet/Temporary section. Search 'Gold Coast'. Guaranteed to be by the redline. Which is 5 minutes to the loop.
 
Quote from TraDaToR:

Hello chicagoans,

I will come in Chicago for 3 months this fall trading from my broker's office in the CBOT. I need housing and a computer with 3 screens. I have never been in Chicago.

For housing, what are the best places for me to go to work every day? How is the public transportation? What places must be avoided for safety reasons? Is it better to rent an apartment or look for a cheap extended-stay hotel? What is the best way to find housing? Craigslist? Any other?

For the computers, I am sure there must be a lot of used trading stations for sell at any given time in trading city. Is there some special places to rent/buy used trading stations? Do they deliver? I won't bring it back home in France so I am looking for a really cheap deal. 2GB RAM PC and 3 17' monitors for example.

Any other special tips? If you personnally have a computer to sell/rent or an apartment to rent, don't hesitate to MP.

Thanks a lot for your help.
South loop for overall convenience. If you like stunning college age yuppie girls, Lincoln park. If you like to party and drink, near Division and Clarke. If you like peace and quiet and green, northern suburbs (that's me as I can't stand crowds and noise and a city that wants to gouge you to park). If you are really poor and want no commitments and just want to give trading a shot and want to concentrate 100% on trading, the YMCA on Chicago Avenue.

Chicago is relatively easy to access no matter where you live through metra. Avoid the L-train unless you leave very early and leave late, otherwise expect to be packed into a can of sardine, often in a rail car that has no air conditioning.
 
Quote from TraDaToR:

LOL...

Jokes aside, for the first nice appartment I find in Lincoln Park, the girl is asking for a first month check to be sent by mail to "hold it"... Yeah for sure I will send 1500$ from France for an appartment I have never seen...LOL

in general you have to leave a deposit like this, and you either get credit for the first or last months rent- i wish you luck finding someone who will rent to someone over the phone without receiving some sort of deposit.
 
Quote from nitro:

South loop for overall convenience. If you like stunning college age yuppie girls, Lincoln park. If you like to party and drink, near Division and Clarke. If you like peace and quiet and green, northern suburbs (that's me as I can't stand crowds and noise and a city that wants to gouge you to park). If you are really poor and want no commitments and just want to give trading a shot and want to concentrate 100% on trading, the YMCA on Chicago Avenue.

Chicago is relatively easy to access no matter where you live through metra. Avoid the L-train unless you leave very early and leave late, otherwise expect to be packed into a can of sardine, often in a rail car that has no air conditioning.


Yeah the L is horrible if you are further north then the 1400 block. Nowhere in America can you find such dour looking people then on the L on a Monday morning. The Metra is a luxury cruise by comparison, BUT, the metra can be a major hassle, took me an 1.5 hours to get from my front door to my desk from Skokie, which is where I sit right now.

For 3 months, for a young guy, anywhere between 1200 S and 1200 N would work perfectly. Buy a bike, ride down town, which I did for a year, and lived to tell about it, only ran smack into a cab door opening once.

I'm considering a job Hawaii, will be leaving in 2 weeks. Good Bye Chicago, land of my birth, city I can't stand!
 
Quote from dumb_mother:

in general you have to leave a deposit like this, and you either get credit for the first or last months rent- i wish you luck finding someone who will rent to someone over the phone without receiving some sort of deposit.

Yes I know, but it's more like a 500$ security deposit , not a full month and the girl seemed weird on the phone ...I don't trust craiglists type as much as expensive corporate housing dudes.

Thanks for your advices everybody.:)
 
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