migrod,

Not sure where you're moving from so I try to give you a scoop on a couple of neighborhoods. I hope this helps;

Wickerpark, Bucktown, and Logan square are artys area's. Although they have been turning pretty yuppie lately. Rents used to be affordable but going up as are the price's of beers at the bars.

Lincoln Park and Oldtown are full of young professionals. Pricey rents and pricey drinks.

Lakeview has a large gay population. Rent is much cheaper as are the drinks.

I'm afraid I don't know where all the young architects live but Chicago is a huge dog city so you should have no problem finding a place for you and your dog.

comming from houston. i've started looking at the wickerpark/bucktown area and the eastern edge of pilsen.

i lived in Lakeview for 2 years, loved it. Great residential feel with plenty to do. I knew and partied with a lot of architects that lived there.

now i'm in River North....i have a nice place but it's a shitty neighborhood....looks appealing at first glance--there's a lot of lofts, designer furniture stores, art galleries, etc....but there's nothing to do. restaurants are expensive, lots of tourists...

i'd say go for lakeview, wicker park, bucktown

migrop- if you post images of the small dogs, we'll help you even more!

i moved from Houston to Chicago...initially for school, but I plan on being here for a while. I've moved every year I've been here (4+ yrs) I finally settled in West Lakeview bordering on Roscoe Village. I've lived downtown/near north, lincoln park, and old town. Old town was great, but it is mostly a stollers and walkers scene...
Check out chicagoreader.com to get the vibe of the city, and look at apartments for rent. DON'T use "Apartment People", you will end up in a slumlord shithole...In my opinion, the dog looks like it needs to live in Lakeview (boystown area) or somewhere between addison and melsrose...!

i meant that (about the dog) in a nice way. I've lived in those areas and they are great...

i have indeed checked out chicagoreader and have gotten some good leads. we visited chicago a couple of weekends ago and we both felt lakeview seemed a bit far. right now my commute is less than ten minutes and i'm not really interested in tripling that since it seems pretty far from the eastern edge of downtown. am i just paranoid?

right now i live in a pretty liberal area and he seems to enjoy it as do i. i'm sure he'll like it!

as long as you're close to a train you should be fine. I get on the train at 7:30am and am in the office by 8am...living close to where you'll be working won't be the greatest neighborhood but really, all neighborhood's have the good the bad and the really bad...
good luck.

30 mins isn't too bad. thanks.

i think we'll be visiting to view some apts the weekend after next. maybe you can give me some pointers to some good bars.

I've never heard of OKW architects, but I certainly have a lot of experience living in the city... Be aware that Pilsen is the HEART of the Mexican-American community, and is undergoing slow gentrification. A lot of the neighborhood residents will resent your presence if you are an invading professional, but it is a great neighborhood with a burgeoning arts scene, nonetheless. It's still a bit rough at times and has many gangs, but crime has dropped significantly in the past few years.

yo... pilsen is a very cool area... it is indeed gentrifying... and it is indeed seen as a problem spot...
i personally love it...
skylark on halsted is a fantastic bar...
if your looking in pilsen, theres a lot of interesting spaces for super cheap off halsted.

i just got a place in wicker park... im off north ave between damen and ashland...
its a great location, the most fun place in the city for me...
rent is higher than where i moved from, but is still affordable

also... im going to have to very much disagree with using apartment people.. i used north/clybourn group to help me find this place... and the 40 dollar application fee was WELL worth the effort
craigslist is fantastic, and if you have the time i would suggest doing it yourself
but dont be afraid to use some of those groups... they arent all bad...


logan squares rents are still cheap and that place has some really cool bits, and nice apartments

check out Ukranian village too... especially west along chicago ave... very cool places... interesting restaurants/bars and still lots of cheap rents

if you live in lakeview, you will not have a view of the lake.

craigslist usually has some great finds for apartments, and lakeview is fantastic, tons to do there and rent isnt too steep. Takes me about 20 min to get to work by train and there is a healthy amount of hoodie bars with a great beer selection. Delilah's and Jakes for that area. For wickerpark check out the Maproom, Ranibow Club are always good.

I had to look up your firm, OKW online, now I know the place. First floor of a loft in west loop. Cool. You may want to think Little Italy (Taylor St.) next to UIC. Its not the northside, but your 5 min. commute and collegiate feel of the area and proximity to Greektown, Pilsen and the Loop make it a great place to live.

try going south too -- how about bridgeport? that's REALLY close to downtown in terms of commute (seemed like it was 15 minutes on the orange line) and it's a really cool hood. pilsen too.

if you live within 5 minutes walking distance to an el train, you're good to go and you can visit all of the neighborhoods mentioned above at nights and on weekends.

true about bridgeport

im off the halsted orange line... takes me less than 10 min to the loop

The near south and west hoods are Chinatown, Pilsen, Little Italy/UIC, Bridgeport, Greektown. But to go to your office, you would be a 15min walk from Pilsen, 10 min walk from Taylor, and a 1 stop L ride from UIC halstead.

Ive found the L heading north/ south is now so f**cked up its making people move. Too old, Too crowded, Too unreliable. Blue line all the way.

If you like Bridgeport though, My friend is looking to rent out a 3 flat. Its just about done with the remodel, just a block north of Comisky, and 2 blocks west. Good block, mostly familys, some nightlife nearby but nothing like the northside or wickerpark. Sort of near artists cluster by archer/halstead.

Ea. floor 1 unit, seperate entrances, new appl, new floors. 2 prkg spots.

just stay away from a guy named Visillios Elias. the guy owes me 1500 bucks in security deposit.

Roscoe Village! I did a charrette there in '98.... how is it now?

roscoe village is funfunfun! It's a liveable mix of young profesionals, renegades, people who don't know where they are, the good kind of cubs fans, sox fans, anti-lincoln parkers, good neighborhood bars, and a little too close to ashland. I love the area, loveit loveit loveit. Not too southport-ey, not too belmont-ey if you know the neighborhoods. Just gotta watch out for the strollers when you're out for weekend brunch.

and ravenswood ave. too. I love walking on ravenswood. lots of art studios, arch. firms and cool things tucked away there.

see, posting a pic of your dog got way more interesting posts! good luck in chitown.

hey vado that's awesome, thanks!!!

vado link dont work right

that side is amazing.....as you can see there's not much in houston!

[url=http://www.turnhere.com/city/chicago/all/films/29.aspx]Gold Coast Rocks!
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lletldown we are neighbors. im at north and paulina. next door to louies - a place for friends.

are we goign to do a holiday chicago archinect happy hour? i guess its hard to schedule stuff now what with office parties etc but we need to get on that at some point

I'd be up for a Chicago Archinect get-together... One of my best friends lives right in that neighborhood, so I know the area well.

i'll be there on friday the 15th and sunday the 16th. if you guys decide on something, give me easy directions from a rail stop!

All of my possessions are in Chicago, but I am not. I'll join y'all in January.

lletdownl, you see they had phyllis' musical inn on the wicker park movie. suprised she didn't review olathe.... is that you in the greg norman hat and the sleeveless flannel?

I too am moving to the chicago area, can anyone define what exactly is meant by "garden apartment" or "coach house"?

1) First Level

2) Garage

garden apartment means you're living in the basement...watching people's feet walk by.

Coach house means you're living above a garage facing the alley, watching garbage trucks go by.

thanks - that's exactly what i figured

I used to live in a coach house inOld Town that had a garden level living room and kitchen. Flooded the kitchen everytime it rained, or the snow melted.

There are actualy some really cool coach houses all over the city but its best to do your homework - visit them, ask residents questions, becuse you never know what type of landlord they may be.


The 2006 official Chi-Arc pub crawl down Division St. Sounds great to me folks.

woah floating tooth, we are very much neighbors... how is louies havent been there yet

i havent been there either and its right next door to my house! crazy i know. i usually end up at bucktown pub instead.

i am starting a new thread for our wicker park - archinect - holiday - beer drinking chicago fest

archinect - holiday - beer drinking chicago fest somtime the weekend of the 15th perhaps? I'll be in chicago then looking to make new friends. Also, I need a job, do you guys know of any firms who are hiring?

let... why did you paritally steal my name... there must be some law on the books about that...
you'll be hearing from my lawyer
hes very lawyerly so look out

i cant tell you two apart...

4:44 pm

sounds good floatingtooth ... i too am just 'round the corner on leavitt

done with idp, what's the next step in illinois?

marimbaONE check out the other thread. next thursday night after work were going to rodan on milwaukee. spread the word...

i used to live right at levitt and devision. i love that neighborhood. letizia's is the best.