Taylor Street Little Italy / Pilsen / E. Pilsen / S. Loop / Tri-Taylor / University Village / Greek Town = all within walking distance

Check out Gallucci Realty, they rent to a lot of students

bridgeport has pretty cheap rents and a good student population, also possibly mickinley park, though that is a bit farther from UIC.

east pilsens is a pretty solid option. cheap rent and a decent amount of stuff going on. the problem is your kinda stuck with the bus or bike if you want to get anywhere far but its not a bad walk to the campus.

I'm starting at UIC in the fall and was also wondering about this. I asked at the open house and a few people suggested Wicker Park & Logan Sq (?).

I'm also looking to room with somebody, anyone looking for a roomate?

WP / Logan are on the blue line but if your anything like I was, I needed to be accross the street from campus in order to actualy wake up on time to get to class. WP Logan are about 20 min train ride away

Make sure you place close attention to the neighborhood and block of the apartments that you are considering. Street crime is increasing significantly in Chicago, perhaps due to recession or perhaps to undermotivated police (contract expired; no new contract, leadership, and morale problems). Affordable apartments generally will be located in socio-economically mixed neighborhoods. Perceived "safer" neighborhoods (Lincoln Park/DePaul or Gold Coast/Old Town) will be expensive unless you have several roommates to reduce your rental share cost.

There are apartments in the immediate UIC neighborhood, though you're likely to need roommates to share the cost and space. UIC neighborhood isn't very large. Old Greektown to the north is mostly condo-lofts. Taylor Street has mix of older apartments and new condos. Neighborhood fades at Roosevelt Road and west towards Damen-Ashland UIC medical campus. See if you can get a UIC-medical apartment, though I don't know whether all UIC graduate students are able to apply.

There is also Pilsen to south, along 18th Street corridor, which is your most likely supply of inexpensive apartments and cheap good food. This is a predominantly mexican neighborhood with very old housing stock - some in good condition and some in slum-like condition. There is a subway stop at 18th street that goes to UIC, but you'll want a car for convenience and street parking isn't difficult. There is a fair amount of hispanic gang activity, but if you're street savvy and smart about personal safety you'd be ok. A favorite restaurant is Mundial on 18th Street, west of Damen.

Street crime isn't getting much press, probably because Chicago's print journalists are disappearing (both Chicago Tribune and Chicago SunTimes have filed bankrupcy protection and have had large layoffs; editorial their tabloids with little serious reporting) and TV news is all tabloid-quality coverage. You'll need to listen to public radio (WBEZ) to get any quality news, and read NYT on-line for national and international coverage.

Welcome to Chicago!

I'm starting Grad School at UIC this Fall also! :)

After a ton of research I think I'm headed to Wicker Park. From what I heard at the open house that neighborhood seems to have a lot of stuff going on, with good bars/restaurants etc. And its right on the blue line.

At this point in my life I want to live in a real neighborhood and not just an apartment close to school (even though I do realize that I will be spending most time in studio lol)

Pilsen is a real neighborhood, with a vibrant arts community, several bars and plenty of restaurants. Bucktown is alright (I work in bucktown and have lived there) its close enough to be a destination but I'm almost positive you'll decide after your first year that you want to live closer to campus. Pilsen is removed enough and an older community than undergrads but perfectly manageable for someone with a bike or without a car.

The downside of Pilsen is that, unless you are mexican american, you become a part of this growing predominantly white artistic community that has been raising the cost of living in the neighborhood, and gradually driving families out of it.

Yes, the g-word. Of course, its quite a bit more complicated than that. Many residents of Pilsen: Mexican-Americans, Mexicans or Latin American minority groups like Puerto Rican-Americans, have been able to greatly benefit from raising property values and a diversifying population.

mespellrong, to see how this can and has played out look at threads from the past few years in places like Brooklyn. God forbid Pilsen ever become Williamsburg, however, families in Pilsen enjoy less gang violence compared to other lower west side predominantly Mexican neighborhoods like back-of-the-yards, heart of chicago, little village and lawndale.

Its a trade off, and increased student and bohemian populations definitely signal a sea-change but I don't think that the average architecture grad student is financially capable of pricing out many of Pilsen's hardworking families.

pilsen all the way. if you want to be a trend whore live in a pomadjersky space

http://www.podmajersky.com/

Whith the proposed Clinton street subway plan, the east Pilsen area will finaly have a subway rather than walking down to the Orange line at Archer. Which I guess isnt that bad so forget that comment.

Also Pilsen is very well vascularized with bus routes which can quickly and easily take you from almost anywhere in Pilsen to the red, blue, pink, or orange lines.

HI!

I lived in Hyde Park for years as an undergrad, then lived up north for a year, but had a bunch of friends who lived all over the place -- in Pilsen, transportation CAN be sooo annoying if you don't live near a line, since buses can be really unreliable, esp in winters months...(had this experience when i crashed at friends in pilsen, gets really old, realll quick)

UIC's right downtown, so it's really convenient to a slew of neighborhoods - i think it depends on what your priority is - proximity, how fun/safe/vibrant neighborhood is/price. Winter's get brutal in chicago too, so keep that in mind ;)

I lived in UK village for a bit and loved it - what kind of prices are you thinking? what's the tradeoff between commute and fun of neighborhood?

I have lived in Pilsen for over a year and commute to work and classes using the buses and have never experienced what smeesu talks about after he "crashed at friends". You can track them on ctabustracker.com, and in my experience of near daily use of the buses and el, I would not categorize them as more or less reliable than buses anywhere else in the city.

Uk villiage is a solid recommendation however and I agree that UIC affords its students with many options.

I should also disclose that I have never attended UIC.

thanks everyone for your input thus far.. i really appreciate it.
as living right near campus is not that important to me, i dont mind a 20 minute plus commute.
anyones thoughts on Bucktown/WP/or Logan Sq. neighborhoods?
thanks again all

I actualy know a Ukrenien family in UK village who rents out there flats on Honere. Your close to the Division Blue line. Send me an email and I can hook you up with her. PS - she might be selling the building so if you would rather invest in it with me instead of tuition Im game.

I lived in WP for about 2 years. And ive liven in Logan Sq for about a year now.

WP does offer a lot, i had an incredible time when i lived there... it feels really good to get off the train from work on a tuesday night late, and have the streets be bustling... its difficult to feel alone in WP, but by that token, there are ALWAYS people around... I moved out mostly due to getting priced out... id probably have stayed if i could find a place i liked that i could also afford. If you do WP, stay in South WP... i would stay south of division if you can, cause when you get to the actual 6 corners, its a pseudo-hipster, im-feeling-too-edgy-for-lincoln-park type crowd mixed with lots and lots of young mothers pushing babies in thousand dollar strollers.

So far, Logan square has been great and i dont see myself moving out anytime soon. Lots of blue line access, and its aesthetically a beautiful area. Gorgeous old house, tree lined streets... i really like it. Still has a neighborhood feeling. The north end of LS along milwaukee is predominantly hispanic and not terribly diverse, but the farther south down milwaukee you get, the population becomes a mix of hispanic familys, college students, and ex wicker park dwellers...

As for bucktown... im not a huge fan... as i mentioned, once you get north of north avenue, the neighborhood looses almost all of its charachter... id stick with south WP or Logan Square...

evil ill buy in... ive got like 50$... how much will that get me??

.000083 share

done, im in

I lived in Rogers Park and then in Hyde Park while I was in UIC around 2001. I love both areas, but it was stupid of me. Don't do what I did, stick very close, walking distance and/or 10 min biking distance. Pilsen buses are good if you have a regular 9-5 schedule (probably you won't)You are going to live in the school anyway, at least when you need a shower it won't be too far away...

Also, if you want to get more out of school experience, consider medical students as roommates. Our universes are so close but so far away, and UIC has plenty of them.

I lived in River west for 3 years while attending UIC undergrad, I was right near Grand and Halsted and loved it, its a little Italian neighborhood with authentic resturaunts, best bakery in the city (D'amatos) and deli all there. and its right near the halsted blue line so its only 10 min El ride to school. My favorite part was the fact that my rent half what others paid in Lincoln park, West loop, or Wicker park and my place was pretty nice $1,150 month for 2 bedroom 1200sq feet and the place was only 3 years old. . and 100 yds from the freeway exit and a nice view of downtown
Thats where Id go.

Jamchar has a point - the west town / Nobel Sq. area is highly under rated, overlooked and awesome. Plus in addition to being off the blue line and having drop dead views of the skyline, you can bike to UIC in about 10-15 min. going straight south through the meatpacking district and rail lines. Most folks dont know that you can cut N/S through there. In fact if you go straight south on Peoria street you basically dead end into the Architecture building.