Chicago

[JackofDiamonds]

I'm pretty sure HJ is trying to initiate some phone sex with you.

I am pretty sure I am going to take him up on it.

[JackofDiamonds]

Congrats to your lady, JoD! Like Planet said, I went to U Chicago for grad school, have worked there, and lived in Hyde Park for a year before moving to the northside. Here's my take:

If your girlfriend is going to spend all her time in classes, at the library, attending campus functions and what not then Hyde Park is right for her. If you're going to spend most of your days at work and nights in your apartment with her then it might be right for you too. Hyde Park is very pretty, close to the lake, and being able to walk to campus is a plus. It's a good place to live if grad school is going to be your entire life and most of your friends live there as well. If the University is going to be your life, live there, if not, seriously consider other neighborhoods.

Hyde Park has no nightlife whatsoever. There's one good bar, Jimmy's, two if you count "the pub," an on campus bar mainly for grad students. There's restaurants but none of them are much good. There are no music venues or theaters or anything like that. Basically, the perks of living in a big city do not exist in Hyde Park. Getting to the rest of the city for social reasons is a pain. Public transportation is fine for getting there during the day but forget about it at night. It's also seriously lacking in amenities like grocery stores, gyms, shopping, etc. HP is a little bubble around campus surrounded by some very bad neighborhoods that you really don't want to venture into and that crime definitely finds its way into HP, the closer you get to the "borders" especially. It's not dangerous, by any means, but crime will definitely be in your consciousness there in ways that it won't be in a lot of other neighborhoods.

If your girlfriend has a car she can drive to Hyde Park in about 30 minutes from any northside neighborhood close to Lakeshore Drive or something similar from westside neighborhoods like Wicker Park or Ukranian Village. Taking public trans to Hyde Park from the northside takes anywhere from an hour to and hour and a half.

Long story short, your quality of life is going to be much greater in other neighborhoods. If commuting there is a reasonable option for her then I'd look to live elsewhere.

Thanks Gene Geenan, we'd have a car up there and I'd probably be working in the financial district (is there a specific district there?),and we enjoy being regulars at local establishments. We'd probably end up outside of Hyde Park if there weren't any cool (hipster?) bars/clubs/coffee shops. Still waiting to hear back from Harvard (my only shot at staying in Boston now), because UChicago was her 2nd choice.

Have Boston talk to Harvard. When Boston finds out they are gonna lose you if she doesn't get in they'll step right in and take care of it for you.


Or maybe I can pull some strings for you.

See what you can do, I'd appreciate it.

[G. Keenan]

Congrats to your lady, JoD! Like Planet said, I went to U Chicago for grad school, have worked there, and lived in Hyde Park for a year before moving to the northside. Here's my take:

If your girlfriend is going to spend all her time in classes, at the library, attending campus functions and what not then Hyde Park is right for her. If you're going to spend most of your days at work and nights in your apartment with her then it might be right for you too. Hyde Park is very pretty, close to the lake, and being able to walk to campus is a plus. It's a good place to live if grad school is going to be your entire life and most of your friends live there as well. If the University is going to be your life, live there, if not, seriously consider other neighborhoods.

Hyde Park has no nightlife whatsoever. There's one good bar, Jimmy's, two if you count "the pub," an on campus bar mainly for grad students. There's restaurants but none of them are much good. There are no music venues or theaters or anything like that. Basically, the perks of living in a big city do not exist in Hyde Park. Getting to the rest of the city for social reasons is a pain. Public transportation is fine for getting there during the day but forget about it at night. It's also seriously lacking in amenities like grocery stores, gyms, shopping, etc. HP is a little bubble around campus surrounded by some very bad neighborhoods that you really don't want to venture into and that crime definitely finds its way into HP, the closer you get to the "borders" especially. It's not dangerous, by any means, but crime will definitely be in your consciousness there in ways that it won't be in a lot of other neighborhoods.

If your girlfriend has a car she can drive to Hyde Park in about 30 minutes from any northside neighborhood close to Lakeshore Drive or something similar from westside neighborhoods like Wicker Park or Ukranian Village. Taking public trans to Hyde Park from the northside takes anywhere from an hour to and hour and a half.

Long story short, your quality of life is going to be much greater in other neighborhoods. If commuting there is a reasonable option for her then I'd look to live elsewhere.

Thanks Gene Geenan, we'd have a car up there and I'd probably be working in the financial district (is there a specific district there?),and we enjoy being regulars at local establishments. We'd probably end up outside of Hyde Park if there weren't any cool (hipster?) bars/clubs/coffee shops. Still waiting to hear back from Harvard (my only shot at staying in Boston now), because UChicago was her 2nd choice.

Yeah, there are no places like that in Hyde Park, at all. Lots of other neighborhoods will have more joints like that than you can shake a stick at.

But I don't want to dump all over Hyde Park because it does have good points. Really, it's a quiet residential neighborhood for people associated with the University.

I don't think there's a financial district proper. I think those firms, banks, etc. are scattered all over downtown. If you've got a car I suggest she use it to drive to Hyde Park and you take public transit downtown, which is a piece of cake from pretty much anywhere.

As for prices, you'll be able to find a 1 bed for less than $1500 in every neighborhood of the city. $1500 will get you a sweet ass place anywhere in Chicago. At that price you're more into two bedroom territory, actually. You can find really good one beds in nice neighborhoods for less than $900 if you look hard enough. Finding something between $1000 and $1300 will be a piece of cake.

[Hungary Jack]

A good place for finding apartments in Chicago:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/Home

Don't use the finder services. They will show you 2 crappy apartments and then a nice one that is a little bit more than you want to spend.

[mikechamp]

As the husband of a U of C grad, I can vouch for what G.K. is saying regarding Hyde Park.

There are some really nice houses and famous residents (hello, Louis Farrakhan and Laila Ali!) in Hyde Park, but a donut is the best way to describe the area. Hyde Park is a really sweet and savory donut hole... in the middle of a not-so-nice donut.

[Hungary Jack]

FTR, Hyde Park does not have a Chipotle restaurant.

Deal. Breaker.

[Tambourine Man]

Piggybacking this thread since it's not worth it's own.

What mobile carrier has decent coverage throughout the city? My contract is up next month so just planning ahead.

I don't care at all about phones and rely on the iPad for 3G (ATT).

[jim]

Piggybacking this thread since it's not worth it's own.

What mobile carrier has decent coverage throughout the city? My contract is up next month so just planning ahead.

I don't care at all about phones and rely on the iPad for 3G (ATT).

You are coming to Chicago?

[Tambourine Man]

If not for some diversions, I'd already be there.

Plus, $3.95 for cat sandwiches? Sign me up.

[jim]

If not for some diversions, I'd already be there.

Plus, $3.95 for cat sandwiches? Sign me up.

You are going to hate it here. Let me know where you are settled in and we will go drinking.