apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

A friend of mine just moved into a one bedroom apt in Logan Square and pays just under $600. The building is also within a block of one of the blue line stations (sorry, I don't know more info).

A courtyard building near to me in Lincoln Square has studios and one bedrooms between $600 and $700. It's on the corner of N Talman and W Gunnison and is managed by Wirtz. This is 3 blocks from the Rockwell station (brown line) and one block from a grocery store.

Both of these buildings are standard older walk-ups but have hardwood floors and decent windows.

maybe you could get a short term room mate around the time of your surgery . you could help them get on their feet and they could help you stay afloat and get better. you could psot at colleges or craigslist

http://chicago.craigslist.org/search/apa?query=&minAsk=min&maxAsk=600&bedrooms=

Craig's List is always a good way to find a place.

What I wouldn't give to have a 1 bedroom apartment with great windows and hardwood floors for $600 in Los Angeles.. Sigh....

Weird timing.

Not such a perfect building. My friend was recently attacked there.

That's a great view, Lisa. I can see why it will be hard to leave your current place.

I was in the Small Cool contest here in Chicago last year, and my tiny 192Os studio fits your description almost to a T, except for the huge windows. Sandburg Village is a great ensemble of honest, unpretentious Modern buildings, and that's not what my place is, but then, my own previous apartment was in the yellow-brick & ribbon-window highrise at Lawrence & the lake, a 195O beauty that had an unbroken panorama of the lake & the park, and while it was wonderful, so's my current place. Different doesn't have to mean worse.

Really, finding a place that you can grow into is not so much finding the "perfect" place as it is finding a place whose original aesthetic--good or bad--hasn't been messed around with too badly, and then respecting that look, and running with it, even if it's not what you're naturally drawn to.

Imposing a pre-packaged look onto a space of an entirely different character can work--say, a Jonathan Adler look insinuated into in an Astor Place duplex full of molded plaster details--can, in the rght hands, look wonderful--but more often, it just looks arbitrary and amaterish, like somebody didn't have a clue what they were doing.

On the other hand, although doing a strict recreation of a building's original style--say recreating a dense & gloomy Victorian parlor in a narrow 1880s row house--can be an intellectual challenge, and very interesting, and maybe even handsome when it's all done, it can also leave no room for you to express anything about your own personality & interests. It's like living on a movie set or a museum. Andy Warhol tried that, and yes, the results were gorgeous (after Jed Johnson cleaned up the mess after Andy's death, anyway) but the place said absolutely nothing about the man who inhabited it, although, I guess, that might have been the point.

Anyway, the most successful approach is the middle course, wherein one acknowledges & embraces a new residence's unique qualities (i.e., its disadvantages & drawbacks--say, as in the case of my own place, a single-bowl sink-on-legs and a kitchen counter covered with 80-year old linoleum black as sin) and turn them into features that are, if not technically assets, at least interesting quirks, and then overlaying that background with things that carry your own stamp. It's the exciting combination of poor-design stimulus & aesthetically clever response that will win the day for you and allow you to turn a generic studio into a place you're happy to come home to.

At least, that's the approach that worked for me, and, apparently, someone must think it will work for others, since my tiny place will be published in the fall issue of O at Home, which, coincidentally, first saw it right here at Apartment Therapy and thought it was worth a closer look.

At any rate, best wishes on your hunt, and on your full & speedy recovery. Speaking of which--your recovery--here's one thing I discovered that may help you pass the time. Looking at a ton of decorating books (old ones) will help you refine your own tastes & show you how to bridge the gap between your surroundings and your belongings. And do the looking before you do the shopping.

The problem with looking for ideas in new decorating books & magazines & blogs is that they present [mostly] new designs, and that often, the lack of good design & liveablity in the designs they show is hidden beneath a veneer of deceptive trendiness, which means that if you rush out to copy the coolest new idea you saw, you can waste a bundle of money on a bunch of stuff--or on a themed decor--whose looks won't last. That's the advantage of looking at old books & old magazines. It's not that the ratio of good design to silly decorating gimmicks was any higher in the past than it is today, but rather that the time that has elapsed since said books & magazines were new throws into comic relief the gap between design that's good and design that was merely trendy, a distinction that's a lot harder to discern when everything--good & bad--is fresh & new. Pick up a few decorating books from the 6O or 7Os and you'll see what I mean. What were those people thinking? I mean, back then, was everybody on drugs? Sure, a few rooms still look handsome, and some would be OK with a few minor changes but most of the rooms in those books are absolutely horrible. Yet back then, people thought they looked great. Of course, back then, people watched Lawrence Welk. Sober.

Meanwhile, don't forget Magaverde Rule No. 1:
Don't confuse decorating with shopping.

This is excessively selfish considering your question, but when are you moving out? I just moved to Chicago and am looking for a place.

I'm sorry I can't help you, but perhaps you could help me.

My e-mail is dyeckman@gmail.com

You might want to ask this question in the housing forum on Craigslist.

try chicago apartment finders, they're a free apartment search company...

If your apartment is so great, you can try to sublet it for the period of your sickness and even make some money off of it by charging more. You could find a new place and when you are back on your feet move back to your great old place. I had surgery this year and can completely relate to your situation. I hope you get better soon and good luck!

craigslist is a great resource; having said that, I think Rogers Park has some great deals in vintage buildings, many newly remodeled, for your price range. it's right off the red line. you may have to be careful north of howard and right around morse street, but typical city common sense.

I would recommend a month to month lease with a roommate...the rent will be lower, you'll have a bigger place and not a real significant commitment. Or take over someone's sublet.

That being said, your budget is not ideal for particular neighborhoods in Chicago as prices are continue to rise is areas such as Wrigleyville and Lakeview. A great place and often blogged about neighborhood on this website is Andersonville. From the areas at about Wilson and Clark to Peterson and Clark there are great, cute stores ranging from home furnishings to paper to olive oil....lots of cute diners and coffee shops. I live on Olive just off of Clark and it's a tree lined street in a great place. Granted, I have to get on my roof for a view of the city and the commute is a little long...but the price is great, neighborhood is cute and I feel comfortable. It is a kinda hit or miss area though so if you do a Craigslist search make sure you're in a good place.

A friend of mine lived just off of Broadway near the Bobcast ice cream parlor, I cannot remember the name of the street right now. It was an adorable building....she found it on Craigslist.....

I think the window thing is going to be your hardest match because in vintage buildings, no one built huge walls of windows. A lot of the older buildings do have a front room that is mostly windows that could be a wonderful sunroom but it is for apartments with several bedrooms.

All in all, there is no easy way to find a place or to move, it's gonna take some work. If you do someone like Apartment Finders or those free services, they'll drive you around and show you places. But you need to get there in plenty of advance time if you are going to be so specific so that you can get a variety of options.

I've found all of my apartments via the Reader's on-line classifieds. Yeah, you have to do your own legwork, but they usually have a good selection.

You seem to have specific wants/needs. So you can weed a lot of places out over the phone by just asking the landlord if a unit has this or that.

I've lived in Andersonville, Uptown and Lincoln Square. I'd recommend all of them. The former two are near the red line. The latter is near the brown line. $600/mo for a 500 sq ft place seems reasonable in any of those areas.

The last time I was a renter in Chicago was pre-internet so I used one of those apartment-finding services. Personally, I thought it was an awful experience. It was so obvious that these people were pushing apartments on the behalf of management companies that couldn't rent them otherwise. The woman I worked with didn't listen to a thing I said in terms of what kind of apartment I wanted (and my budget was more than adequate for what I was looking for).

Back in those days, people told me to walk around the neighborhoods I was interested in and look for "For Rent" signs or bulletin board postings at Treasure island. Not sure if those methods still work - I think Craigslist is your best bet.

Lisa, hey um, I want to move back to Chicago...need a roomie?

I just need an excuse. *pout*

Also, beware of some apartment finding services. Many of them are adjuncts to specific companies who will only show you apartments in their buildings - ask who owns the buildings you are going to see and if they are all the same name you're not getting a complete picture.

Man, you can't get anything decent for less than $900 bucks here in Toronto. It's depressing. We pay $1600 for our house, just the two of us.

$600 would get you a dark basement bachelor in a sketchy neighbourhood way off the transit system.

On top of all that, you get Oprah too!

I would check in the broader West Town area. My friend moved to New York a few months ago, but had a two bedroom (!!) with hardwoods around Superior and Damen for $680. Two other friends pay about $750 each for their two bedroom apartments in Ukrainian Village and Noble Square. It's very hard to find a non-condo-reno one-bedroom in the area in my experience, but with some searching you might be able to find one. We've all found ours on Craigslist, and it's such an exciting neighborhood to be in now.

re: attack in that building.

assailant was caught on lobby camera, identified and arrested last night. Was on the news.

Hi there,
I had good luck with Realty and Mortgage company which has a lot of affordable studios and one bedrooms on the northside. Of all of the management companies i've had, they were by far the best. Listings can be found here: http://www.realtymort.com/listings/nearnorth.htm
I lived in a studio at 3941 N. Pine grove and loved it. My friend lives at 4521 N. Malden and has a nice sized 1br and loves it as well. Good luck!

johnny costello at the apartment people (broadway and belmont) is an *awesome* apartment finder.

Magnaverde, I

Wirtz has great clean vintage and reasonable prices, Cagan managment can be good, Urban Equities has really nice vintage, Bertsch Properties... Those are the best I can think of right now (I used to be a Locator)

Totally try Lincoln Square/Ravenswood, Andersonville, Roscoe Village (theres not a lot of studios in Roscoe, but theres an awesome building at 33?? N. Marshfield near Lincoln and Paulina, next to the YMCA. My friend lived there for 2 yrs and it was a great value, good location and cute, clean little place), Logan Sq and Edgewater can be cool, but sketchy patches.... $600 will be tough, but there are some options out there!

A locator/finding service is probably not going to be especially eager to help you since their commission would be so small and if you are willing to do the legwork, the selection is as good, if not better on CL and in the Reader. I know - I used to be one.

Avoid at all costs:
ICM
Planned Property

P.S. Uptown is reasonably priced, but the Wilson train stop is SKETCH and theres a lot of gang activity there. Check on the crime statistics there before renting something.
Buena Park is generally good though, south of Montrose.....

Andersonville has really come up nicely the past few years, and the rents are still reasonable for studios, in the $600 range. I just rented my most expensive one for $635. The El is not really in walking distance, but the Clark St bus is readily accessible.

$600 a month feels as though it is insanely low for anything less than an hour outside of NYC.... I wanna move to chicago too... :(

I second Uptown. I lived off the Wilson stop and its not as SKETCH as it used to be. Actually west of the Wilson station, called "Sheridan Park", has a pocket of really nice streets.

Check out Magnolia, Malden and Beacon streets. There are some beautiful old courtyard buildings and old Mansions. Target was planned to be built next to the new Aldi, although I'm not sure what is going on with that. I rented a studio in the area for a couple of years ago $550/mo which included gas, heat and water. It was in a vintage courtyard building with hardwood floors, big windows and had a newly redone kitchen. Good luck in your search.

I agree with the previous Uptown assessment. I lived on Beacon for 4 years, moved 3 years ago. I took the el home from night classes for years, got off at Wilson, walked 5-6 blocks home, and never had any problems. There's actually a fire station about a block away, and they firemen are always hanging out outside. Anyway...

There's been a bit of gentrification since then (hello, Starbucks and Borders). But it's still a great, mixed-income, multi-ethnic neighborhood. Lots of great vintage buildings and some newer stuff, too.

REALITY CHECK: While $600 for a studio in Chicago is certainly do-able, I would like all out-of-towners to know that $600 is NOT within walking distance of the central business district (i.e., the Loop). More like 7 – 8 miles north, or anywhere from 4 – 8 miles west of the city... in mixed-income neighborhoods (which may or may not be a dumpy neighborhood).

Just be mindful that not all EL train stops are created equal or are equally safe. Ditto for a walk to the grocery store.

My 585 sq. ft. studio in Steeterville (2 miles from the Loop) is $1620/month, plus $250 a month for parking. Granted it’s a new building and within a 25-30 minute walk to the Loop, but I don’t think this is cheap. Maybe for New York, D.C., or San Francisco, but not to me here in the Midwest.

Well, she said she was "willing to go West or North as long as there's public transportation". You can get from Andersonville/Uptown to downtown in about 20-25 minutes on the red line.

But, wow... $1620 for a 585 sq ft studio is kind of insane. I pay $1150 for a 1100 sq ft 3BR on the second floor of a two-flat in Lincoln Square (with a free garage space and free laundry). Maybe I'm on the low end of the scale, but you're definitely on the high end.

I agree with you, JYW, $1620 (plus parking) for studio is definitely a bit insane. BUT, I can I walk to the Loop for work (no Red or Blue Line construction delays to deal with and ruin my day). Streeterville is mighty convenient to Michigan Ave. shopping, restaurants, and my gym. I do think $600 is do-able in Chicago. However, some EL stops should be condemned for their filth and smell. Plus, some city neighborhoods, while less expensive, are too gang-friendly. IMHO, the major trade-off is safety and convenience (and several hundred dollars more, unfortunately). I am fortunate I can live where I live, but it is a bit pricey. Different strokes for different folks, as they say. :-)

Very true. As as always: location, location, location.