Chicago: Good/Bad points

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[quote]Voluminous wrote:

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]Voluminous wrote:
Hello,

Due to work in and around; Morton Grove, IL. Good/Bad/Indifferent?

Will have an agent showing me around places to stay; but who knows what their motives are.

Any suggestions? [/quote]

Eh, Morton Grove itself is nothing special. Lots of mid-century split levels and ranches and a little downtown area. Will you have a car or will you need to be close to public transportation? Will you be going to the airport often?

Are you willing to trade off a bit more of a commute to live in a more lively neighborhood?
[/quote]

Thanks for the help Sir.

Public Trans for the first 3 months - or less depending how quickly I can re-do your driving test in the States. From the research I’ve done; seems pretty quick; need the lease to do this - hence doing the work now (and utility)

And yes will be traveling via plane quite a bit. So somewhere near O’Hare would be great.

Depends on the lease availability - some places I’ve looked at need a credit score; whereas others do not; just proof of L-1 visa, as no SSN (not sure how long this takes). Here is where I’m currently looking - 1-Bedroom Apartments For Rent in Morton Grove, IL | Rentals.com

Regards[/quote]

I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but I’ve heard foreign nationals in the USA form an LLC, get an EIN (effectively a social security number for a company), and then contract their services as an independent contractor. There are some complications to this, but none insurmountable to the savy.

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[quote]Voluminous wrote:
[[/quote]

Use Craigslist or RadPad to try and find an apartment, unless you’re looking for furnished. You can also use a free service like Apartment People (free to the renter, the landlord pays).

Here’s what you need to know:
Chicago is laid out on a grid. Moving E-W or N-S via public transportation is easy. Moving on a diagonal is more challenging because it most likely will require multiple buses. So, it might behoove you to figure out where you work and find something east or west, or north or south of that area. For example, if you work on Dempster (58) living in Evanston within walking distance of Dempster would work out well.

I’ve roughly outlined Morton Grove in black. Directly east of MG is Skokie, best known for a famous US free speech court case (National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie). The good news about Skokie is that you can get a killer bagel and cream cheese with a side of lox sliced nice and thin, served with capers and some chopped, hard-boiled egg. The bad news is, if you like to eat dinner at 4:45 you’ll never get a seat in a restaurant.

Further east of Skokie is Evanston, home of Northwestern University and a couple TN members. I’ve roughly outlined N’Western in purple. Typical university town that caters to students, but with a relatively racially and economically diverse population. Great place to live in close proximity to the Lake.

To the south of MG is Niles and some pockets of Chicago that are more like villages in and of themselves. Edison Park is home to Chicago’s cops and firemen and other city workers. Good bars, some good restaurants, low crime.

Southwest of MG is Park Ridge. Nice little city with a relatively active downtown, some affluent pockets. Lots of ethnic professionals settle here (Greeks, Indians, South Americans, Asians, Russians, etc.) Southwest of Park Ridge is O’Hare formerly called Orchard, hence its airport code, ORD. West of MG is Des Plains which is like MG’s younger, but poorer cousin.

North of MG are the relatively affluent suburbs of Glenview and Wilmette. The farther north and the farther east you go, the more expensive the suburbs become.

On my map, you’ll see a bright yellow line down thru Skokie connecting with a purple line down through Evanston and a red line continuing south. This is the El. The Skokie Swift connects with the El at Chicago’s northern border as does the Purple Line. So, a trip to a Cubs game is only 35 minutes away. If you happen to be straight, you can continue on to Sox Park and watch the Pale Hose.

If it were me and I was traveling a lot, I’d probably try and live somewhere in Park Ridge or even near down town Des Plains because of the proximity to O’Hare. If I were young and unattached and in a new country with some free time on my hands, I’d live in Evanston because of the Lake, the El, and the general scene.

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[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
Use Craigslist or RadPad to try and find an apartment, unless you’re looking for furnished. You can also use a free service like Apartment People (free to the renter, the landlord pays).
[/quote]

Zillow is another great source for rental listings.

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Chicago? Chicago… hmmmmm

I think maybe I’ve heard of it…

That’s East of Sepulveda Blvd., isn’t it?

mf

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[quote]chillain wrote:

Zillow is another great source for rental listings.
[/quote]
I’ve never used it. Is it an aggregator or do people list properties on Zillow?

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[quote]Voluminous wrote:

[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Is it true mid-west chicks are the fattest in the nation?[/quote]

No idea. I do know that obesity and poverty are highly correlated, though.

Based on a large national study, body mass index (or BMI, an indicator of excess body fat) was higher every year between 1986 and 2002 among adults in the lowest income group and the lowest education group than among those in the highest income and education groups, respectively (Truong & Sturm, 2005).

Wages were inversely related to BMI and obesity in a nationally representative sample of more than 6,000 adults �?�¢?? meaning, those with low wages had increased BMI as well as increased chance of being obese (Kim & Leigh, 2010)[/quote]

When you’re poor; you go for quantity of food for the visual effect.
When you’re rich; you go for quality for the mental effect (and visual when eating out).

Suggest the biggest buyers of junk food, premade meals etc(imo) are the lower wage standards; which would be better off buying less of higher quality. Though it would look like you wouldn’t have enough.

(lived on near on nothing for years!)[/quote]

Overall poor quality of food(high starches) is particularly bad for people of recent African ancestry. These people are disproportionately poor and less intelligent adding to the confluence of other factors.

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[quote]Jewbacca wrote:

[quote]Voluminous wrote:
Hey,

Received an offer from work to move to Chicago USA from London UK.

What’s the good / bad points from locals; besides the exaggeration of St. Patrick’s Day! (I’m Irish)

[/quote]

It’s no longer quite the murder capital of the USA.

If you are a mugger, you will have easy access to firearms and the law-abiding citizens are disarmed for your convenience.

The corruption and tax rate will make you nostalgic for 1970s England.

There are plenty of no-go neighborhoods, just like Paris or Gaza.
[/quote]

I don’t buy the reduction in murder numbers. There’s quite a lot of evidence that there’s intentional manipulation of reporting of cause of death statistics.

The city is 3/4 shit neighborhoods and the only really safe places are suburbs.
Overall i wouldn’t go anywhere South/Southeast of Oak Park and even Oak park has rapidly deteriorated in the past 2 years.

I regularly go to Chicago for business (IT related) and I don’t even bother meeting with anyone south of 290.

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[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:

[quote]chillain wrote:

Zillow is another great source for rental listings.
[/quote]
I’ve never used it. Is it an aggregator or do people list properties on Zillow?
[/quote]

Yep its an aggregator, and a helpful starting point for rental pricings, neighborhoods etc.
(and very little spam to wade through, versus a craigslist)

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Chicago was (still is?) the home of some of the best blues music you will hear. May not have been born there, but thrived like a motherfucker. Shit Clapton has made quite a career playing like he was black and in Chicago.

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@Dr. Pangloss; don’t want to quote such a long and extremely helpful post, but thanks very much!
Spending the first 6 months flying alot, so probably first option. Probably see my place perhaps 2 days a week!
Last question, is there a site for furnished out of hope. Decorating is not one of my skills!

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http://www.apartmentguide.com/neighborhoods/Illinois/Chicago/OHare/

And for Beansie:

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[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
http://www.apartmentguide.com/neighborhoods/Illinois/Chicago/OHare/

And for Beansie:

Nnniiceeeee (music). Think I’ll do fine with just that alone :slight_smile:

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Damn that is good. Wow!

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Buddy is a legend that influenced legends…

His new album is fucking pimp btw.

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Hey,

So all done, fly Sunday - thanks!

Some more queries if you would be so kind;

  • Internal flights - still have the 100ml rule? If so for all the travelers, how do you move state to state; buy new stuff every time?
  • Best airline for internal flights?

Thanks.

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From TSA website:

3-1-1 for carry-ons = 3.4 ounce (100ml) bottle or less (by volume) ; 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag; 1 bag per passenger placed in screening bin. One-quart bag per person limits the total liquid volume each traveler can bring. 3.4 ounce (100ml) container size is a security measure.

I like Southwest for inexpensive flights. But unless I’m using miles or trying to earn miles, I usually use who ever the low-cost provider is with the least amount of layovers.

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Thanks again. Will use Southwest so.
Found an apartment in Glenview 60025; nice quiet suburban area. The fit out the apartment is a departure from europe- spent alot on Amazon!
Now to find a gym round these places, the best so far seems to be a crossfit gym.

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Go to Legends and buy Buddy a whiskey for me.

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Just FYI, here’s a good little map of the crime/shootings.