Which neighborhood to move to?

I have come back to my senses and decided to finally move back to Chicago after living away from the area for 20+ years. I am totally undecided which neighborhoods to start looking for a place to live. Which neighborhoods provide the best culinary experience in Chicago? My partner and I are both into cooking and eating out. Our requirements are:

1. Easy access to public transport.
2. Good quality neighborhood restaurants you can walk to for those nights no one feels like cooking.
3. Good selection of markets for our food shopping.
4. House prices not totally in the stratosphere.

We need to narrow out search down.

We will be in Chicago for a week in January to start exploring the neighborhoods our short list.

albany park, rogers park, irving park/old irving, pilsen would be on my list.

gleam's list is very good. I'd also add Ravenswood, Ravenswood Gardens, Ravenswood Manor, Lincoln Square and Andersonville to the list if you are willing to spend a little more money. Andersonville is well-served by the Red Line and the others are near the Brown Line. All are somewhat accessible via the Metra.

A good way to see the locations of Great Neighborhood Restaurants is to use the GNR map in Google. More on the GNR list is here.

I choose West Town (Ukrainian Village/East Village/Noble Square).

hungernot wrote:1. Easy access to public transport.

This is a big one for me since I don't have a car and often have to get to disparate parts of the city and the suburbs. I can walk to the Blue Line. Red/Brown line trains are a very short bus ride away, as is Ogilvie and Union Stations. There are bike lanes galore and cabs when you need them. It's also an extremely pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.

hungernot wrote:2. Good quality neighborhood restaurants you can walk to for those nights no one feels like cooking.

I can and do walk to these places (sorry, too many for links; in no particular order; probably forgetting places):

- Bar DeVille, Matchbox & Violet Hour for drinks
- Habana Libre and Café Central for Cuban/Latin American
- Bari for sandwiches
- Coalfire for pizza
- Hoosier Mama Pie Company
- Atomix, Sip and Swim Café for coffee and sitting
- Tierra Caliente and Pasadita for tacos
- Taco Veloz for carne en su jugo
- Mon Lung for old school Ameri-Chinese
- Podhalanka and Kasia’s for Polish
- Tango Café for dancing
- Mexique, West Town Tavern, Green Zebra, Natalino's, May Street Market, Piccolo Sogno for nicer sit-down fare
- Terry's Toffee for treats
- Mado and other Wicker Parkness

(Flo and Jam would be on this list if I liked brunch.)

The Division corridor is very close. Also, I probably could walk but usually take the bus (easily) to Jalicense, the California Clipper, Pollo Chon and Honey 1. Downtown is very close, too, by Chicago or Milwaukee buses or the Blue Line.

hungernot wrote:3. Good selection of markets for our food shopping.

I sometimes feel that West Town is weak in this category, mainly because I'm envious of friends who live near Devon. But we do have an array of Mexican and eastern European markets within walking distance as well as a Dominick's and Green Grocer. Stanley's and the fancy Jewel at Des Plaines and Kinzie are very fast bike rides away. With a car, the super Whole Foods on North Ave., Trader Joe's and Aldi on Clybourn, Binny's thereabouts, Dill Pickle Co-op in Logan Square and Aldi in Wicker Park are pretty close. By public transport, the Trader Joe's on Ontario, the Gold Coast Whole Foods and Fox & Obel are very accessible. We also now have what feels like the highest number of wine shops per capita in the city just because Noble Grape and Lush have opened recently. A new wine shop is opening soon on the same block as Green Grocer.

hungernot wrote:4. House prices not totally in the stratosphere.

They certainly can but don't have to be. I'm a renter, and I do worry that I'll be priced out of the neighborhood in a few years, but I think there's a commitment to diversity here that may continue to work in my [income bracket] favor.

If I didn't live here, I'd live in Albany Park, West Rogers Park, Logan Square or Pilsen.

This has been covered in a couple of other threads.

What neighborhood would you move to based on the food?

Tell me why I should move to Rogers Park

I've lived in east Rogers Park for the last six years. It has excellent public transportation access, good food and grocery options and is close to the lake. Evanston and Andersonville are close for easy access. As we are looking at possibly buying a house somewhere in the city, Rogers Park is definitely on the list. However, Albany Park is not out of the question as it fulfills many of your requirements, which are similar to mine.

Good luck!

One important question is what sort of housing you're looking for. Rental? Condo? 3-6 flat? Single fam.? Mid-rise? High rise? Vintage? Some areas that meet all your stated criteria may not have what you need in that regard. If you're flexible that way, then there are some issues to clarify about what consitutes good public trans. for you. Are you looking for an efficient commute to the loop for work in particular, or just generally convenient ways in and out of your neighborhood in general? East Rogers Park has all sorts of transportation, but it can be a very long slog all the way to/from donwtown at rush hour. Is it more important to have a bus stop right at your door, or to have a shorter total commute? Or both?

I now live in Hyde Park and still pine for Uptown. Deeply. I lived at Argyle and Marine Dr. The 146 and 136 express buses stopped literally at my door to take me downtown. I had all of the Argyle St. and nearby Asian restaurants and groceries 1-3 blocks away. The 151, 92, and 36 local buses and Red Line made it easy to get beyond Argyle over to Andersonville or up to Devon or down to Lakeview in 10-20 min. for everything they had to offer.

On good days I would also walk over to Clark St. or up Broadway for Ethiopian, etc.
This seemed absolutely ideal to me.

Second to that, my time around the Western Brown Line stop in Lincoln Sq. also seemed near perfectly situated for shopping, dining, and easy transportation in any direction.

Thanks everyone for the great information. This is just what we were looking for to help concentrate our initial search on this trip.

Public transportation for commuting is not an issue since we both work from home for the majority of the time. We just want to be able to use subway/buses to get around the city instead of dragging the car out every time we want to go somewhere. We usually stay in Gold Coast when we visit and it was great to be able to walk 4-5 blocks in either direction to grab either a bus or the subway to get to where we were going.

We have been living in the middle of nowhere in new England now for 20+ years where it is 45 minute drive to anything. It was great for 15 years but now it is time for a change.

I second West Town. I live by the Divison St blue line/all the buses on the triangle, and couldn't be happier. I've lived in the Wicker Park /West Town/Bucktown area for a total of six years and actually moved here again after a stint to the burbs. The car only goes out on Sat for a trip to Target, Trader Joe's and Binny's. Lots of condo choices in a lot of price ranges, just be willing to give up something. We gave up view for space. But we wouldn't waiver on location with the Realtor.

Hi,

It's cool you can live wherever you choose, though living somewhere is always different than visiting. My uncle moved to the Carolinas a few years ago because his wife liked hilly terrain. Where they once lived near to everything, they now need to drive some distance for grocery shopping and car maintenance. The nearby town has less than ten places to eat or drink.

They now are a bit bored with the quiet life, they do more travel than before "to get some excitement." They are disappointed we don't visit them, though we didn't move away. I realized a few months ago, a visit could be a reason for a BBQ tour. My desire is really the BBQ and not the family part, it is only a means to get there.

If I were you before pulling stakes completely, I would rent an apartment and live in Chicago for three to six months. See for yourself if life here as good as you hope. If you're self-employeed, the cost of the move will be quite pricey. You want to do it once.

Great you're doing due diligence, I would do exactly the same, too.

Regards,

Cathy's idea is really on point.
renting to be sure before making the BIG committment is a perfect idea.
I am assuming since the subject wasn't raised, that schools are not an issue/concern at this point in your lives.

Edgewater is even better than Roger's Park, east or west. Proximity to Andersonville, Lincoln Square, Lake Shore Drive to downtown, River North or Chinatown.

MM