Update: Chicago area parents

[niccig]

Update.
The BBB rocks :bowdown: My sister can stay at the B&B Pam found http://www.janetspl.com/ it's walking distance from the campus and it's several hundred dollars cheaper than The Homestead, as the B&B owner will give her a discount for the longer stay. It gets good reviews on Trip Advisor. My sister really liked the Homestead's studio but they weren't available for the whole time so part time there and part time at a hotel would run her more. I think she likes the idea of a B&B as she stays in those when she teaches in Greece and Belgium over the Summer, and she likes having a homely place to go back to and conversation with local people. She said the owner sounded very nice and chatted to her about her work at the university etc. She'll have to take care of lunch and dinner, but she's used to that arrangement when in Europe and had already budgeted for eating out for those meals. The owner also said she might be able to come to an arrangement with my sister for some dinners, and she can use the fridge etc.

She said to say thank you to everyone...she's no longer worried as she has a nice place to stay that's walking distance to the campus. I think it's a LONG walk, but she's used to walking a couple of miles as she doesn't have a car. I think it's close to the subway and to buses if she wants to use those. I'm definitely spoiled by LA and driving everywhere...



Edited to add
Her accommodation in East Rogers has fallen through, so any suggestions of how to find short-term stay for 4 weeks from mid-October to mid-November near Evanston for Northwestern, would be greatly appreciated.

I'm goggling like crazy...
__________________________________________________ _________________________

My sister is visiting Northwestern University for 4 weeks starting in mid-October. She's an academic at a university in the UK and her living allowance for the stay isn't going to go far in Chicago. Her main problem has been finding affordable accommodation. She told me she found a short-term room share on craigslist. I'm worried because it's craigslist- I know that's a little crazy as not everyone posting on craigslist is a killer like that guy that used the personal ads. My sister has traveled a lot, and DH says she can handle Chicago. I've traveled extensively and didn't look into all my accommodation as much - I must be getting paranoid in my old age.

Here in LA you can go 5 mins in one direction and not be in a great part of town. I was wondering if any Chicago parents can tell me about the area here's a link http://www.wix.com/casa6528/chicago My sister said there's a letting agent she talked to, she talked to the owner that lives in the house and it's listed on other accomodation sites - it is more than likely legit. The whole craigslist thing kind of bothers me though. A share arrangement is probably good for her as she's very social and she'll have other people to talk to. But I don't think I would worry as much if she was by herself in her own place. She asked me to look into it and see what I think.



Thanks.

[arivecchi]

The link does not work for me.

[edurnemk]

Will she be attending the Chicago Campus or the Evanston Campus?

[sste]

I view east rogers park as mostly safe but a little iffy. There is more crime in west rogers park but of course that is only a distance of blocks away. Also east rogers park is by loyola university which is good because faculty/students kind of anchor the area but bad because students draw street crime. Overall, I would give it a B safety rating and I think she should be fine if she takes reasonable precautions - - I would personally not walk alone there at night.

Is there any way she can stay in Evanston? Evanston only has one or two sketchy areas and many beautiful, leafy areas.

If she/you have any more questions, feel free to pm me!

[niccig]

Thanks for the responses.

She's be at Evanston campus.

I know nothing about Chicago, so can't give her any advice, but knew that the mamas here could help!

[Momit]

I went to grad school at Northwestern so I know the area pretty well. It would be great if she could get a place in Evanston. As PP said, 99% of it is quite nice. There's a graduate dorm called Englehardt, not sure if they offer any kind of short term housing or not. Or possibly one of the grad schools like Kellogg, Medill etc. would have a student who's looking to share expenses for a short time or someone who's away and looking to sublet their place.

[niccig]

I view east rogers park as mostly safe but a little iffy. There is more crime in west rogers park but of course that is only a distance of blocks away. Also east rogers park is by loyola university which is good because faculty/students kind of anchor the area but bad because students draw street crime. Overall, I would give it a B safety rating and I think she should be fine if she takes reasonable precautions - - I would personally not walk alone there at night.

Is there any way she can stay in Evanston? Evanston only has one or two sketchy areas and many beautiful, leafy areas.

If she/you have any more questions, feel free to pm me!

Thanks sste. I think this is the only short term reasonable accomodation she's found close to the university. She can't afford to do a long stay hotel, as I was suggesting. She has to make it work on the academic stipend she's been given as she still has to pay mortgage on her home etc.

Are there other areas she could be considering - maybe there is something in a different direction from the university that she's not aware of.

I was hoping proximity to the loyola would help, and apparently other grad. students/visiting professors have stayed at this home. I'll let her know what you said about the area. She'll be careful - she's travelled a lot for work.

DH reminded me that his college room mate has a condo in Chicago they rent out short term, so he's going to check up on that - but even with the discount he thinks his friend would give her, it might still be too expensive.

She did say that if she turns up and it's not a good place to stay, she'll go to a hotel. Or if she gets in a bind, she's to call DH or me and we'll get out our credit card. DH is also going to pass on his college friend's phone number in case she needs someone local.

I'm sure she'll be fine, and if she had not mentioned craigslist, I wouldn't have worried at all. Don't know why that's set of my concern meter.

[niccig]

I went to grad school at Northwestern so I know the area pretty well. It would be great if she could get a place in Evanston. As PP said, 99% of it is quite nice. There's a graduate dorm called Englehardt, not sure if they offer any kind of short term housing or not. Or possibly one of the grad schools like Kellogg, Medill etc. would have a student who's looking to share expenses for a short time or someone who's away and looking to sublet their place.


Good ideas, thanks I'll pass that on

[maestramommy]

I grew up in both east and west Rogers Park, went to Northwestern for both college and grad school. I agree that staying in Evanston would be safer, overall that is. If there is any way she can get a short term sublet/sharing situation at a grad dorm that would be best.

[niccig]

Thanks Melinda. I've let her know, so she can contact them and see if there is any space.

I'm kind of kicking myself for not asking on here when she first mentioned the visit. I thought she would get some help from the university to find something, but apparently not, and then I thought she would be able to afford a longer stay hotel, but apparently her living stipend isn't a tonne of money.

She's flying out here to visit us, and we're going to give her money for plane ticket, so that might help her out...I'll remind her that we'll do that.

[niccig]

I just heard from my sister. The East Rogers accommodation has fallen through, as the owner didn't realise she wanted 4 weeks and not 4 days - somehow he thought the dates were for same month.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to find something, I would greatly appreciate it.

DH and I have offered to lend her some money to pad out her stipend, so she's staying somewhere nice. She's totally responsible and will pay us back, so that's not an issue. She just has an academic stipend that won't cover cost of living in Chicago.

Nicci

[athompson]

I attended Northwestern for graduate school and also used to live in East Rogers Park. I agree that she should stay in Evanston if possible and try to stay North and/or East if possible. It will just be easier to get around that way. Have her check www.chicagoreader.com (http://www.chicagoreader.com) and also call different departments at Northwestern to ask about short-term options. There are a few people that live close to Northwestern that rent rooms in their homes to students/teachers etc. Best of luck!

[edurnemk]

Edited to add
Her accommodation in East Rogers has fallen through, so any suggestions of how to find short-term stay for 4 weeks from mid-October to mid-November near Evanston for Northwestern, would be greatly appreciated.

I'm goggling like crazy...
__________________________________________________ _______________

Thanks.

When DS was born our family stayed in The Homestead, you can rent by night, week or month, furnished or unfurnished. It's not as expensive as the rest of things in the area, it's an older hotel (kind of 1920's) but it's in nice condition and 3 blocks from NU.

Another short term rental is The Reserve, very new and nice, but farther from campus (still doable with no car) and more expensive.

Of course both of these are in Evanston.

[athompson]

[QUOTE=edurnemk;2872542]When DS was born our family stayed in The Homestead, you can rent by night, week or month, furnished or unfurnished. It's not as expensive as the rest of things in the area, it's an older hotel (kind of 1920's) but it's in nice condition and 3 blocks from NU.

I've stayed at the Homestead as well and that is also a good option.

[arivecchi]

You can use this website to look up criminal incidents by address:

http://chicago.everyblock.com/crime/

[niccig]

When DS was born our family stayed in The Homestead, you can rent by night, week or month, furnished or unfurnished. It's not as expensive as the rest of things in the area, it's an older hotel (kind of 1920's) but it's in nice condition and 3 blocks from NU.

Another short term rental is The Reserve, very new and nice, but farther from campus (still doable with no car) and more expensive.

Of course both of these are in Evanston.


Thanks...I've passed this on. I think the studio apartment at The Homestead is within her budget...

[edurnemk]

Thanks...I've passed this on. I think the studio apartment at The Homestead is within her budget...

Glad to hear it was helpful! It's in a really nice area, BTW. I used to live a block north. Residential, quiet, lots of trees, 2 blocks from the lake, but also only a block away from one of the main commercial areas of Evanston, so she could walk to Whole Foods, CVS, and a lot of stores and restaurants. The L and the Metra have stations in that area so she can use PT to go to Downtown Chicago or other places on weekends.

[athompson]

You can use this website to look up criminal incidents by address:

http://chicago.everyblock.com/crime/

Take this site with a grain of salt though. With a city as densely populated as Chicago, you can type in any address and have violent and property crimes pop up all over the place.

[niccig]

Glad to hear it was helpful! It's in a really nice area, BTW. I used to live a block north. Residential, quiet, lots of trees, 2 blocks from the lake, but also only a block away from one of the main commercial areas of Evanston, so she could walk to Whole Foods, CVS, and a lot of stores and restaurants. The L and the Metra have stations in that area so she can use PT to go to Downtown Chicago or other places on weekends.


All that sounds great. I've passed it on, and she'll need to look into availability - I did tell her that there could be taxes on top of the rate. I think she needs to up her budget a little...but the studio seems to be similar rate to what she was looking at for a room in a shared house, and this would be closer to campus and to other things, so worth the little bit more.

She's traveled a lot in Europe for work, and I think she thought it would be easy to find reasonable accomodation..but Chicago is not a cheap place to stay...

[tiapam]

Found another B&B type place:

http://www.janetspl.com/

Sorry, don't know anything about it. I think the area is okay, not the best or worst probably. I worked in Evanston, so I am familiar with the area.

Taxes are high here and probably would apply, so she should get a complete price quote.

Nicci, if she does not find anything PM me and I will try some people I know who live in Evanston and might be willing to let out a room.

[arivecchi]

Take this site with a grain of salt though. With a city as densely populated as Chicago, you can type in any address and have violent and property crimes pop up all over the place.True, but homicides mostly happen in certain areas so I would shy away from any area with violent crimes. I know plenty of crimes pop up near my address but they are mostly small property crimes.

[niccig]

Found another B&B type place:

http://www.janetspl.com/

Sorry, don't know anything about it. I think the area is okay, not the best or worst probably. I worked in Evanston, so I am familiar with the area.

Taxes are high here and probably would apply, so she should get a complete price quote.

Nicci, if she does not find anything PM me and I will try some people I know who live in Evanston and might be willing to let out a room.

Pam, thanks for the offer to ask people you know. That's so generous of you. I'll let everyone know how the search goes. My sister is 36, a business lecturer, and while she can't afford the business short term places, she doesn't want student party accommodations either.

You've all given me great suggestions, and now she has more information to work with.

Silly me for not thinking of the Chicago area BBBers before now :duh:

[AnnieW625]

Tell her to look on Homaway.com or VRBO.com . We rented a place from a couple in Boston two years ago and had great luck. Granted it was only for a week but we'd definitely do it again. It seems much more secure than Craigslist, even though it is kind of the same type of thing.

[niccig]

Update in first post

[DebbieJ]

glad it worked out!

[arivecchi]

:cheerleader1: Great!

[tiapam]

OK, now I will cross my fingers that it is nice and safe. There are some really great restaurants there. Lucky Platter is nearby, not my fave but a lot of people like it. There are two Whole Foods nearby so there are probably some good takeout (or maybe eat in) options there. Bennison's Bakery is pretty good but a bit north.

I know she will be working but I am so jealous! Let us know if it does not work out or if she needs more info.

[niccig]

OK, now I will cross my fingers that it is nice and safe. There are some really great restaurants there. Lucky Platter is nearby, not my fave but a lot of people like it. There are two Whole Foods nearby so there are probably some good takeout (or maybe eat in) options there. Bennison's Bakery is pretty good but a bit north.

I know she will be working but I am so jealous! Let us know if it does not work out or if she needs more info.

She feels much more comfortable about this place - probably because it's a B&B, a couple of reviews on tripadvisor, and it's listed on one of the university's graduate pages about places to stay when visiting the campus for admission interviews etc. I think it'll be fine.

Thanks for your help. She was getting pretty worried as she only has a couple of weeks until she's there - and that was getting me worried as well. I'll pass on the restaurant recommendations...