I just got back from Chicago to look for new apartments for my new job, and I thought I’d write up a bit about my experiences. I haven’t decided on a place just yet, but I got a few really good leads, mainly in Lakeview, Hyde Park and Wicker Park. So, here goes as far as what I learned:
- Make sure you know what you want. A lot of this comes from experience of living by yourself and learning what you like and want in a living situation. My current thoughts are that I don’t mind having a roommate (as long as they’re cool), I like to cook, and a great neighborhood near public transportation is essential. Once you have that set, deciding on what places to see and which one you eventually take becomes a LOT easier.
- Get a feel for the neighborhood. There’s really no substitute for walking around and seeing the amenities around an area. Once you start to see a bunch of neighborhoods, you can start to pick out subtle signs of what’s really important to you. For instance, as cute and polished as Lakeview is, I started to feel a little alienated once I started noticing how many hair and nail salons there were, as compared to the number of coffee shops with free wi-fi and bookstores. Even things so seemingly insignificant as well-maintained sidewalks, bike racks, and even clear street layouts are signs of somewhere that I’d like to live.
- Prepare, prepare, prepare. I tend not to be able to keep track of my schedule on my own, so I had to write up a full schedule, complete with names, phone numbers and addresses. I also got a public transit map of Chicago and marked out directions and bus routes on the map. If not for this, I might still be lost somewhere in the city.
- Be flexible! I canceled two visits sight unseen because I found I didn’t like the neighborhood or vicinity, and scheduled two other appointments on the road. If you’re only visiting for the weekend, you need to make the best use of your time. If you don’t like what you’re seeing, don’t be afraid to cut your losses, say no and move on. Why waste it on something that you know is just not going to work?
If I had to do it again, I think I would’ve started basically the same way – lining up a good slate of places to visit and making a schedule in the same way, perhaps with even more details such as rent and security deposit information. However, I would not have scheduled a single appointment on the first day, instead using it to go around the city looking at neighborhoods. I might’ve also visited a few apartment brokers – I was not impressed with any of the places that the brokers I visited showed me, but I think they’re good resources for what the various neighborhoods are like. Based on what I thought of the neighborhoods, I would then finalize my schedule for the following days, canceling appointments in areas I didn’t like and scheduling new ones in areas I did like.
Also, apartment hunting is probably the best argument for getting a smartphone that I can think of. I had organized my schedule largely on paper – I created and printed an Excel spreadsheet of all my appointments, then annotated that as needed. I also looked up directions to the apartments on Google Maps and wrote out the bus / subway routes I’d need on a CTA transit map. This was workable, but not really flexible. If someone called me to schedule a new appointment, I had to scramble to find a pen and paper to write out their information, then figure out some way to get directions. I was also out of email contact for most of the day, so my phone was basically the only way to communicate with my appointments anyway. I sometimes found myself with free time that I felt that I should have been seeing some new places, but I basically had no way to get in contact with anyone. I also got slightly lost once in a while, and GPS would’ve helped with that immensely. Maybe by the next time I have to go apartment hunting, I’ll be able to afford a smartphone!