How do I move to Chicago?

The Blackhawks are no reason to move to Chicago. Frankly, neither are the Cubs, Sox, Bulls, or Bears.

May I suggest you introduce yourself to Ottawa or Detroit?

Especially the Cubs and Bulls. Believe it or not some people move here just for that.

Just pack up and come here, my friend. It's that easy.

Yeah, I don't think there's any great mystery here.

in a van, with a friend

$100 bucks to your alderman (in an envelope, in twenties) helps.

The Blackhawks are actually pretty good this year.

Beware of apartments advertising as "[insert neighborhood here] West" You will be in Iowa.

Where are you moving from?

It's pretty easy to move here as long as you have a reasonable amount of money saved up.

It's pretty easy to move ANYwhere as long as you have money saved up, but I'm not sure what counts as "reasonable". :)

Also I never have any savings of any kind.

I guess what I meant to say was not at all what I said.

I meant that you don't need TOO much money to move here. The biggest expense is an apartment. Not like moving to NYC, I would venture to guess--apartments are plentiful and you don't have to pay an agent to find one. Even if you use an apartment finding service, most make their money by charging the landlord a fee equiv. to 1 month's rent.

Ooh that's nice, mostly in my exp in NYC they charge YOU the fee.

I know! So you have to pony up 3 months rent to get a place. And considering NYC rents, that's outside of what I consider a reasonable amount.

My situation is really exceptional, but once I found my apartment, I paid $1200 to move in (first month and security deposit). My apartment is crazy cheap, esp. for my neighborhood.

Yes, my rent is about the same as yours, Jesse, but I live with 6 other people, and I had to pay two months' sec dep on a place with no heat, no kitchen cupboards, and cement floors. Dumm.

Ouch. I have a 1 bedroom with a few problems (inconsistent heat, crappy water pressure) but I live alone and have a really laid back landlady (the rent is not really late until like the 15th of the month).

I have told you about my friend who lives in Manhattan rent-free? He's been squatting on the LES for over a year in Alan Ginsberg's old place.

Ooh that's nice, mostly in my exp in NYC they charge YOU the fee.

In Soviet Russia, apartment charges to rent YOU!

What is Chicagoey rent-fees?

We want to go to grad schkoole there, the Viceroy & the Abbs.

in my last apartment and my current apartment i had to pay first and last months' rent to move in, with no security deposit. by the last month of my lease, i've invariably forgotten about that, and it feels like FREE RENT.

Yeah, first month's rent plus a security deposit of equal value to your monthly rent is pretty typical for what landlords want up front.

What is like the per-month range?

Most people I know (ilxors and not) pay between 600 and 1200. A lot of this depends on where you live, obv.

(and what kind of apt.)

Oh hells, we're paying $600 right now, and we have at every apt. or pad we've lived. So that's good & thx.

yeah, we pay $1200 for the two of us for the biggest apartment we've ever lived in and will probably ever live in. two decent sized bedrooms, huge dining room, huge living room, big kitchen and porch. and it's in a fancypants neighborhood. chicago is an easy place to live, compared to other places i've moved. we found this place in about 1 full day of looking, while extremely loopy from jetlag.

My rent went up to $625 for a decent sized 1 bedroom. Most people around me are paying around $750-800 for the same sort of place. It's slightly unusual in that it's a 6-flat where the owner lives in the building. If (when) I move I am figuring on paying around $800 and living a couple miles closer to downtown.

I think if your goal is cheap rent, there are places in good areas (Pilsen, Ukranian Village) where you could find rent similar to mine. Or so reading the Reader would have me believe. Speaking of which, The Chicago Reader (online) is one of your best friends.

My rent in the past few years has ranged from $650 for a 2BR (admittedly very cheap for the neighborhood) to $725 for a 1BR and $980 for another 1BR, which is the place I'm currently in, split with my girlfriend.

Wow! $650 for a 1 bedroom! That seemed like a decent building too.

Were you ever at that place, Jesse? The one on Edgewater Ave.?

Oh. No. I thought you were talking about the one you lived at when you had my debit card and I was buzzing your buzzer forever. Nevermind.

No, that was the $725 place. Which was probably fairly typical of that area and that kind of apartment.

I recommend looking around on craigslist.

Well, it is like 2+ years until we will move but thx for the advice! This is very encouraging to know it won't cost $1200/mo to live in a shoebox.

you could if you wanted to (srsly)

I can do anything if I put my mind to it!

I think

we pay $500 apiece for our place. i'm not sure how this is possible.

(two story house w/large basement, backyard, two-car garage, W/D in a cool neighborhood)