I'm a 3L and native Chicagoan who has lived in several different parts of the city. I have strong feelings about this post.ILoveYou wrote:Hello future Pritzkerites (Pritzkerians? Not sure we ever decided)! I'm a current student at NU law; I saw this thread while reading through TLS in class and thought I'd chime in for anyone looking at neighborhoods. I highly recommend Lakeview! It's just the best neighborhood. Tons of great food, bars, parks, and whatever else you could want really close by. Depending on where in the neighborhood you land, it's generally affordable, and a convenient ~30 min commute to school by either the red line or express buses. Sort of inconvenient if you plan on doing bar review a bunch--only 1 or 2 a year are in Lakeview and most seem to be in River North--but don't choose where to live based on bar review.
Just north of Lakeview is Uptown, parts of which are really nice and parts of which are areas you probably don't want to walk around alone at night. Which part you're in will be really obvious. The commute from Uptown can start to get too long for most people's taste, though.
As for other neighborhoods, Streeterville (right around the school) sucks a lot if you plan on eating food, going out at all, or doing anything not related to law school. I can't stress enough how much the neighborhood our school is in sucks. Seriously, unless walking to school and being around your younger classmates 24/7 is that important to you, do not live here.
River North is too expensive and you won't be able to enjoy the nightlife that much while you're in law school anyway. Go there for an occasional night out; don't live there.
Gold Coast is a nice happy medium, although still pretty pricey.
Also don't sleep on Ukrainian Village! Fantastic neighborhood, plenty to do, and close enough to school that the commute isn't a pain.
Anyway, feel free to pm me. Good luck getting here and enjoy your last summer of freedom!
I don't think Streeterville is that bad and I recommend it for 1L (and only for 1L). I lived in Streeterville during 1L (and moved there from Lakeview) for its convenience. It's expensive, yes, but I found the convenience during 1L to be worth it. There's only 24 hours in a day and you're gonna be spending a huge amount of those 24 hours studying as a 1L. Living a 5-minute walk from school freed up an extra hour of my day, 5 days a week, and it allowed me to spend that time on me. I was able to work out, sleep in, and do other things that I think had a positive impact because I was so close to school. I looked at it as an investment in myself and my future. Also, being around classmates isn't a bad thing? Idk why the poster above looks at it with such disdain but I like my classmates and being closer to them was nice during 1L. It was easier to study with people or just hang out with them. If you're not from Chicago and don't know anyone, don't you kinda want to live closer to the only other people you do know?
I'm a big Lakeview and Lincoln Park fan and think they're great places to live. The commutes aren't bad but I think it's worth it to weigh the value of your time during 1L and I felt that Streeterville was the better option for me based on the time it takes (and stress) of commuting.
Uptown is too far.
Gold Coast is literally just north of streeterville so it's like almost the same neighborhood. Anything not in walking distance to school isn't worth it at all.
Ukrainian Village is a hellish commute to school.
River North is fine if you can afford it and are still a decent walk to school.
And finally, bar review moves every week and is only in River North like half the time (probably less?)
