Ok, just got pre-approved for a house. Realtor is going to do a virtual walkthrough tomorrow if everything goes right.
Maybe I’ll be able to sleep by February.
Fingers crossed for you!
That’s only 3 blocks, which is very reasonable.
Do you like your buses to stop on every single block, and thus take 5 times longer than a car to travel any given distance?
Exciting, man.
I was born/raised in Chi at Belmont/Central - just NE of where you are looking. In normal times, I’m in OP at least weekly. If I had it to do over again, that’s where I would have raised my family, instead of burbs further west. IMO, OP is THE BEST option for someone working in the city.
Let us know when you move here.
@kenobi_65 already covered this somewhat, but just to be complete I’ll add my 2c. Pace is the suburban bus network, the CTA is the city bus network. They are both functional, but the CTA provides a much higher level of service. More frequent stops, a tighter grid, benches and coverings at many stops, expanded hours. The biggest issue for you is that the city limits run between Austin and Oak Park, so you may be in a situation that you need to walk a lot father to get to the nearest Pace stop if you want to go west. Or else you’ll need to think about how to transfer, which with a more irregular Pace schedule can be a big nuisance.
They’ve made strides in making it easier to use both systems in recent years by linking the payment networks to a common Ventra card system. One advantage is that the Oak Park stop is a major transfer point for all 4 networks, CTA busses and L, Pace and Metra.
If I were OP, I’d buy a snow shovel the day after the sale is accepted. They’re scarce after a deep dump which could happen the day of the move and you’ll need one anyway so best to get in front. It might be worth asking the seller to include some snow removal stuff, depending on the circumstances.
Good advice. Waiting for the first big snow to find shovels, blowers, ice melt, boots and gloves can be like trying to buy ammo and camo at the start of hunting season or TP at the start of pandemic season.
And while you’re at it, buy a small collapsible shovel to keep in your vehicle (like a fancy version of the old Army entrenching tool). One of those can save the day in a sudden snow storm or if overnight winds drift your car in (it’s also not unheard of for a passing street plow to block you in with dikes of snow).
And quality windshield scrapers, at least one with a long handled brush. You get what you pay for with these so don’t go too cheap.
And replace your windshield washer fluid with a de-icing formulation that won’t freeze. You may have to wait til you get above the Mason-Dixon Line to find that.
Re: Transit info
This website looks like it might be useful:
How-To Guide: Making Regional Chicago Transit Connections - CTA.
A-fucking-men to that!
O.P. we’re all pullin’ for ya. Let us know how it goes with the house walk-thru.
Hey fun thing with Chicago weather. In the summer it can be a smoldering hot day, dry as Texas if you will when suddenly a few drops fall and then part of the Great Lakes is scooped up and dumped over you, soaking you quickly.
I understand this is worse the closer to Lake Michigan you are.
I love the couple of times I’ve visited Chicago but only been on Lakeshore and North Side. I think as far as winters go, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo get a bit more snow than Chicago (or at least more snowy days), but Chicago can be like Denver: when it’s cold, holy Christ, it feels like you’re in Antarctica.
What I always say about Chicago weather is that the problem is you don’t get extended stretches of seasonally appropriate weather. You might get a couple of beautiful spring days in March - or even Feb - followed by an April snowstorm - or worse - just 20 days of dank grey 30s-40s. It won’t rain for a month, then it will rain for 2 weeks straight. My dad always said you don;t make outdoors plans until June - and even then you’r liable to be disappointed.
So for me, the answer is you just have to accumulate the appropriate clothing/gear/footwear, and don’t hesitate to don whatever you feel appropriate during any part of any day - no matter what the calendar says.
I used to have a cow-orker who set a specific day - I forget when, maybe April 1 - as the last day she would wear gloves. Every year, there would be days that she would arrive at work shivering w/ frozen hands… Fuck it - I remember a Memorial day when we needed winter coats and gloves!
It all averages out to some pretty decent weather. But day-to-day, it is entirely unreliable.
Chicago can also get really hot, which a lot of people from, say, south of there probably don’t believe.
Around here (Texas) a really hot day is 110 degrees. Last summer I think the hottest was 106.
I think the worst climate in the US is either South Texas (Houston, Austin, San Antonio) or Central Florida (Orlando). Brutal heat and humidity.
I digress…
Chicago gets heat, which catches some by surprise.
So drove by what I am pretty sure is one of the two blocks your house to be is on (the long driveway bit is a giveaway as other blocks have alleyway access to the garages 
).
Some nice brick and stucco homes! FWIW when I had long driveway homes I just didn’t use the garage for hte cars at all and parked the car at the front of the driveway so I had less to shovel. Scraping the snow off the car was just faster running behind in a morning that shovel the whole driveway to get out … especially on the few big snow days. Not a problem if you are using public transit of course.
And be aware - “dibs” was mentioned by another poster - that applies in the city but no overnight street parking in OP. And no street parking until they’ve plowed the street after a storm either.
Welcome to my town!!
The one I’m looking at is a brick two flat. Garage in back, driveway down the side
Pretty sure I drove by it!
Cool – Decent neighborhood?