Ten Things to Look for When You're Moving Into a New Place

This hub is a bit silly and not to be taken too seriously, but I thought I'd post this little top ten list: Things to Look for When Moving into a New Place... I've moved around a lot, mostly in IL and I've lived in some sketchy places. Some were funny, (waking up every morning to the smell of burnt brownies in the South Loop,) others sad, (one of my first city apartments was right across from a now-defunct housing project,) others... well, others were downright dangerous... the mile walk home that would've been two miles if I hadn't cut through Loomis Park during the early nineties would have given my grandmother nightmares if she'd known about it. (Shh... no one tell her.)

But how do you really know what a neighborhood will be like without actually living there? One good indicator would be if you have friends who live there already. Hanging out with them in their neck of the woods during your downtime can be telling, but if you're moving somewhere entirely new and different, maybe this list could help.

10.  (Logan Square)  One of my favorite neighborhoods in Chicago, I love Logan Square, however, my first apartment in Logan Square taught me an important lesson about living in the city. The apartment was beautiful, huge and airy, with these gorgeous bay windows in the living room that completely sold me on the place. I had lived in other Chicago neighborhoods, but this was the first time I had an apartment with my bedroom facing a back alley. A lot of Chicago apartments have bedrooms that face alleys, but if you can avoid renting them, the better. If you do fall completely in love with one of these gems, however, make sure your bed, television and computer monitor is out of range from the window. Every once in awhile the kids from the neighborhood would fling something into my bedroom window shattering the glass and spreading it all over my room. (Including, before I moved it, my bed!) Usually it was just rocks or some weird hunk of metal / concrete they'd found, but the most interesting item flung through my bedroom window: a can of SPAM. Yup, seriously... SPAM.

9.  (Logan Square) This was the second place I lived in the neighborhood, there were a lot of problems with this apartment that I didn't notice before I moved in because I was rushed to find a new place.  One of the upsides of this apartment was that it was on the first floor with inaccessible windows from the street, a serious safety bonus.  Also, when you first walked into the place you noticed that it was huge and there was a beautiful inlaid cabinet that took up an entire wall where you could put your books, knickknacks, etc.  I don't know why I was so enamored with this feature that I didn't notice there was no stove or fridge in the place, but I was really surprised when I moved in and it dawned on me.  It's always best to check out a place more than once before you put the down payment on it and check the neighborhood out during the day and again, at night if you're new to it.

8. (Little Italy) This UIC-ville apartment would have been fantastic if not for two things: It was situated above a restaurant and directly across the street from an apartment complex that had steaming sewers that smelled horrific. They steamed year-round, regardless of the weather, but were particularly pungent in the summer. (Obviously.)

First, don't live above a restaurant, period. No matter how clean you keep your place roaches and other vermin will always be attracted to the food downstairs. From open to close the restaurant would play music really loud and the noise was pretty irritating.  Plus, it wasn't a two-way street, my land lord, who owned the restaurant would come banging on my door if the music or television was too loud.  (How he could tell over all the noise going on downstairs was a mystery to me.) It's a little like having the whole world be your neighbor, depending on how busy the place is.

Second, I looked into why sewers steam and there are a lot of conflicting answers out there. My guess is that it's an abundance of bacteria composting. The smell is insane, crazy, bad, so if you see a place with a bunch of steaming sewers around it, run, don't walk.

7. (Citywide) Abandoned lots and buildings. Check around your block for these, especially if you're buying because just one can really lower the value of your place. Otherwise it is just a total nuisance. Abandoned lots have a tendency to become mini-landfills and abandoned buildings are often used by squatters.

6. (Citywide) Construction... okay, I know that might sound a little silly at first, but follow me on this one... for about three years + about a block away from my place, we've had a set of condo's that haven't even been worked on in the last year. So, what you do, is walk around the neighborhood and check out the construction sites. Call numbers listed on them asking when they'll be completed and / or ask the locals how long they've been working on them for, because you don't want to end up living next door to someone's bankrupt mistakes. Just like abandoned lots and houses, these turn out to be dumping grounds and occasional squatters havens.

5.  (Citywide) Do your neighbors run an at-home daycare?  Realize that during the summer you will hear a lot of kids running about and doing their thing.  There's not much you can really do about having neighbors with kids, but an at-home daycare may be a bit much to live next to.

4. (Citywide) Another issue I've had is certain neighbors who, (ahem, cough, cough,) are crazy people and run weird wildlife sanctuaries out of their back yard... what are they doing? They leave tons of bird feed laying around, slice up oranges and place them on their fence posts, (for squirrels, I guess,) they have more birds, pigeons and squirrels, (plus raccoons and other weird wildlife,) in their backyard than I've ever seen combined since moving to the city. Okay, that's cool, but the issue is that it makes the animals who frequent the area really bold around people and they seem more intent on rifling through our garbage than any where else I've ever lived.

3. (Citywide) Speaking of neighbors... you'll really want to check these people out... Here are some things to keep in mind: How do they keep their yard? A yard cluttered with toys, overgrown grass, tons of little weird knickknacks, etc, may be indicative of a neighbor who doesn't care about their home and may cause problems for you down the line. A yard that is well-organized or planned nicely is more likely to be owned by a neighbor who takes pride in their community. Likewise, though, you'll have to realize you may be woken up awful early on a Saturday or Sunday morning to them puttering around in their yard with their weed whacker or mower, which can be irritating, too. Also, check to see if they have children, cats or dogs that they're letting roam loose. My daughter got bit while we were taking a walk by a neighbor dog that wasn't in it's yard and last year I was accosted by a completely nude three year old after midnight who I ended up taking back home, just to have his parents slam the door in my face. Who wants to deal with that?!? Here in the city kids wandering around without adult supervision is frowned upon and generally a sign of poor parenting.

2. (Citywide) Convenience... how close is your local grocery store? Where's the first 2-3 bus stops and bus lines in your neighborhood... where is the El? Don't rely on buses for everything anymore since they're shutting down earlier and earlier these days, you'll still need to take the El here and there. Where's the library? Schools? Parks? So on and so forth. One idea is to make a list of places you need to go on a monthly basis and see if you can figure out where all of them are in the area you're planning on moving to.

1. (Citywide) I know I mentioned this before, but it's really important that you check out any neighborhood you want to move to during the day and at night. Do it during the week and on the weekend. Also, check out crime statistics for your neighborhood, pedophile listings, robberies, etc. If you're thinking about different neighborhoods that you'd like to settle down into in the future, try checking them out during different seasons, here in the city, like many areas crimes go up during the summer. I've lived in 2-3 different high crime neighborhoods and never been attacked, but that kind of reminds me of my Mom's old sentiment... "Yeah, you can run across the street blindfolded 499 times and not get hit until the 500th." I know crime can occur anywhere, but why go looking for it if you don't have to.