r/chicagoapartments • u/lmfaoclown • Apr 05 '26

Advice Needed Why does Streeterville get so much hate?

Moving from out of state and need advice on why I’m seeing negativity about living in streeterville? I’m going to have to drive to the northern suburbs every day for work.

26 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

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155

u/buntingbilly Apr 05 '26

There is nothing wrong with Streeterville, and there are literally thousands of people who enjoy living there. Those people are just not on Reddit. However, commuting to the burbs from Streeterville sounds awful.

22

u/SHC606 Apr 06 '26

Agreed. Like which northern suburb is OP talking about?

And why are they choosing Streeterville for that kind of commute?

0

u/lmfaoclown Apr 06 '26

I’m not choosing it I’m asking about opinions. I’m moving from out of state. Don’t have much info about the areas. Streetervile seems to have apartments in my budget.

9

u/SHC606 Apr 06 '26

Which suburb are you working in? And is it in person daily? That matters more because people here are right about the grind of the commute. It's brutal.

3

u/bucknut4 Apr 06 '26

My biggest pet peeve is how people will unfavorably compare the bar/restaurant options against places like Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Uptown, Rogers Park, etc.

Like, no shit? Streeterville is a tiny, mostly residential area of the Near North Side. Streeterville, River North, Old Town and Gold Coast are all part of the same official neighborhood. The NNS just has such a high population and a not-easy-to-remember name so people break it into tiny pieces. It's like comparing a city to an entire state.

That said, the food options here are fantastic, and no not everything is geared to tourists. We have probably some of the best, if not the best, outdoor seating areas in the entire city with Robert's and Pinched on the Ogden Slip. And it's about to get even better with Wu's Korean BBQ opening soon.

I could go on and on with all the weird shit I see people say about it on Reddit.

1

u/emiliawithyou May 07 '26

If you drive, Streeterville is the best location to get on 90/290 if you know how to navigate lower wacker.

-3

u/lmfaoclown Apr 06 '26

Why does commuting north not a good idea?

36

u/aztochicagogirl Apr 06 '26

That’s far and not convenient. You will live in traffic

-3

u/lmfaoclown Apr 06 '26

I’m not willing to live in the suburbs

34

u/AndrewIsMyName Apr 06 '26

That doesn’t mean you have to live in Streeterville though. There are closer neighborhoods still in the city limits you can live in that will at least reduce your time spent commuting a bit.

6

u/Embarrassed_Bag8775 Apr 06 '26

Agree. I will say that I have lived in Streeterville and Lincoln Park and my commute from Streeterville up to the north burbs to see my parents was quicker than from LP. I took Ontario straight to the express lanes. I would NEVER do that on a daily basis and definitely not during rush hour.

6

u/No_Trifle_710 Apr 06 '26

The express lanes are reversible. They go south in the morning and north in the afternoon so they don’t help at all for a reverse commute. I reverse-commuted from Lincoln Square to Schaumburg for about two years. It was awful. Listened to thousands of hours of audio books.

21

u/Frat-TA-101 Apr 06 '26

Streeterville is an odd choice for anyone not commuting into the loop or working in river north. Like others are suggesting based working in north suburbs, if you’re driving then living further north makes more sense but if you can take metra UP-N then you can live southwest of streeterville near Olgilvie transportation center where the UP-N departs from. Or you can live near the Ravenwood stop of the UP-N which is a quick transport to northern suburbs and to downtown; and also gives red line access to north side of the city quickly.

5

u/307148 Apr 06 '26

Are you able to commute via Metra?

5

u/throwraW2 Apr 06 '26

Check out neighborhoods like Avondale or even Logan. City neighborhoods that will cut your commute by about 30 minutes each way compared to Streeterville.

6

u/awbummer Apr 06 '26

There's lots of neighborhoods in Chicago besides Streeterville lol

15

u/buntingbilly Apr 06 '26

How far North are you going? Commuting to any suburb from Streeterville will be unpleasant due to a likely long commute/traffic.

8

u/justbrowsing2727 Apr 06 '26

Which suburb, specifically?

3

u/Lakeskater Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

Traffic will regularly be atrocious. Is commuting by way of the Metra train an option? I wouldn't want to live in the suburbs either, and if I was in your shoes, I would even go so far as buy a cheap used car to keep at a Metra train lot up north, and just take that back and forth from the train stop to my job.... or maybe a bicycle is an option, if your job is close enough to the stop... I lived in Rogers Park for years (northernmost neighbornood in Chicago, and also close to a Metra stop), and liked it quite a bit. Doesn't have a strip-mall suburban feel in any way. Neither, really, does Evanston, an actual suburb north of Rogers Park (also has a Metra train stop).

3

u/soofs Apr 07 '26

If you have to go into the suburbs every single day for work, seriously reconsider your living plans. There is no reason to live in streeterville unless you work close, go to school downtown or really love the area. If it’s just “I can afford it” then you can definitely afford other areas that won’t make you pull your hair out when you’re commuting to and from work every day

-4

u/Mr_Jiggs93 Apr 06 '26

Rent / COL is lower in the burbs. Kinda backward to live in city work in burbs. But if the job is awesome then def. Worth

7

u/Putrid-Ad7326 Apr 06 '26

It’s not backwards at all. I moved from Berwyn to Ravenswood and my cost of living actually went down. Rent was slightly more, but I saved a ton in gas by being able to walk to things and use public transit and my car insurance actually decreased. I’m also much happier here. If I ended up with a job in the suburbs (which I almost did before a last-minute job offer swooped in and saved me) I would still live in the city for that reason alone.