So I have been in the city for a little over two weeks.. I graduated on Saturday, May 9th and by Monday I had moved my stuff to Chicago with my mom. In April Jessie and I flew to Chicago to find an apartment. We used an apartment agency and found this place in Lincoln park/ Lakeview.
The apartment I liked was rented below me and I took another one in the building. When my mom and I drove my stuff out to the apartment the Monday after graduation the apartment was less than what we expected. The trip in general was hell. We rented a U-haul and drove from Westlake to Chicago. The trip out to Chicago was fine because we were on 90 the entire way but when we got here it was awful driving the truck in the city. We would be going down a road and got 20 inches from the el track and realize that we were higher than the bridge and had to back up (on a Chicago street) and turn around. After about an hour of trying to find a track we could get under we parked the car, got the key and went to the apartment building. The apartment was awful. The smell in the hall way smelled like sewage and vomit with a touch of a nursing home. The door to the apartment was kicked in and two of the three keys didn’t work. The carpet was filthy and the so was the rest of the apartment. You could hardly see out of the windows. The bed room had these HUGE closets but when I opened the door it fell on top of me (it was like a heavy 10 foot door). Inside the closet was an air conditioner and a hole in the ceiling like 3 feet wide. Gross. The bathroom may had been the worse. There was mold growing around the bath tub and the cabinet door fell off when I opened the vanity. The worst part was the mouse trap I found under the sink. I DON’T DO MICE. They are one of the top 5 things that bother me the most. I see a rodent and my skin creeps. I hate mice. Ew. Ew. It makes me sick just thinking about it. As you can imagine the kitchen wasn’t much to brag about. The stove looked unusable and Gas was definitely leaking from the apartment. I could go on but I don’t think its necessary. Its pretty understandable that the apartment was less than livable.
Pictures of the First Apartment on Cambridge.. But they dont give justice to the grossness that existed:
I was trying to make the best of the apartment (because I was going to be there the next year) but my mom was not going to let me stay there. When Jessie and I looked at the building the realtor who took us in there was making a big deal of the little things and played off of our emotions “This is such a great location, you aren’t going to find better for your price range, look at these HUGE closets, oh my gosh, this is a steal” she made us believe that we couldn’t find a better place so we might as well like that one. And it worked. When we went in the other people hadn’t moved out either so it was hard to notice the hole in the closet or the traps under the sink because we weren’t going to go through their stuff.
Anyways, we broke that lease (thank god my dad took care of that) and my mom and I went apartment hunting once again. This time using a different agency. We had a much better experience and settled for a studio opposed to a one bedroom. I am in a much more beautiful place that is livable. We wanted security, a high rise, clean and a good location. The realtor (Steve) took us to 6 or 7 apartments. I fell in love with an apartment in a building on Lincoln Park West (I really wanted to be in Lincoln park) But once again it was rented beneath me (you have to be very quick in Chicago with apartments). So I settled for my second pick which was very nice.
My current apartment is on the gold coast. It is actually a better pick than the Lincoln park apartment. I love the location but wish there were more young people in the area (although there are a lot).
So it was quite an adventure getting out here.. the closet space is tight.. very tight.. but the second apartment is much more nicer and I am very happppy : ) Special shout out to my family for helping me get out of the awful mess I was in... : )
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