I have a family member who might be moving to Evanston, IL. She is looking to buy a condo near the Northwestern campus. What areas are the better areas? Which parts of the city should be avoided? Can you find a condo that is not filled with undergrads? Any info would be appreciated.

The entire area around NU's campus is really nice (and expensive). One of the nicest areas in the metropolitan Chicago area.

I think my sister rented a condo on Oakton back when studying at Northwestern? Not 100% positive. But I concur with the above. Evanston is a really nice area, even with a major university there. You really cannot go wrong IMO. There's not much riff raff up that way. Do you know if she's bringing her car? If not, then I'd say try someplace near the train line (purple line?) or Metra stations.


Correction...she lived on Oakton, and parking was a bitch if you didn't have a garage at your place. My sister had a designated spot, but it was free for all for any visitors.

I lived there for 3 years during law school (a few years ago). She should definitely visit the area and take a look, as there can be bad pockets in an otherwise nice area. General rule: the further north and east you are, the better. West into Skokie gets more blue collar, while south into Rogers Park (say, south of howard, or even mccormick) can get pretty sketchy pretty quickly. We lived on Central Street, by the stadium, and it was a great area.

Is she planning to bring a car? Parking can be a big issue, and it's really nice to have something off-street (otherwise you have to switch sides multiple times a week, sometimes in the middle of the night). Being close to the Purple Line is great if she wants to get downtown--the Metra has a stop on Central Street, too, but that's more of a regular commuter train to downtown. If she's up near campus, that isn't as big of an issue.

If you have any questions about specifics, fire away. We loved Evanston and still miss it a lot.

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She will be bringing a car and I might ask about some specifics after I find out the addresses of places she is looking at. She is actually commuting, living in Evanston Monday - Thursday and in the Columbus area Fri - Sun. The pay is such that she can fly 3/4 of the weekends home.

There is a complex on Oak between Ridge and Church that has a few units in it. It is newer, I think built in 2006.