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are plenty of places in the city available to someone with a mid five figures salary. Lincoln Square, Andersonville, Ravenswood, and Roscoe Village have plenty of decent places to rent. I'm a huge fan of Lincoln Square (I've lived in the hood for 8+ years now). I can walk to the el and 5 different bus routes in 5 minutes or less, I can walk to the Metra train that goes downtown in less than 10 minutes (it also heads straight north into the burbs). I have dozens of excellent restaurants and shops within a short walk, as well as a funny little movie theater, an independent bookstore and a wonderful music school/concert hall. Parking is easy compared to some other neighborhoods, I never have to park more than a block away. All city neighborhoods have crime, and Lincoln Square is no different, but I feel quite safe and most of the residents are cool, low-key people. The crime that does occur is usually non-violent property crime, and having a dog goes a long way towards deterring that.
My street dead-ends at a little plaza with a fountain and, on nice days, it's filled with people and children and usually someone playing live music. They have tons of little festivals there in the summer. My favorite festival of the year is in Welles Park, though, a 10 minute walk from my house. It's given by the music school (The Old Town School) and features an entire weekend of fantastic music from all over the world along with dancing, food, crafts and demostrations. I don't miss it for the world.
Andersonville is just east and a bit north of Lincoln Square, and has lovely homes and really great shops and restaurants. I find the parking to be trickier and it's further from the el, but it's great. Ravenswood is also nice, and residential, as is Roscoe Village.
Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Wrigleyville are more geared towards recent graduates who come to live in the city (although plenty of families live there too, quite happily). They tend to be loud and hard to navigate on weekends and evenings. If going out is your thing, they can be fun though. I lived in west Lakeview for years and really loved it, but I'm happier where I live now.
Other folks really enjoy the vibe in Edgewater, Loyola, and Roger's Park. They are close to the lake and the el, and you can find some amazing apartments for great prices. I worked in Roger's Park and took classes in Edgewater for years and found some areas to be a bit dicey, but others are just lovely. There's a very cool artistic/musical/fringe theater vibe in these neighborhoods, as well as some fantastic restaurants and shops. If I were going to look in these neighborhoods, I would enlist the help of someone who knows them well and can steer you towards the really nice areas. It can be very hard to tell from block to block, especially during the day.
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