Quote:
Originally Posted by glowrock
Pilsen generally has units with shoeboxes for bedrooms and generally very small all around, McKinley Park is an area I've definitely been informed to check out!
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This is just a historical reality, most tenements in Chicago built prior to 1910 will have tight bedrooms due to the way they are laid out on a 25' wide lot.
Any neighborhood that was built-out before 1910 or 1920 will have this issue, including Pilsen, Bridgeport, or McKinley Park... these neighborhoods have virtually no newer buildings than 1915 or so, and certainly no buildings new enough to have decent bedrooms but old enough to be relatively affordable (nothing from the 1950s or 60s, for example).
To enlarge the bedroom, you have to move a load bearing wall so most rehabbers don't bother. Some developers will fix this as part of a total gut rehab, but a gut-rehabbed unit will probably be priced similar to new construction and out of your price range.
One pro tip is to look for units in brick corner buildings; often the corner buildings are a few feet wider since they were built with no setback, and that translates into wider bedrooms. Or you could look at units that front on major commercial streets inside wider buildings (double lot or wider).
Have you looked at Beverly? The South Side isn't all a crime ridden ghetto, it has lots of quiet, well kept neighborhoods but most of them suffer from commercial disinvestment and often are food deserts (thanks, segregation). Beverly is an exception to the rule. It's definitely a lot quieter than anywhere on the North Side, but will give you a great commute, easy street parking and it has some fun bars and restaurants (Horsethief Hollow, etc).
For example, here's a 2-bedroom in your price range. It's a 1920s building so the layout should be much better for you!
https://hotpads.com/10979-s-church-s...a-0aab322291ce