With cup of coffee and several newspaper classified sections scattered across the desk, it`s time to begin dialing phone numbers of landlords who`ve advertised apartments for rent in Jefferson Park.
Call No. 1: ”Hi, I`m calling for some information about the two-bedroom apartment you advertised.”
”Sorry, it`s been rented.”
Call No. 2: ”Hi, I`m calling to inquire about the one-bedroom apartment.”
”It`s been rented already.”
Call No. 3 (answering machine with thick, middle-European accent): ”You have reached (phone number) and we cannot take your call. If you`re calling about the apartment that`s advertised, it has been rented.”
Call No. 4 (determined not to get cut off): ”Hello, has your apartment been rented already?”
”Yes it has.”
”They rent pretty quickly in Jefferson Park, don`t they?”
”They sure do.”
And so it goes in Jefferson Park, a bustling Northwest Side community of older homes and newer apartment and condo buildings. It`s a community that`s known to many Chicagoans via the Jefferson Park Terminal, which serves CTA buses, the Congress/Douglas/O`Hare CTA line and the Metra train line.
Its boundaries zig and zag all over the Northwest Side, running from Nagle to Bryn Mawr Avenues, east to Austin Avenue, then up to Elston Avenue on the west, Devon Avenue on the north, the Milwaukee Road tracks to the North Branch of the Chicago River on the east, and Lawrence Avenue west to Central Avenue, then along Gunnison Street back to Nagle on the south. Confusing borders aside, most recognize the area near the Jefferson Park Terminal, along Milwaukee Avenue near Lawrence, as the heart of this Chicago community, which was named for Thomas Jefferson.
Milwaukee Avenue, one of the city`s premier shopping strips, is filled with storefront eateries and shops that reflect the heritage of the many European residents.
Perhaps just as telling is a new mixed-use development, Veterans Square, which opened eight months ago adjacent to the Jefferson Park Terminal, on a site formerly occupied by the Holiday Ballroom. The development`s 36,000-square-foot retail component will be home to Dunkin` Donuts, West Coast Video, a dry cleaner, a florist and several other fast-food/quick service outlets for commuters on the run.
”Jefferson Park is a fast-growing area because it has very good transportation and great access in and out of the city,” says Elizabeth Figura, a broker for Home Center Realty Inc. With several parks, swimming pools and leafy trees lining the sidestreets, Jefferson Park projects the family ambiance that`s typical of the Northwest Side.
While apartments often are quickly snapped up, there`s no shortage of them in Jefferson Park, where small landlords and managers of midsized buildings typically market their wares in the local Nadig newspapers and in citywide classified ads. And while you won`t find them touting splashy downtown amenities like swimming pools, a few constants seem to pop up: ”near shopping and transportation,” ”heated” and ”no pets.”
This apartment market tends to be somewhat pricey, with large one-bedroom units starting at about $500 per month and two-bedroom layouts fetching $525 to $650. Three-bedroom spreads rent for up to $750, utilities included. Many of the community`s two-flats are owner-occupied and very well-maintained as a result (also a reason for the pet prohibition, no doubt). Large pockets of rental buildings are near Jefferson Park-the park-and along Higgins Road west of Milwaukee Avenue.
Apartments are also plentiful near Cumberland and Foster known to some locals as the ”Concrete Jungle” for its abundance of rather gray buildings. Two-bedroom apartments there rent for about $600.
