superbygk

Hiya, I did a Master's program in Edinburgh, finished in 2011. I lived down south in near a place called Blackford (I didn't live in Blackford, but wasn't sure what to call my neighborhood). As you get further south it becomes a bit more suburby looking, but I dunno if you're into that. Prices in some of these places aren't bad. I shared a flat with two others and the rent was about 900pounds a month without utilities (flat was a bit small, but we made do). The fountainbridge area is a bit cheaper and not as 'nice'; it is on the opposite side of the city of the gym that fredbaron mentioned. If you want a quiet neighborhood, Bruntsfield is nice, but the rent may be a bit more expensive (at least 400pounds per month per person). Good thing about Edinburgh is that it's a relatively small city so lots of things are within walking distances of each other (15, maybe 20 minutes). You can also purchase a bike to get around; the city is a relatively bike friendly place. It terms of grocery stores, you aren't really far from one any place you live, though you'll have to go down south to Cameron Toll maybe to get to a big Target-like version of Sainsburys. One warning that I will offer is that, at some point in time, you or someone you know may encounter mice in the flat. This apparently is more common than in the US and not as big a deal (my flatmate, who was a petite Scottish girl, was completely nonchalant about a mice in our flat). Apparently, if you see a mouse, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have a pest problem. Many buildings in Edinburgh are old so they move from one place to the next, and as long as you don't leave food out they'll just be passing through... again, apparently not such a big deal there, so fair warning =)

garden veggie

PrescribedBurn already answered some of these questions, but I'll just add a couple of things: I bike regularly in the city of Chicago. It is one of the more bike friendly cities in the US. Generally you can bike on most roads, and a good number of them also have bike lanes/bus lanes, so that is helpful. In winter it is tough to bike because it's so cold and it snows sometimes, but generally you can get many places biking. It's also really nice to bike along the Lake during the summer as PrescribedBurn said =). There is bike thievery, but I don't think it's too common. I had my bike seat stolen once when someone cut the spiral lock that anchored my seat to my U-locked bike. Generally, though, if you have a U-lock it is very difficult for someone to cut it, so you will be pretty safe. Overall, a bike can be a practical thing: it can save you money in the long run and sometimes you can get places faster than if you decided to take the train or bus.

mama grizzly

coconut radio

burnt toast

Pilsen may be a little more expensive than Bridgeport, but I am not too sure; I'll defer to emilyrobot on that. If there are areas considered more safe, it's probably closer up north towards Chinatown and towards the east (closer to the highway/green and red train lines). Walking around is not dangerous (there are parks where people hang out on good days off of Halsted and 31st street), though I wouldn't necessarily do it nonchalantly near the Sox-35th train station during the night because that's the converging point for Bridgeport, Bronzeville and part of the South side. The one bad thing about Bridgeport is that there isn't really a big supermarket nearby (at least not when I lived there). There's a grocer called Halsted grocery I used to go to sometimes, and there are Walgreens and CVS, but generally I'd take the bus or train to a bigger supermarket and carry my food home. Pilsen to my knowledge has a lot more good chain and local supermarkets.

Hey all, I'm a new registered user to the forum. I've posted and used the results section while applying for Masters programs, and am back now that I am doing the whole PhD thing. My research interests are largely in media and religion, and as such I've applied to schools that have researchers in these areas: Texas A&M (TAMU), USC, University of Colorado at Boulder, NYU, the University of Edinburgh, and U of Toronto iSchool. Toronto doesn't have a media/religion scholar, but I am a huge fan of Marshall McLuhan so I thought I'd apply there, though I am not entirely sure how much residual influence he has there (he died over thirty years ago). As for choosing programs to apply to, I did previous graduate work in this field so I was familiar with scholars who were researching stuff I was interested in and sought them out. I met some at academic conferences and exchanged e-mails and phone conversations with them (all of whom were extremely kind), and decided on my schools that way. Sure, I applied to schools that have great prestige as well, but my priority was working with someone who is familiar with my area of expertise. I live in Chicago but didn't apply to a place like NU 'cause I didn't feel like it was a good match, despite its reputation. Also, yesterday I received an e-mail letter of acceptance from the department head at TAMU with funding. No specific details about teaching/research assignments yet, but it's nice to have an acceptance under the belt =). Good luck to everyone!

Hey guys, I'm a new user to the forum, but used the results section heavily a couple of years ago and am using it again this year. @Blurry, I went to UIC for grad school until 2010, and I lived in Bridgeport for a time. Bridgeport is a good place to live if you're not really into night life. My friend and I lived in a very affordable 2 bedroom apartment for $750/month. Granted, it was really small and it didn't look nice, but there are other places that are affordable and a lot nicer looking. Because it's not really the south side it's not dangerous. There are a good number of families that live around that area. You can take the train to UIC campus (you'll have to transfer once), or there's a number 8 bus I used to take that would take me right to the East Campus, and it took maybe 15-20 minutes. Alternatively, you can live closer to campus. Right south of campus is called University Village, but those are nicer and pricier apartments probably into the thousands per month. Some undergrad students and grad students live there. There's also another neighborhood called Pilsen, which is close to UIC campus that is really affordable. It's a primarily Latino neighborhood, and most of the streets are safe 'cause there are alot of families (my friend's apartment once did get robbed, but that was because he lived on the ground floor and the door was very conspicuous). Right now I live in Chinatown, which is also a great place to live: Close to trains, good restaurants, and rent is fairly cheap. The only caveat is you need to know someone to rent here: I tried living here about four years ago but couldn't get an apartment until I moved in with someone who already lived here. @InquilineKea, it would be highly impractical to live in the suburbs and commute by train: There's one set of train systems that connect the city to the suburbs, and there's another set that connects the city to itself. As far as I know, there isn't a direct train from the suburbs to the UChicago area. If you are not going to live in Hyde Park (but you want to live in the city nonetheless), you can drive or take the train/bus. If you take the train I think you'll still have to transfer to a bus that'll take you to campus (you can take the red or green line). There are buses that go directly down there, too, but I'm not so familiar with them. Hope that helps!