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Well, after much searching this past weekend, I have found a new home.



I found a beautiful one bedroom apartment on the 29th floor of Tower 1 at the Presidential Towers. These four high rise buildings are located in the west "Loop" (downtown Chicago), right in between the Sears Tower and Greek Town. I am sooo excited!



I LOVE Chicago's downtown, and after I graduated I planned on maybe buying or renting a condo downtown, but I never really thought I would move there before then. I will miss my old neighborhood, but the location of my new place is perfect. I will be closer to school and closer to the expressway. Going to work will no longer be such a big headache. I will be just a few blocks away from all of the fierce stores on State Street, all of the major train lines, and all of the other attractions located downtown. Not to mention, inside the building there is a mini-shopping mall with various shops, restaurants AND a state of the art fitness center with an indoor pool and an outside running track. The reduction of stress in my life alone will be worth the pricey rent. I would have preferred to have found an apartment in Streeterville (the area of downtown closer to Navy Pier) but I would not have been in such a convenient area. I will especially enjoy the fact I won't have to worry about being late for school in the mornings anymore!

So now I just need to figure out how I will find time to pack. Ugh......


While I was looking for pictures to post, I found out some interesting history about the Presidential Towers. They were built 20 years ago in an effort to gentrify Chicago's Madison Street skid row. It was a private developing firm that built the four towers BUT they recieved some government subsidies. The controversy came about though when it was revealed that none of the apartments would be available for low income families. There was much protesting and when the owners of the buildings fell behind paying the mortgage in the late 80's, the city of Chicago intervened once again, but this time with the condition that a minimum of 165 units be reserved for low income individuals. Well, needless to say no more than 60 of those units were ever filled and low-income activists marched and protested outside the towers. By the mid-90's though the West Loop had become a thriving area of Chicago and the value of the towers sky rocketed. The low income tenants moved out and were not replaced, since the prior agreement with the city housing officials had ended. Interesting!

Anyhoo, I am afraid I could no longer stand my organic chemistry TA from India (the one that can't speak english). Not only was he intelligible, but he was a fucking asshole! This was the second week of class, and when our lab finished early he would not let us leave! I asked the bastard if I could have my data sheet that had just printed and he would not let me have it! Fucking bastard! So I stormed out of the class, walked over to the next building and dropped the class online. Well, actually I switched to another section with a different instructor. I spoke with the new instructor. He is from China, but at least he speaks english! He also seems pretty cool, so hopefully I won't have anymore problems. All I can say is I spend way too much money on tuition and books to put up with shit like that!

So this Friday is the Moenia concert.....I can't wait!