Just to throw in my 2c's, I live in North Lincoln Park (borders Lakeview to the south) and commuted to Northbrook for about a year. Usually left LP at 7:15, leaving NB at 4 to head back. Fairly consistently was a 1 hour 15min travel time each way. While you would think the reverse commute would be better, a large portion of the trip is on 90/94 (the Kennedy) which has reversible lanes in the middle, which actually swings the benefit over to the normal commuter pattern. Snow and rain can degrade things quickly.

It really blew. I drank more coffee than I ever did. If I were to go the public trans route (get downtown, take the metra, take a shuttle) it would have easily been two hours. The reverse commute metra trains generally make every stop, no expresses.

$1200 a month for a 2/1 is low, I'd say any place under $1500 isn't going to be worth your while in Lakeview. Boystown/East Lakeview will be a haul to get to the freeway going across on Diversey, Belmont or Addison. Wicker Park/Bucktown are both good areas closer to the freeway, though I'd try to stay east of Western Ave if possible.
Personally, I like the West Loop, but depends on your tastes.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about Chicago or Northbrook, happy to help!

Just spent the weekend in Chicago. $10.99 a pack at the Walgreens!

Glad I brought enough for the weekend. Good incentive to quit!

Well, that is about $200 a month I will be saving over Phoenix. No way will I pay that. I will just be one of those annoying friends who bums them off people at bars.

I got my mother, brother and a few friends onto the E-cig recently and while it's not quite the same (some compare it to a real book & a kindle. Similar but just not the same). The starter kit was 60 bucks at walgreens and 5 cartridges (equivalent to 5+packs of cigs) costs 10-15 dollars depending on where you buy them.

Cheaper in the 'burbs.

+1 for Logan Square. It's also close to the expressway and you can get more apartment for the $$$ than you can in Lakeview.

If the OP is set on City living, then River West / West Town (near Ogden/Chicago/Milwaukee), Wicker Park and Bucktown all have relatively easy expressway access...though you're still probably looking at 45-60 min commute.

Don't most serious addicts go to Indiana on the weekends?

As ILoveParis already stated, it's basically a local term for douchebros and woo girls.

http://digamma.net/btfwiki/Lincoln_Park_Trixie

Ah, you should have stated that earlier - that somewhat changes my advice on neighborhoods.

I'd even more seriously recommend looking at Edgewater/Andersonville - this is a neighborhood that's heavily but not predominantly gay, with some good bars and places to hang out. I find it to be much more of a relaxed scene than Lakeview, which isn't even that gay anymore. Uptown, while still a bit sketchy in parts, is another option - there are some bars there, including a huge gay sports bar that I personally find a bit annoying, but lots of people like. Of course YMMV.

Lakeview still has the biggest concentration of gay bars in the city, but the neighborhood really has become a lot bro-ier - Wrigley Field is right next to Halsted Street, the city's historic gay strip, but the frat bros there would not necessarily be what you'd describe as gay-friendly. I find the neighborhoods farther north to be more mixed, which is nice.

I have never heard of any gay people being happy in Evanston. It's a suburb, with absolutely no gay life except for whatever Northwestern's on-campus groups are doing. Expect that you would find your social life revolving around going in and out of the city all the time, which means you'd lose the ability to spontaneously meet up with friends for drinks, etc. and would have to deal with the schlep of getting home to the suburbs late at night if you do go out.

I'm not recommending the West Loop for the OP, but just wanted to correct the assumption that there isn't any rental there. There may not be many "rental buildings" but there are a million condos available for rent. So my so that my daughter is going crazy living in a building where it feels like she's the only owner actually living in her unit. Overrun with renters.

Curious, but I find that "keeping up with the Joneses" has very little to do with the neighborhood you live in. It's city living...you could find yourself going months or years with nothing more than a nodding acquaintance to the people who live within blocks of you but become close friends with people spread throughout the city. When I compare my home to what friends have, it's very rare that I'm comparing it to people who live in my own neighborhood.

Even straight residents of Evanston have the same problem.

People get lured into thinking that Evanston is convenient to Chicago because it's adjacent and has El service. Nobody ever mentions that it's usually the better part of an hour to make the journey and that the El service stops at the Evanston border if you stay out too late, which means a long walk past a cemetery in a not so great part of town if there aren't any cabs around.

Kind of like Paris!

More than it costs across the border in Indiana. A lot more.

Yet another reason to have a car. Or rent one periodically.

Run the tax/cost of living numbers carefully. Fiscal situation here is bad, getting worse; place is run by thieves and morons. Guys like you have a tax-target on their backs.

Winter.

Plus it's not driving an hour, which would be tolerable. It's driving 15 minutes plus a billion stops/starts.

CTA used to run bus 201 at night; maybe they'll restore it. In any case, it's a 3-hr window between 1:30 and 4:30 (2 - 5 on weekends) when there is no public transportation to Evanston. Same is true for many parts of Chicago not served by Red or Blue lines or the few remaining OWL buses.

Just because it butts up against the city limits doesn't mean Evanston is close to the action.

As others have said, it takes around an hour on public transportation to get into the city (a little less if you're Lakeview-bound). And the scene there is kind of boring, so you're likely going to be city-bound all the time.

The Chicago to Northbrook commute will suck no matter where you live in the city, and no matter how you choose to get there.

How much do you love this company? It's kind of a shady move, but could you take the position for now and look for something downtown? It's a way to get to Chicago without losing income.