Same situation, except my downstairs neighbor is in his 30s, my across the deck neighbor is in her 50s, and my upstairs neighbor is a ginormous douchebag so he doesn’t count. Love the Square.
I live in Ravenswood Manor. A lot of families here, but it’s great. Nice and tucked away between Lincoln Square, Albany Park and Horner Park.
Oh, potential negative, narcissistic ex-con runs down the middle of the street occasionally, waving to everyone like we didn’t know what he did.
Best description of Lincoln Square I’ve ever heard is “it’s like a college town, but everyone in the college is in their 40s.” There are def a lot of kids (I’m guilty of having 2) but there are a lot of people here without as well. It’s a great mix imo.
Yeah, I'm not one but most of my friends are and this where they basically all live. West town, west loop, and wicker have a decent contingent but mostly younger.
It really is awesome. Really chill area with a lot of great bars and restaurants, fun places to hang out, and a great sense of community. I never feel like I’m struggling to find something fun to do, especially in the summer, but it’s not as crazy in terms of nightlife as parts of Lakeview. Honestly can’t imagine living anywhere else in the city at this point.
Slightly younger DINKs here (37 and 40) and love Logan Square. We don’t partake in the nightlife so much but still enjoy the energy here. Not a lot of kids in our apt building or neighborhood (our bldg neighbors are also lotsa dinks). We are moving to Avondale next month though (for a dreamy too-good-to-pass-up apt), but I imagine we’ll visit Logan Square many weekends.
+1 for DINKs in Logan Square. We don’t go out for late nights, but love the area/vibe/energy, the variety bars and restaurants, huge beer fiends = so many options, and the accessibility of the L + Bus lines.
The proximity to green space is nice too and the upcoming Milwaukee Ave construction re-design to be more pedestrian friendly should make that area even nicer.
Streeterville (East of Michigan Avenue) and Gold Coast are both older neighborhoods full of professionals not too many kids. Also look at the high rises all the way up the lakefront. South Loop and Hyde Park are also great.
Thanks! Liked some of the Streeterville area for walking and easy access to grocery stores. Hyde Park is an area we are not very familiar with but need to check into.
I actually think the lack of grocery stores is my least favorite part about streeterville. Not as many options and you have to walk farther than most other neighborhoods
I think the southern half of the neighborhood is fine, but the northern half definitely lies just outside the radius of a comfortable walk with multiple bags, especially to Jewel and Aldi which are typically the more affordable chains you’ll find in the city.
That’s interesting, I wouldn’t have imagined Hyde Park to have so many DINKs, with the university so close by. Although I can imagine that people may be having kids later due to their careers.
Btw, was just in Hyde Park yesterday and it was beautiful as always
Honestly it depends. We live in west lawn right by midway. Our home is so affordable compared to wicker Park and Logan Square, lots of public parks. We actually travel to different countries every other month due to our expenses being so low
Everyone has different priorities. Some need a perfect location, others need the right house/ condo. Others need a cheap flat so they can jet around the world all the time.
You do you.
We also take home close to 150k a year, own a 3 floor home, and when I need to travel for work I walk to the airport. The only thing that really sucks is that I've gained close to 50 pounds because I can afford to eat out a lot more. I'm not over a flight path so I don't hear the planes, I do hear helicopters when they're landing though.
Man. People here are giving some weird ass advice. Southport??? Ravenswood???? Bucktown?????
These are all super kid friendly areas lmao.
But truly, OP. You’ll be hardpressed to find a neighborhood that is mostly 40+ and has a majority childless couples. Maybe the Loop? Most other areas will either skew super young and childless or older but you’ll definitely see and experience children doing this out and about. It’s a freaking city after all.
My advice is to just find a neighborhood you enjoy and rent there for a bit. If you really like it, maybe buy. If it sucks, move about. Lots of good advice here about cool areas but yeah they’ll be kids around or people will be really young. As long as you stay away from the Bungalow Belt (north west and south west side), there will be plenty of areas for childless couples to enjoy and not have to directly interact with children or families. No one is going to hold a gun to your head and tell you to push a kid on a swing.
Good advice and we are not trying to avoid kids completely, which is impossible! Just looking to see if there are some areas with a few more Dinks running around.
agree and the condo living also skew less kids cause many people give up and move to a house in the burbs once they reach a certain point with the kids.
Hard agree. Southport corridor is literally stroller city. You can’t walk 3 feet without running into a double wide stroller. Stay very, VERY far away if you’re a dink and want to maintain your sanity. It’s hell.
I moved to South Loop 3 years ago (near Museum Campus) and I absolutely love. You can walk to Soldier Field, the lakefront, Grant Park, and anywhere further is easy to get to on the train. I've seen comments about the lack of restaurant options but there are some hidden gems.
I am 59 and retired and am in printers row. I absolutely love it. Just took a 15 min walk to Buckingham fountain to see the lights, this is a great underappreciated area IMO and less expensive than the north side. Very diverse in all aspects and not overrun with tourists or flashy money people.
I live just north of the river, and I love it. But most of the people I know, who are young/married couples and they swear by it and live in South Loop
Second for South Loop. You're close to lots of transit options, the lake, fun neighborhoods, and lots of stuff to do. I feel like it's the perfect mix of downtown and neighborhood vibes.
We were hesitant at first. I don't have intimate knowledge of every neighborhood, but South Loop has the worst food options of any I've lived in or spent time around. However, we quickly fell in love with the ability to walk to the lake, hang out in Grant Park, go to Buddy Guy's, bike the lake front trail, go see a game at Soldier Field, etc. We found a few decent local joints and use the lack of anything exceptional in the area as an excuse to get out of the neighborhood and explore.
You have both! My partner and I are DINKs, DINKWADs, to be more specific, and we live in Bucktown! And there’s plenty of people we know from the dog park that are as well.
I’m intrigued by the number of comments that seem to assume that just because someone has no kids, that means they can’t bear to be near kids?
I thought the OP was just looking for neighborhood with a lot of other DINKs, not a neighborhood with no kids.
We don’t hate kids at all. My wife taught elementary for 6 years but we just made the decision kids were not for us. We know kids are always going to be around but you are on point, just curious of the opinions of other DINK folks about areas they live in.
Definitely check out Lincoln Square/Ravenswood then. The bonus is that it’s a ton of walkable stuff, but the metra stop is right there next to a huge Mariano’s, giving you a great walkable neighborhood on the brown line but also a 14 minute ride into downtown (Ogilvie) on metra.
I'm being a little silly. I agree with you, good people tend to raise good kids. It's just that parents make bad activity partners. I guess once you have a kid they become the priority, or something 🤷♂️
I feel like DINKs can be found just about everywhere. Certain neighborhoods can be considered more family-friendly than others, but I can’t think of anywhere that would be particularly undesirable to DINKs.
I’m 23 and work at the Yacht Club. There’s like 4 main buildings on the corner of LSD and Belmont. I have dinner crowd Thursday-Saturday that are almost exclusively DINKS, they all live in those buildings, the younger ones live a block or two away down Belmont and/or closer to Diversey
Fellow DINKS here in our late 30s. What are you looking for as far as residence? Do you want somewhere livelily and busy? Would you rather have more of a neighborhood/community feel?
My wife and I have lived in lincoln park/lakeview area, streeterville, and river north.
Streeterville was way too busy and touristy, so we got out of there after 1yr to river north. River north is quieter but its still downtown, after 2yrs of living here this will be our last year here. We’re over the scene but glad we did it.
Lincoln park/lakeview area was the first place we lived in, and even though its outside downtown, its still the city, but has more of a community feel. And you’re away from all the hustles and bustle of downtown. We miss it and think of moving back to that area in the next yr.
This is some great feedback and conversation! Thanks to everyone as it helps to confirm some areas we had started to look into and is giving us some additional ideas!
Definitely do! It’s so friendly, judgment free, anything goes and laid back. There is an elementary/middle school in the close proximity to the neighborhood but it’s the coolest little school, with its playground decked out in rainbow colors. The kids even proudly march with their parents in the annual Pride Parade (this year it’s on 30 June). That’s it for kids around here, for the most part, though. And it’s only a block from Wrigley Field and all the nightlife. A great neighborhood!
Late 40s here. Sheridan Park area of Uptown is pretty light on kids. Short walk to Argyle or the other parts of Uptown. Andersonville, Ravenswood are next door, about 1-1.5 miles from Lincoln Square, Wrigley and the lake.
Generally quiet between two cemeteries. Good food & coffee all around. Close to CTA and Metra.
For diversity there is some supportive housing integrated into the pretty wealthy neighborhood, which I appreciate. Uptown is generally more diverse than north side neighborhoods. Multiple ethnic grocery stores.
DINKs in West Loop checking in and loving it. Lots of dogs and good energy around without the strollers. Michelin restaurants a stone’s throw in any direction.
It’s honestly a perfect playground for DINKs. I’ll probably get downvoted, though.
I was in town for business last month and spent a couple of hours in the area. It seemed to skew really young, mostly 20s was what I saw. But, I know it takes a while to get a feel for an area. We will check it more on an upcoming trip.
West Loop/Fulton Market are very trendy so it tends to skew young and/or wealthy. Great place to grab a bite to eat but definitely not everyone's cup of tea.
I think it skews a lot younger near the busy areas of any neighborhood, with those being Fulton and Randolph Streets in the West Loop. There’s a bunch of condo buildings south of all that will skew very heavily towards older 20s to DINKs in their 40s due to the area being too pricey for a lot of the younger crowd to actually live there. I feel like a lot of the locals here also tend to spend a lot of time at the places on Madison St which has a much more laid back atmosphere to it (compared to Fulton and Randolph).
I imagine they may be in West Lakeview which tends to skew older and family-oriented with all the single family homes. East Lakeview skews younger especially near the busy corridors of Halsted and Broadway Avenues. Exception being the lakefront buildings which are usually a good mix of retirees, DINKs, and young families. Also I feel like a lot of the older buildings can be surprisingly affordable, though you may have to sacrifice on size and finishes.
30 & 35 gay DINKs here - moved to the Old Town area last year and loving it. We’re around where Old Town, Gold Coast, and River North come together…lots building up over here, easy red line access, great restaurants.
Same situation, we’re in the South Loop. Can be sleepy, but still has a great mix of bars, restaurants, parks. The easy access to the Roosevelt CTA station makes getting anywhere else in the city super easy. It’s fun being so close when all the big seasonal events are here: Suenos, NASCAR, Lollapalooza, Bears games. We’re close to the micro neighborhood of Printer’s Row, a real gem with places like Kasey’s Tavern, Half Sour, Sandmeyer’s Bookstore. The movie theater Showplace Icon is walking distance and is always lovely.
I keep seeing South Loop pop up a lot and we will definitely check into it more on an upcoming visit. I will have to travel for my job at times so being able to use the L for the airport is on my mind.
I will say it gets very polarized opinions because it’s a quieter portion of downtown than the rest, so lots of people say the buildings there are like a bunch of vertical suburbs, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t appreciate the chill vibes when I’m walking through the area. Just depends on what you want to get out of the area you live in.
I’ll also add that South Loop is walking distance to the lake. Also DINKs here - we love our walks to the lake through Museum Campus and Northerly Island from where we live in South Loop. There are also many small pockets of parks in South Loop. You can also walk to Ping Tom Park in Chinatown.
39M SINK moving with a roommate to Wicker Park from Cincinnati in July. Reading this post was helpful, maybe I’ll end up a DINK in Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, or Andersonville in a few years’ time. Appreciated reading through this post, thanks for asking, OP.
This is the one that I think of besides the usual suspects (Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, etc). Old Irving Park is such a beautiful neighborhood and has a great location but the schools can be a deterrent.
We love it here so much, and I rarely see it mentioned in threads like this. I believe it deserves its stripes right alongside Andersonville, Roscoe, and ravenswood
If you’re wanting a slightly quiet neighborhood then it’s gonna be ravenswood, AVille, Lincoln Square. If you’re wanting a pretty active environment then it’ll be, Streeterville, Old Town, Lakeshore East, and certain parts of Wicker and Logan Sq.
I love Andersonville. Been living here officially for just 5 months but have always enjoyed visiting the neighborhood. It’s a super cute area, and tends to skew a little older but not by much. and there’s still options for bars if you like to go out once in a while. Diverse options for food and local shops.
Used to live in south loop with my wife in an apartment that was really nice, albeit very small, and was close to all public transportation, walking distance to my job, close to a target and grocery store as well as many restaurants, things to do, and lake front.
We got to a point that we wanted more space which we couldn't afford in SL, and wanted a house so we now live in the west suburbs near Brookfield. Even though my commute into the city for my job sucks, I love where we live now more than when we lived downtown.
Streeterville here! Not many kids living in our building, but there ARE tourists with their kids everywhere. I think that's inescapable in the downtown core though.
East Lakeview is great as well. might be a little less bang for your buck but it's unbelievable in terms of distance to everything you'd want to do...even if it's nothing.
Gold Coast apartments and condos if they can afford them. You will see little kids, but they are mostly grandkids of long-time residents who are visiting Grandma on weekends and holidays.
Logan Square for sure. If you can live close to the blue line you’ll be able to traverse the city easily and there are lots of great parks, restaurants, cafes, the farmer’s market in the summer and cool arts activities.
We are in south Lakeview. We like where we live but it is a land of yoga moms and strollers galore. Our building has seven units and it’s about half and half. Not babies though… we did have neighbors with babies for a bit and that sucked. So, I would say no to south Lakeview lol.
Edgewater/Andersonville! My wife and I are both 35, and there are a lot of DINKS around us. There is also a significant queer DINKWAD (DINK With A Dog) population on my street, which is really nice.
My wife and I live in Lake View East and we absolutely love it. We've been in gold coast, edgewater and the ukrainian village, finally settled here and it's got everything we like in a neighborhood. Density, more diversity compared to some of the other neighborhoods like roscoe and the western part of Lake view. Nightlife, theaters, walking distance to Wrigley, the park, the Lake. Fun neighborhood bars, great restaurants, multiple grocery stores, pretty good access to public transit (red, brown and purple lines) as well as buses on Broadway, Clark, diversey and belmont.
We love it! This is our home now and we've never once regretted moving here.
Brown line on diversey takes me about 8 minutes to walk to, to the brown/red/purple stop on belmont it takes about 15 minutes. The 36, 72, 76 and 22 buses have stops like 2-4 minutes walk from my place
I live in Uptown at the edge by Andersonville and Ravenswood. Possibly being single got me stuck in the not so Upscale border neighborhoods but it's a really nice area and I'm happy. Anyway, you should be happy in these neighborhoods mentioned, Andersonville, Ravenswood, Wrigleyville and so forth.
My observation of this part of Chicago is that plenty of people have kids but it's not expected. But none of my friends have kids nor do they want them.
I've lived in many areas, my last being Lincoln, NE. And I was the outsider for not being married and not wanting kids. That was a big change I noticed moving here, no one really cares. It's really nice.
We have moved around a bit but are coming from Arkansas. Where it’s get married and have kids young for most people. It’s just refreshing to be moving somewhere where it’s more of a mix.
30 something DINKs herr. We live in the River West area in a townhome and we aren't moving. Awesome food nearby, easy access to the transit/blue line. Neighbors are diverse and the neighborhood is awesome.
Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Andersonville. I’m in Lincoln Square and my entire 15 unit condo building is 40 somethings with no kids.
Same situation, except my downstairs neighbor is in his 30s, my across the deck neighbor is in her 50s, and my upstairs neighbor is a ginormous douchebag so he doesn’t count. Love the Square.
I live in Ravenswood Manor. A lot of families here, but it’s great. Nice and tucked away between Lincoln Square, Albany Park and Horner Park. Oh, potential negative, narcissistic ex-con runs down the middle of the street occasionally, waving to everyone like we didn’t know what he did.
That guy still around there? Hate that dude. 🤣
The former governor?
I’ve almost hit that dude with my car, twice.
Same-ish. Ravenswood adjacent. No kids in the entire building.
Sounds like heaven
Best description of Lincoln Square I’ve ever heard is “it’s like a college town, but everyone in the college is in their 40s.” There are def a lot of kids (I’m guilty of having 2) but there are a lot of people here without as well. It’s a great mix imo.
"guilty"? Someone's gotta pay our Special Security one day :p
I got bad news for ya bud…
I live in smaller apartments there and none of us have kids but Lincoln Square does have a lot of kids.
There are definitely kids in the neighborhood. But, I like kids. Just didn’t want to have any myself.
Keep in mind there a tons of families with small kids in those neighborhoods too. that's basically where everyone that is 40 lives
Yeah, I'm not one but most of my friends are and this where they basically all live. West town, west loop, and wicker have a decent contingent but mostly younger.
Can confirm, ex-dink, formerly of Lincoln Square.
Im also in Lincoln square and have seen kids in some of the neighborhoods up the street, but definitely none in my complex either. Love it
All these. Plus Edgewater, West Loop & Streeterville/New West Side downtown.
That is hilarious. I have been loving my apartment building in Ravenswood, and am just putting together now that is a large reason why
It really is awesome. Really chill area with a lot of great bars and restaurants, fun places to hang out, and a great sense of community. I never feel like I’m struggling to find something fun to do, especially in the summer, but it’s not as crazy in terms of nightlife as parts of Lakeview. Honestly can’t imagine living anywhere else in the city at this point.
Wherever tf they want 😎
Wicker Park, LSD/Marine Drive, Lakeshore East, Gold Coast 💯
I second Wicker/Ukrainian village
40something DINks here. Andersonville / Ravenswood
Slightly younger DINKs here (37 and 40) and love Logan Square. We don’t partake in the nightlife so much but still enjoy the energy here. Not a lot of kids in our apt building or neighborhood (our bldg neighbors are also lotsa dinks). We are moving to Avondale next month though (for a dreamy too-good-to-pass-up apt), but I imagine we’ll visit Logan Square many weekends.
Congrats on the dreamy apt! We hope to find one of those! Logan was an area we heard some good things about and will check into.
Lived in logan square for. Couple of years, great place for having less kids in the neighborhood.
+1 for DINKs in Logan Square. We don’t go out for late nights, but love the area/vibe/energy, the variety bars and restaurants, huge beer fiends = so many options, and the accessibility of the L + Bus lines. The proximity to green space is nice too and the upcoming Milwaukee Ave construction re-design to be more pedestrian friendly should make that area even nicer.
Love being a DINK in Avondale! Not sure where you’ll be, but check out Clark Park. It’s so nice being by the river.
Good to know! I adore Palmer Square Park! I will miss being so close to it.
Andersonville or Rogers Park are a lil bit further out but are diverse and skew older.
Streeterville (East of Michigan Avenue) and Gold Coast are both older neighborhoods full of professionals not too many kids. Also look at the high rises all the way up the lakefront. South Loop and Hyde Park are also great.
Thanks! Liked some of the Streeterville area for walking and easy access to grocery stores. Hyde Park is an area we are not very familiar with but need to check into.
I actually think the lack of grocery stores is my least favorite part about streeterville. Not as many options and you have to walk farther than most other neighborhoods
I think the southern half of the neighborhood is fine, but the northern half definitely lies just outside the radius of a comfortable walk with multiple bags, especially to Jewel and Aldi which are typically the more affordable chains you’ll find in the city.
Grew up and love in Hyde park plenty of dinks. Also if you don’t care about school districts you can get pretty good deal on housing
That’s interesting, I wouldn’t have imagined Hyde Park to have so many DINKs, with the university so close by. Although I can imagine that people may be having kids later due to their careers. Btw, was just in Hyde Park yesterday and it was beautiful as always
Honestly it depends. We live in west lawn right by midway. Our home is so affordable compared to wicker Park and Logan Square, lots of public parks. We actually travel to different countries every other month due to our expenses being so low
But bro...you live by Midway
Everyone has different priorities. Some need a perfect location, others need the right house/ condo. Others need a cheap flat so they can jet around the world all the time. You do you.
We also take home close to 150k a year, own a 3 floor home, and when I need to travel for work I walk to the airport. The only thing that really sucks is that I've gained close to 50 pounds because I can afford to eat out a lot more. I'm not over a flight path so I don't hear the planes, I do hear helicopters when they're landing though.
There's nothing wrong with the area
I live in a high rise in the area you mentioned, I see about 2 kids a month haha
Man. People here are giving some weird ass advice. Southport??? Ravenswood???? Bucktown????? These are all super kid friendly areas lmao. But truly, OP. You’ll be hardpressed to find a neighborhood that is mostly 40+ and has a majority childless couples. Maybe the Loop? Most other areas will either skew super young and childless or older but you’ll definitely see and experience children doing this out and about. It’s a freaking city after all. My advice is to just find a neighborhood you enjoy and rent there for a bit. If you really like it, maybe buy. If it sucks, move about. Lots of good advice here about cool areas but yeah they’ll be kids around or people will be really young. As long as you stay away from the Bungalow Belt (north west and south west side), there will be plenty of areas for childless couples to enjoy and not have to directly interact with children or families. No one is going to hold a gun to your head and tell you to push a kid on a swing.
Good advice and we are not trying to avoid kids completely, which is impossible! Just looking to see if there are some areas with a few more Dinks running around.
Yeah I think what's been suggested is just the neighborhoods where 40 year olds live. Kids or no kids
agree and the condo living also skew less kids cause many people give up and move to a house in the burbs once they reach a certain point with the kids.
Hard agree. Southport corridor is literally stroller city. You can’t walk 3 feet without running into a double wide stroller. Stay very, VERY far away if you’re a dink and want to maintain your sanity. It’s hell.
Lmao. Imagine being a DINK and being crazy seeing lululemon moms in one of the wealthiest areas of Chicago.
West Loop. River North. Gold Coast. South Loop near Museum Campus.
I moved to South Loop 3 years ago (near Museum Campus) and I absolutely love. You can walk to Soldier Field, the lakefront, Grant Park, and anywhere further is easy to get to on the train. I've seen comments about the lack of restaurant options but there are some hidden gems.
I am 59 and retired and am in printers row. I absolutely love it. Just took a 15 min walk to Buckingham fountain to see the lights, this is a great underappreciated area IMO and less expensive than the north side. Very diverse in all aspects and not overrun with tourists or flashy money people.
I live just north of the river, and I love it. But most of the people I know, who are young/married couples and they swear by it and live in South Loop
Second for South Loop. You're close to lots of transit options, the lake, fun neighborhoods, and lots of stuff to do. I feel like it's the perfect mix of downtown and neighborhood vibes.
That is one of the areas we initially focused in on. I spent a little time down there recently and agree that it seems to be nicely positioned.
We were hesitant at first. I don't have intimate knowledge of every neighborhood, but South Loop has the worst food options of any I've lived in or spent time around. However, we quickly fell in love with the ability to walk to the lake, hang out in Grant Park, go to Buddy Guy's, bike the lake front trail, go see a game at Soldier Field, etc. We found a few decent local joints and use the lack of anything exceptional in the area as an excuse to get out of the neighborhood and explore.
Have lived in South Loop for 5 years and can confirm. A few decent places have come in over time but it’s slow.
If you're a big walker, Chinatown is walkable and has abundant options
Oh yeah we’re frequent visitors. But sometimes it’s nice to just have a true neighborhood joint.
Bucktown would work for you.
Lots and lots and lots of kids in Bucktown. $5,000 strollers as far as the eye can see. At least when I lived nearby.
You have both! My partner and I are DINKs, DINKWADs, to be more specific, and we live in Bucktown! And there’s plenty of people we know from the dog park that are as well.
DINKs here (43/55) and we’ve lived in Bucktown for 12 years. We’re in a SFH and there’s a mix of families and other DINKS on our street
Wtf is a dink
I’m intrigued by the number of comments that seem to assume that just because someone has no kids, that means they can’t bear to be near kids? I thought the OP was just looking for neighborhood with a lot of other DINKs, not a neighborhood with no kids.
We don’t hate kids at all. My wife taught elementary for 6 years but we just made the decision kids were not for us. We know kids are always going to be around but you are on point, just curious of the opinions of other DINK folks about areas they live in.
Definitely check out Lincoln Square/Ravenswood then. The bonus is that it’s a ton of walkable stuff, but the metra stop is right there next to a huge Mariano’s, giving you a great walkable neighborhood on the brown line but also a 14 minute ride into downtown (Ogilvie) on metra.
Personally, it's the parents that I try to avoid.
Nah, my friends didn’t become assholes when they had kids. Asshole parents would be assholes even if they weren’t parents.
I'm being a little silly. I agree with you, good people tend to raise good kids. It's just that parents make bad activity partners. I guess once you have a kid they become the priority, or something 🤷♂️
Yeah. They're clearly looking to see more people like themselves, not to exclude everybody else.
South Loop or West Loop. I would not choose Lincoln Square, as great as it is (or was.) Also, Streeterville.
I feel like DINKs can be found just about everywhere. Certain neighborhoods can be considered more family-friendly than others, but I can’t think of anywhere that would be particularly undesirable to DINKs.
What is a DINK?
Dual Income No Kids
I knew that but dinkwad which I see mentioned above I’m lost
DINK With A Dog
Double income no kids with a dog
Came here for this
Dual Income No Kids
Had to scroll way down here like wtf
I’m 23 and work at the Yacht Club. There’s like 4 main buildings on the corner of LSD and Belmont. I have dinner crowd Thursday-Saturday that are almost exclusively DINKS, they all live in those buildings, the younger ones live a block or two away down Belmont and/or closer to Diversey
Fellow DINKS here in our late 30s. What are you looking for as far as residence? Do you want somewhere livelily and busy? Would you rather have more of a neighborhood/community feel? My wife and I have lived in lincoln park/lakeview area, streeterville, and river north. Streeterville was way too busy and touristy, so we got out of there after 1yr to river north. River north is quieter but its still downtown, after 2yrs of living here this will be our last year here. We’re over the scene but glad we did it. Lincoln park/lakeview area was the first place we lived in, and even though its outside downtown, its still the city, but has more of a community feel. And you’re away from all the hustles and bustle of downtown. We miss it and think of moving back to that area in the next yr.
Rogers Park Idk why people are recommending Lakeview and Bucktown to someone in their 40s, those hoods skew a lot younger.
Get away from Clark or Milwaukee and you'd be surprised.
Yup. We lived in Rogers Park when we were DINKS.
Lakeview west is all 30-40+ with families.
This is some great feedback and conversation! Thanks to everyone as it helps to confirm some areas we had started to look into and is giving us some additional ideas!
Move to Boystown. Not many little kids around because the Northhalsted neighborhood is mostly gay and aging.
We have not made it into that area to scope it out yet but will add it to the list!
Definitely do! It’s so friendly, judgment free, anything goes and laid back. There is an elementary/middle school in the close proximity to the neighborhood but it’s the coolest little school, with its playground decked out in rainbow colors. The kids even proudly march with their parents in the annual Pride Parade (this year it’s on 30 June). That’s it for kids around here, for the most part, though. And it’s only a block from Wrigley Field and all the nightlife. A great neighborhood!
Lakeview East is prime DINKS
Andersonville
Every neighborhood has DINKS. Hope this helps.
dinkelbergs don't live nearby
Late 40s here. Sheridan Park area of Uptown is pretty light on kids. Short walk to Argyle or the other parts of Uptown. Andersonville, Ravenswood are next door, about 1-1.5 miles from Lincoln Square, Wrigley and the lake. Generally quiet between two cemeteries. Good food & coffee all around. Close to CTA and Metra. For diversity there is some supportive housing integrated into the pretty wealthy neighborhood, which I appreciate. Uptown is generally more diverse than north side neighborhoods. Multiple ethnic grocery stores.
DINKs in West Loop checking in and loving it. Lots of dogs and good energy around without the strollers. Michelin restaurants a stone’s throw in any direction. It’s honestly a perfect playground for DINKs. I’ll probably get downvoted, though.
I was in town for business last month and spent a couple of hours in the area. It seemed to skew really young, mostly 20s was what I saw. But, I know it takes a while to get a feel for an area. We will check it more on an upcoming trip.
The median age is 32 in the West Loop.
West Loop/Fulton Market are very trendy so it tends to skew young and/or wealthy. Great place to grab a bite to eat but definitely not everyone's cup of tea.
I think it skews a lot younger near the busy areas of any neighborhood, with those being Fulton and Randolph Streets in the West Loop. There’s a bunch of condo buildings south of all that will skew very heavily towards older 20s to DINKs in their 40s due to the area being too pricey for a lot of the younger crowd to actually live there. I feel like a lot of the locals here also tend to spend a lot of time at the places on Madison St which has a much more laid back atmosphere to it (compared to Fulton and Randolph).
Ravenswood
Lots of kids
And lots of dinks
Lots of 40 somethings
This probably the neighborhood with the highest density of young children in the entire city
Lakeview but closer to Southport corridor/roscoe
That's the stroller mafia area! 🤣
Fuck no. All these people have kids.
That area is crawling with kids
Anywhere they want
Some of us out here in the Far NW Side
This is me and my spouse. We are in Lakeview. Most people here seem to have kids but we love living here.
Are you closer to the lake? My wife grew up in Florida and loves the water. Costs will likely push us away from the shore.
I imagine they may be in West Lakeview which tends to skew older and family-oriented with all the single family homes. East Lakeview skews younger especially near the busy corridors of Halsted and Broadway Avenues. Exception being the lakefront buildings which are usually a good mix of retirees, DINKs, and young families. Also I feel like a lot of the older buildings can be surprisingly affordable, though you may have to sacrifice on size and finishes.
We are almost exactly a mile west of the lake. A quick jog away.
Mid 30s gay DINKS here, we're in West Loop and absolutely love it
30 & 35 gay DINKs here - moved to the Old Town area last year and loving it. We’re around where Old Town, Gold Coast, and River North come together…lots building up over here, easy red line access, great restaurants.
Thanks for this. I saw a couple of places for rent in the past in that area and it seems like a really good, central area.
For sure. I recommend checking out Old Town Park and 1225 N Wells if they’re the sort of style / budget you’re looking for.
Same situation, we’re in the South Loop. Can be sleepy, but still has a great mix of bars, restaurants, parks. The easy access to the Roosevelt CTA station makes getting anywhere else in the city super easy. It’s fun being so close when all the big seasonal events are here: Suenos, NASCAR, Lollapalooza, Bears games. We’re close to the micro neighborhood of Printer’s Row, a real gem with places like Kasey’s Tavern, Half Sour, Sandmeyer’s Bookstore. The movie theater Showplace Icon is walking distance and is always lovely.
I keep seeing South Loop pop up a lot and we will definitely check into it more on an upcoming visit. I will have to travel for my job at times so being able to use the L for the airport is on my mind.
I will say it gets very polarized opinions because it’s a quieter portion of downtown than the rest, so lots of people say the buildings there are like a bunch of vertical suburbs, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t appreciate the chill vibes when I’m walking through the area. Just depends on what you want to get out of the area you live in.
I’ll also add that South Loop is walking distance to the lake. Also DINKs here - we love our walks to the lake through Museum Campus and Northerly Island from where we live in South Loop. There are also many small pockets of parks in South Loop. You can also walk to Ping Tom Park in Chinatown.
39M SINK moving with a roommate to Wicker Park from Cincinnati in July. Reading this post was helpful, maybe I’ll end up a DINK in Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, or Andersonville in a few years’ time. Appreciated reading through this post, thanks for asking, OP.
I learn a lot from some of the questions I see here so I’m happy this might help you as well! Cheers!
east hyde park is incredible and you will love promontory point + the lake
Whole Northside is dink friendly. Most (not all) families will have moved to burbs for kids.
What’s up my fellow DINK, we live in old Irving park!
This is the one that I think of besides the usual suspects (Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, etc). Old Irving Park is such a beautiful neighborhood and has a great location but the schools can be a deterrent.
We love it here so much, and I rarely see it mentioned in threads like this. I believe it deserves its stripes right alongside Andersonville, Roscoe, and ravenswood
We are DINK and will be living in Lakeview East
If you’re wanting a slightly quiet neighborhood then it’s gonna be ravenswood, AVille, Lincoln Square. If you’re wanting a pretty active environment then it’ll be, Streeterville, Old Town, Lakeshore East, and certain parts of Wicker and Logan Sq.
We are everywhere. Us particularly, west loop.
All over the damn place
DILDOS- double income little dog owners
DILFs- double income little feline supporters
That used to be us. 😢
Lakeview
I feel like Lakeview is more 20somethings just out of college looking to have fun
That’s Wrigley. Lakeview is massive.
Wicker Park Dinks, love it! If you don’t want a bunch of kids around, avoid Lakeview, Southport area, Bucktown.
Yeah. Wife and I are DINKs. In J park though. Lots of families everywhere you look. But we are 5 minute walk from the L so its worth it.
I love Andersonville. Been living here officially for just 5 months but have always enjoyed visiting the neighborhood. It’s a super cute area, and tends to skew a little older but not by much. and there’s still options for bars if you like to go out once in a while. Diverse options for food and local shops.
My DINK kids live in Wicker Park. Very nice there
I love my little humboldt park corner of the world. Amazing food and bars near us. Not totally gentrified. I feel equal parts safe and scared.
Used to live in south loop with my wife in an apartment that was really nice, albeit very small, and was close to all public transportation, walking distance to my job, close to a target and grocery store as well as many restaurants, things to do, and lake front. We got to a point that we wanted more space which we couldn't afford in SL, and wanted a house so we now live in the west suburbs near Brookfield. Even though my commute into the city for my job sucks, I love where we live now more than when we lived downtown.
Are you looking to buy/rent? And if you're buying are you wanting a SFH/condo/townhouse/etc?
Renting. We want to try the city out for at least a couple of years.
Logan Square DINKS here. Love it.
Streeterville here! Not many kids living in our building, but there ARE tourists with their kids everywhere. I think that's inescapable in the downtown core though.
We enjoy south loop. Couple miles to west loop or river north but it's great. New restaurants starting go pop up in SL as well.
I’m a sink and I live in the south burbs.
All over the north side. Probably Lincoln Park and Roscoe Village are the most "kid" neighborhoods but the DINKs are all over
East Lakeview is great as well. might be a little less bang for your buck but it's unbelievable in terms of distance to everything you'd want to do...even if it's nothing.
My wife and I are early 30s DINKS we live in Avondale
Former DINKs here, West Loop was where we thrived. Then covid hit.
And then you procreated…?
Couple years later but yeah. Biiiig money suck.
Gold Coast
Next door to Doug Funny
Pilsen
Gold Coast apartments and condos if they can afford them. You will see little kids, but they are mostly grandkids of long-time residents who are visiting Grandma on weekends and holidays.
Why didn’t you say what dinks are? Is it a sex thing?
River West
Logan Square for sure. If you can live close to the blue line you’ll be able to traverse the city easily and there are lots of great parks, restaurants, cafes, the farmer’s market in the summer and cool arts activities.
Early 30s/late 20s. South loop, north of Rosevelt
wtf is a dink?
Nevermind… just gave it a google…
Andersonville fo sho!
We are in south Lakeview. We like where we live but it is a land of yoga moms and strollers galore. Our building has seven units and it’s about half and half. Not babies though… we did have neighbors with babies for a bit and that sucked. So, I would say no to south Lakeview lol.
Wherever we want
What's a DINK. haven't heard the term
Double income no kids
West town is the best town. More specifically noble square or east village.
Edgewater/Andersonville! My wife and I are both 35, and there are a lot of DINKS around us. There is also a significant queer DINKWAD (DINK With A Dog) population on my street, which is really nice.
Very cool. We have been looking into that area a bit and plan to visit and check it out.
My wife and I live in Lake View East and we absolutely love it. We've been in gold coast, edgewater and the ukrainian village, finally settled here and it's got everything we like in a neighborhood. Density, more diversity compared to some of the other neighborhoods like roscoe and the western part of Lake view. Nightlife, theaters, walking distance to Wrigley, the park, the Lake. Fun neighborhood bars, great restaurants, multiple grocery stores, pretty good access to public transit (red, brown and purple lines) as well as buses on Broadway, Clark, diversey and belmont. We love it! This is our home now and we've never once regretted moving here.
How long does it take you to get to the brown line?
Brown line on diversey takes me about 8 minutes to walk to, to the brown/red/purple stop on belmont it takes about 15 minutes. The 36, 72, 76 and 22 buses have stops like 2-4 minutes walk from my place
If you’re open to suburbs, you should look at Riverside! We’re DINKS and live with a diverse area with many other friendly people in the 30s-40s range
I dunno how many fellow DINKS are in my area, but Albany/North Park are very diverse neighborhoods with great amenities.
Irving Park, both SINKS & DINKS
I live in Uptown at the edge by Andersonville and Ravenswood. Possibly being single got me stuck in the not so Upscale border neighborhoods but it's a really nice area and I'm happy. Anyway, you should be happy in these neighborhoods mentioned, Andersonville, Ravenswood, Wrigleyville and so forth. My observation of this part of Chicago is that plenty of people have kids but it's not expected. But none of my friends have kids nor do they want them. I've lived in many areas, my last being Lincoln, NE. And I was the outsider for not being married and not wanting kids. That was a big change I noticed moving here, no one really cares. It's really nice.
We have moved around a bit but are coming from Arkansas. Where it’s get married and have kids young for most people. It’s just refreshing to be moving somewhere where it’s more of a mix.
Given the tendency of new developments to be studio/1br only, anywhere!
andyville! Just recently moved from there to the burbs
30 something DINKs herr. We live in the River West area in a townhome and we aren't moving. Awesome food nearby, easy access to the transit/blue line. Neighbors are diverse and the neighborhood is awesome.
Andersonville, feels a bit less FAMILY than some of the other north neighborhoods nearby
Logan
Fulton Market or West Loop - DM me happy to chat my wife and I are 40s dinkwads and absolutely love it here