harwood heights... isnt that one of the slums? lol
if you really want a cool place in chicago it would have to be a nice loft somewhere in north river, west loop, lincoln park or lakeview..
Harwood Heights is a upper middle class suburb in the northwest side, roughly 1 square mile in territory. Average price to buy property here is about $375,000 for a small 1 family, 3 bedroom house or about $350,000 for a 2 bedroom condo, rent however runs about $700 for a 1 bedroom and goes up from there, so its more reasonable than the property you can buy. Its about 95% white, pretty much no crime, and its close to everything (in terms of trains, buses, etc.)
A loft in the areas you mentioned would definitley be out of the price reach of anyone on here, unless someone here wants to treat the rest of us and pay the $5,000 or more in rent. Besides, those kinds of places are overrated.
I would prefer to live a more regular lifestyle. Sure we can have a plasma TV on the wall or some luxuries, and we wouldnt be living in a total dump, but we're not millionaires so lets not be posers and act like we are by living outside of our means.
I am very comfortable where I'm at in terms of living with my family and I would definitley continue this standard of living I have now. To get some fancy lofts - hell to get anything called a "loft" - and bells and whistles is just purley for show off, its neither practical nor necessary to our goals, and it just makes costs rise making this standard of life unsustainable.
How many of us could really even afford to pay over a thousand dollars in rent by ourselves not to mention food and other bills? It might be a few months before the business-end starts turning a profit and getting clients, so every member should be ready to at least have some sort of job or money saved up to be able to afford to keep the project going for maybe 4-6 months.
Even when the business end does take off but not to a high enough extent, it would in a low rent scenario be just fine, where as the pressure would be on and would result in failure in a fancy "loft"
What if a member of the project moves out for whatever reason? If we're paying $5k for rent alone for 4 people, $1,250 is a lot of rent to make up for. Whose going to pick that tab up while we find another room mate? Its far easier to rent a house for $1,200-$1,500 total and picking up an additional $375 (meaning each roommate would have to pitch in roughly $125 to make up the difference) than it is to make up a $1,250 defict (in which case each roommate would have an additional $420 burden, which is a lot).
Think practical guys. I know itd be "really cool" to live like millionaires, but unless someone in this project actually is one it could very quickly and easily lead to financial ruin and failure of the whole project.
This project to me is about more chances for self improvement and perhaps starting a business. Its not about "living the high roller life" and moving back in with our parents a year later, broke with $10,000 credit card debt, and not having accomplished a single objective successfully because we were too distracted acting like something we're not (millionaires).
I think this is a cool idea, if anything for a chance to explore an interesting area of human interaction. For me, the attractive proposition is running a business out of it. I have always had the enterpenurial spirit, and this would present a great opportunity to start and grow a business. Just because we'd all be in on this doesn't mean our personal relationships would be limited to talking about game.
Hell, we are here on an online community about Game and what do we have? A very active off topic forum. And no one forces us to come to this website, so even though we are here SPECIFICALLY for game-talk and advice we still find a way to discuss other things. Now if you spend a lot of time with people you will no doubt talk about other things too.
Naturally though we need to screen candidates. I REFUSE to enter into any project with someone who is just interested in being a show off and getting laid. If you're in this or want to be in this just because you want some, and you think this is all about chiling and partying all the time, then this project is not for you.
If you want to improve yourself, learn new skills ranging from pickup to business skills like marketing, accounting, management, small business administration (and others we'd be using and learning everyday to make this project a success), if you are ready to work hard and make running the project and the business one of your priorities (that means a full time commitment), then you should consider signing up.
No slackers allowed. If I talk to you and I get the vibe from you that you're just in it to hang out, have fun, and get girls, you are going to drag the project down.
