Ep. 17: Living in Lincoln Park, starting an acting career in Chicago, & more feat. Jay Towns!
Jay Towns is a professional photographer, advertising creative, and up and coming actor (he has an IMDB account!) currently living in the Lincoln Park area after a short stint in West Loop Gate after graduating from Northwestern in Evanston. We discuss his experience of these neighborhoods, various aspects of city life more broadly, ethics in advertising, and much more!
The Living in Chicago Podcast is where I, Jake Lyons, get to interview all kinds of people about the Chicago neighborhoods they live in, work in, and play in. This way, you can learn about the lifestyle pros and cons of various neighborhoods directly from the people who live there (or maybe even learn something new about your own neighborhood!)
More from Jay Towns:
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About The Host:
Real Estate in areas discussed:
thechicagohomesource.com/lincolnpark/
Real Estate Quick Start Questionnaire
https://www.thechicagohomesource.com/form/
Local Businesses Mentioned:
Cafe Baba Reba
Old Town School of Music
Bourgeois Pig
The Gatsby
FOLLOWING TRANSCRIPT WAS AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED AND NOT CHECKED FOR ERRORS
[00:00:00] Jake: Welcome to the living in Chicago podcast, where I get to interview real Chicagoans about the neighborhoods that they live, work and play in. My name is Jake Lyons. I'll be your host. And in this episode, I am interviewing Jay towns. Jay is a professional photographer. He's an advertising creative, and he is also an up and coming actor, living in the Lincoln park neighborhood of Chicago. If you're unfamiliar with Lincoln park, it is the neighborhood pretty much the first real neighborhood, just north of like downtown, what most people would probably regard as downtown Chicago.
[00:00:33] Jake: So if you have the loop, which is the heart of downtown Chicago, and then the river north near what near north side area. Just to the north of that. You have Lincoln park. So, it starts becoming a little less high rises, a little bit more houses, townhouses, gray stones, like two to six ish unit buildings. There is, there are still the occasional high rises along, especially along the lake, but, for the most part, it starts to open up a little bit and become a little less dense and more parks, more green, things [00:01:00] like that.
[00:01:00] Jake: It's famous for the Lincoln park zoo. And there's some beachfront, there's some marinas, there's some beautiful Parkland right along, right along the lake on to the. East side of Lincoln park. And then, so it starts, the south border is starts at north avenue, I believe. And then I believe the north dividing border is Diversey avenue and then it goes from the lake and Lynn to I haven't, I didn't look this up exactly, but the way I always think of it as Cliburn avenue was kind of the. The Western dividing line, if that's not entirely accurate. Let me know in the comments or I'll just, I'll check this in Google maps and either say, I'm great.
[00:01:35] Jake: I was right. Or dang, I'm going to look stupid, but I think, I think that's right. In any case? Yeah, it's a pretty big area. It's a couple of miles. It goes a couple of miles inland. There's lots of different ways to experience Lincoln park, lots of different kind of vibes in the different subsections throughout that the broader category of Lincoln park.
[00:01:51] Jake: But. In terms of what's what's it actually like to live there? I will go ahead and stop talking now and defer to Jay towns to tell us what it's like to live in Lincoln park. [00:02:00] And some of the other neighborhoods that he has lived in his still somewhat relative, relatively brief time living in Chicago, though. He definitely is a lot to say about, and I think you'll get a lot out of it.
[00:02:09] Jake: So without further ado here is Jay.
[00:02:13] Jake: All right, pleased to be joined here today by Jay Towns, who is a bit of a renaissance man in all kinds of artistic endeavors. He is a advertising copywriter, a photographer, an actor. He has an IMDb profile, which is that in itself, I I don't know, maybe I'm a little too easily impressed, but I was impressed by that, because I just don't know many people who even have an IMDB profile.
[00:02:35] Jake: He is a resident of the Lincoln Park neighborhood, but he's been in a couple different areas too, and yeah, that's that's what I have for now. What did I, what did I miss? What would you like the the audience to know about you right off the bat?
[00:02:48] Jay: Oh, well, I guess to add to my title, you could add flattered by Jake Lyons, because that was very sweet of you. And to be honest, I think the IMDB profile was a huge, it was a huge deal to me too, when I saw it. So you're [00:03:00] not alone. It's pretty cool.
[00:03:02] Jake: So how does that work? Do you, you don't make it yourself? You have to kind of, does somebody make it for you? And it just kind of pops out in the what, what is that world like?
[00:03:10] Jay: Yeah. So I'm not like a high ticket actor, I would say. So I, I manage my own profile now, but. You, you can't, they, they populate automatically if the project that you worked on was like officially logged with IMDB. So there's like a whole process. So once my first project was on there, then I could, then my account existed with my name in the credits and I could kind of opt into owning my account.
[00:03:33] Jay: But like a lot of the bigger actors, like they don't manage their own, like their managers do, but I don't have that luxury.
[00:03:39] Jake: Yeah. Well, that makes sense. I mean, that's so cool. So are you, are you in like the actor's guild and all that stuff now? Or does that, is that kind of separate still?
[00:03:47] Jay: It's, it's, so I'm SAG E, which is Screen Actors Guild eligible. But in Chicago specifically, I, I, the advice that I got and that I believe is that Personally for, for my line of work and all the other things I do, it wouldn't really make [00:04:00] sense to go into the guild. You have to kind of pay, you have to pay to join.
[00:04:04] Jay: And then if you are a union actor, you can't act on non union projects. And most of the projects in Chicago aren't union. So it wouldn't really make sense for me.
[00:04:15] Jake: Okay. That makes sense. I'm not in that world, but if I was, I feel like I would want to be in the, in some kind of union, just if for no other reason, just to get all the screeners for like awards and stuff. Cause my wife's my wife's dad is, is in, the actor's guild and he is, he gets whenever they're voting for like SAG awards or whatever, he gets screeners for every movie that came out.
[00:04:35] Jake: And like, man, if I had this, this would be amazing. I mean, you know, I guess we all have streaming services and stuff now. So I guess it's not as cool now, but it's still, I don't know. It's
[00:04:43] Jay: No, that's, that's cool. I don't even know all the perks that go into it, honestly. So maybe I should check it out.
[00:04:48] Jake: Well, you, you seem to know what you're doing and what's best for you. I'm just saying random stuff here, but you know, I get too far down any, any one road. So tell tell us a little bit about what, [00:05:00] where you're from, what brought you to Chicago to begin with,
[00:05:03] Jay: Yeah, absolutely. So I was born in St. Louis, Missouri. My mom's family's from there that I moved to Milwaukee for a bit of my early childhood for a few years, which is where my dad's from. My dad's work brought him downtown Chicago a lot. So we'd be traveling down and back. He'd be traveling a lot.
[00:05:18] Jay: So, right around when I was in middle school, my parents were like, what if we, just kind of, you know, Split the difference, between St. Louis and Milwaukee and the middle and hung out in Chicago for a little bit. So I grew up in Schaumburg, which is a Western suburb Cook County. And that's where I went to high school, middle school, the rest of middle school.
[00:05:35] Jay: And then I eventually when I was applying for colleges and stuff, I was thinking, I'm going to go out to the coast, like I'm going to be warm. I was thinking going to Florida maybe doing some cool stuff in New York, but actually ended up in Evanston, Illinois at Northwestern, which is just north of the city.
[00:05:50] Jay: So I, it turned out that, you know, the majority of my life I've actually lived in proximity to Chicago. And then after graduating from Northwestern, I moved down to the city and officially secured my Chicago zip [00:06:00] code.
[00:06:01] Jake: you know? Okay. Right on. Do you still think about one of the coasts or you pretty, pretty set in Chicago for now?
[00:06:07] Jay: Oh no, I love Chicago, man. Especially to live in, I just feel like it's, it's, I'm still so underrated, which is so fine to me. But I think that, yeah, I mean when you're looking at just a metropolis like Chicago I love a big city. You know, third biggest city in the US. And, you know, Compared to New York, I think we've got some decent public transportation, which is a big deal to me but at half the price of living.
[00:06:29] Jay: And then I love LA, I'm not gonna lie, really big LA fan, love the weather, love the vibes. But yeah, it's a lot of driving and, and it's really expensive and, and never has made much sense to me. But, I also understand that to me, Chicago is not just not the other two. I think Chicago has a very cool vibe about it, which is that people like me, I think it's a thrive a lot of people who don't maybe have one lane that they're super into.
[00:06:52] Jay: And maybe I don't want to. Go up to New York and be a super intense investment banker. I don't only want to be an actor among actors in LA. [00:07:00] I think Chicago is a place that has something for everyone, especially in creative spaces. And that's why I've decided to build the beginning of my career here.
[00:07:06] Jake: Mm hmm. Yeah, that makes sense. And yeah, I've talked to I've had a number of Creative types on the show so far and be you know, not even people that have been on the show But you all just you know, talk to my wife is an artist so, I'm somewhat in those spaces and I hear a lot of people talk about how the community of of artistic types in Chicago is just very robust compared to maybe some of these other some of these other places that while maybe the opportunities are technically more abundant in other places, depending on how you look at that, it's also much more cut throat and it's just a much different sort of way of existing about that space than it is here.
[00:07:44] Jake: I don't know if you've ran into that.
[00:07:45] Jay: Yeah. I mean, you said it perfectly. I mean, your wife's an artist, so I won't beat the dead horse, but that's exactly how I feel.
[00:07:53] Jake: Good, good. And you are in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, is that? That's right, yeah.
[00:07:57] Jay: Yes, sir.
[00:07:59] Jake: Okay, [00:08:00] what are you thinking of, what are you thinking of that place? What, what drew you to Lincoln Park versus, some other places?
[00:08:04] Jay: Well, I came, I moved to Lincoln park from West loop, which was the first neighborhood I moved into. And that was pretty relevant because I don't think I would have chosen to move into Lincoln park straight from school. Or, when I moved to Chicago, I don't think I, I understood exactly what, what function it played in, in the neighborhood scene at least how I interpret it.
[00:08:23] Jay: But actually to me where I'm living now is kind of more of a reactive to my experience in West Loop. So the reason that I chose to move to Lincoln Park was because I wanted to feel a bit more of a neighborhood vibe to my living space. I felt like West, West Loop was dope. It's got, it's got a reputation for being like a pretty bougie area, unfortunately gentrified, but to the effect of all the you know, the tech bros and big, big ticket big, big, Budget people living out there.
[00:08:50] Jay: I really love the the, the Fulton market area. When it came to like my living situation, I felt pretty secluded. Like it's, it's not along any of the main train lines, red line, [00:09:00] brown line where people are, you know, traveling mostly. And I found, I felt that. Even though I was having a good time where I was living, I liked my apartment and all that.
[00:09:07] Jay: It did feel removed from the city experience. And I think that especially my first year out of college it was just a bit too secluded for my liking. So perhaps I'll return. But Lincoln Park, I think, has a really nice neighborhood feel. I know the people that live near me. I know the people who Run the shops around me and I'm really close to the train.
[00:09:27] Jay: I can go easily up to my friends on the North side and the South side. So overall, logistically, it just makes more sense. And the deal that I'm getting on my real estate is better. So I'm paying less experiencing more. So that's a win win for me.
[00:09:40] Jake: Yeah, yeah, that's kind of, Only, only if you're comparing it to the West Loop, I think, could you say that the, that Lincoln Park, you get more bang for the buck because Lincoln Park is also not like a, like a cheap place to live by any means. But I mean, yeah, that's, yeah. No, that makes sense. And yeah, that's interesting that you felt more secluded in the West Loop, I guess, just [00:10:00] Even though there's probably, it's more, the West Loop is more dense, but I guess it's just kind of like, you get, you feel like you're getting lost in the shuffle, maybe a little bit more there.
[00:10:06] Jay: It totally depends on who you're around, if all my homies were living there probably wouldn't be a problem. But I was one of the only people from the groups that I was moving around in a lot lived out there. So it was always difficult for me to go meet up with others. And it didn't really incentivize people to come visit me very much.
[00:10:24] Jay: I was like, I felt like You know, who to share this, this experience with feel like Rapunzel stuck up in our tower a little bit.
[00:10:32] Jake: Yeah. Yeah, and I would imagine depending on where in Lincoln Park is, I guess Lincoln Park's a pretty, a pretty big area, and I don't know exactly where you are, but I mean, I could just see how that wouldn't necessarily like jive with because you're, you're pretty, you're pretty new out of college, right? How old are you?
[00:10:46] Jay: Yeah, I'm 23 and I graduated in class of 22. So not even two years ago yet. I feel very comfortable with Chicago vibes. Like I said, I've been, I've been around. But in terms of yeah, finding your network, just figuring out if, I'm sure as you can recall, like [00:11:00] the transition from being in a school mindset to being an adult just in and of itself was the tricky part.
[00:11:05] Jay: And then it just didn't make it easier to be doing it mostly alone, I think. But yeah, your effect, I won't obviously reveal too much about exactly where I'm located,
[00:11:13] Jake: Yeah. No addresses or anything. Yeah.
[00:11:15] Jay: the sentiments that you shared about, the, the nature of the people that are around certain areas definitely has resonated.
[00:11:21] Jay: I feel like I'm around a younger crowd and younger doesn't always mean better, but just like more of a peer structure I, I think always helps.
[00:11:29] Jake: What are, what are some of the local spots, hidden gems, restaurants, shops, things like that, that you're taking a liking to?
[00:11:36] Jay: Dude. Yeah. Okay. Well, okay. Oh gosh, I should have thought about this. I, so I love I do love Cafe Baba Reba. This is the exact opposite of a hidden gem. Like everybody knows about it. It's awesome. But the truth is, it's awesome. So, but I don't know, maybe you could help me out. But I think there's, there's like, there's a, there's like a, there's a cafe that is it's on Fullerton, I think, near the DePaul campus.
[00:11:59] Jay: It's something [00:12:00] pig, maybe. But, Basically, it's, it's just got a really cozy vibe. Like it's, you wind through hallways and, and you can sit anywhere. It's very antique y. And I think they have a, a speakeasy that they do on, on nights as well. And, and that place I just went to recently, very cool vibe, never been to a place like that.
[00:12:19] Jake: Oh, the bourgeois bourgeois pig.
[00:12:21] Jay: bourgeois
[00:12:22] Jake: Yeah. Yeah. The the Gatsby is the, is the speakeasy. Actually, it's funny that it's actually really funny that you bring that up because I was actually supposed to today after this interview, I was supposed to have an interview with the the main bartender at the, for the Gatsby.
[00:12:38] Jay: that's sick. Yeah. What are the
[00:12:39] Jake: that's that's some fantastic synergy there. We had to reschedule. But yeah, I'm gonna have him on the show eventually. He's he's really cool. And obviously a hell of a mixologist.
[00:12:49] Jay: yeah, yeah. I got to check that out. Never been to
[00:12:52] Jake: it's really cool.
[00:12:53] Jay: Yeah, but that's, I think the, that's the place with more character that I've seen in most areas in Lincoln park. Yeah, [00:13:00] lots of great food spots. I will, I'll this place. Cause you know, small businesses goes a long way. This place, high meat, those burritos on it's like on Sheffield and like It's on Sheffield and Clybourne intersection, just some of the best burritos.
[00:13:14] Jay: They're open till like 3 a. m. Many a drunk night I have wandered their halls and never, could never go wrong. Love that place as well. Linkin Park's got some cool spots.
[00:13:24] Jake: Oh, definitely. Yeah. Do you ever? I mean, you're a photographer, right? So what kind of photography do you do?
[00:13:30] Jay: I do mostly headshots and events.
[00:13:32] Jake: Okay.
[00:13:33] Jay: Yeah.
[00:13:34] Jake: Okay. So yeah, sounds about right. Do you ever? Have you have you taken much advantage of just the Chicago backdrops? Yeah.
[00:13:47] Jay: do controlled environments as much as possible. You know, I've got my own lighting, but I love, I love to use natural light when I can. Number one, it's less work. Number two, it just, it just feels better. It's really difficult to, to light artificially, but make it look natural.
[00:13:59] Jay: [00:14:00] So I always prefer to do that. I think the trickiest part with Chicago is the weather at any given time. Shooting outside is just not a good idea, but. People love, people love the the skyline. I think people ask skyline more than they actually want the skyline in their picture, but it is, it is cool.
[00:14:16] Jay: And I think. Another part, another perspective that I don't think people think about a lot, but what's been cool about photography is that shooting for like firms that are based in the city, from inside, the view outside of a tall building is very interesting. And I like that look depending on if you're looking north or south, you're getting completely different views.
[00:14:35] Jay: The city looks way different from inside. And I think that's a really underrated view of the city. So I've enjoyed that.
[00:14:43] Jake: Okay. Good. See that for sure. I mean, yeah, that's why views, views are very important. I mean, as a, as a real estate agent, I can tell you people really care about what view they're, they're paying for,
[00:14:53] Jay: I was going to say my, my first apartment, I loved the windows. They were like really big and more than the view, it was a Southern [00:15:00] view from the West loop. So it wasn't like super crazy, but what I loved was how much sunlight I got all day, every day. So that, that was, I didn't think that was of a deal that was, and I didn't pay attention to it when I was looking for an apartment.
[00:15:12] Jay: So I'm glad that worked out. I'm now definitely aware of that.
[00:15:16] Jake: Yeah, tuned into that reality a little bit more, for sure. Yeah, I guess I brought that up because I know, I mean, Lincoln Park has just so many very picturesque, scenic, little, little nooks and crannies from the, the park, the zoo, that, that bridge that goes over that little pond, where I'm talking about.
[00:15:33] Jake: Yeah, I mean, there's just so many things going on there, but. I don't know, do you spend, do you spend most time like in the, in the park, the zoo, anything like that?
[00:15:41] Jay: Yeah. Well, I actually ran my first marathon last October, which was super. And I mean, it was terrible to train for. I'm glad I didn't know that. But A really cool byproduct of that experience was, as my mileage was increasing, I began to run, I began to run more and more through the city.
[00:15:59] Jay: And got again, [00:16:00] a really unique perspective on a lot of Lincoln park and up the lake, past Lake view and Andersonville and Buena park and all. And so again, like that view of the city. Like very cool. I'll also say I know you didn't specifically ask about this, but going back to views, I think my number one favorite view of Chicago period is I, I, I started running when I lived in West loop, so I would run actually from the river walk and I'd run South toward the field museum and the, and the best, the best view was at the, in the afternoon.
[00:16:31] Jay: walking, running back up north from the Field Museum. You're looking north from south and you see the entire expanse of downtown. And when the sun is setting to over on the west, it's just, it's like the Chicago view. I love it. I should have taken more pictures of it when I was running, but I was chronically out of
[00:16:47] Jake: the Field Museum or from the MSI?
[00:16:50] Jay: Oh gosh, let me check and make sure I'm pretty sure. Am I thinking about the Museum of Science and Industry right now?
[00:16:55] Jake: If you're, if you're running, if you're coming up from like the Hyde Park area, [00:17:00] is that what you're talking about?
[00:17:01] Jay: let me, let me.
[00:17:02] Jake: from the South
[00:17:02] Jay: Yeah, yeah, it was, it was. Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm thinking about the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, that area. Yeah. So right near the, it wasn't too far south.
[00:17:13] Jake: Hmm.
[00:17:15] Jay: Yeah, that's, that's where I was thinking.
[00:17:16] Jake: Gotcha. Cool. Yeah, I could see that. I know we can definitely talk about favorite views of the city. That's a good I like that topic because I, I have to, I have to favorite views and they and they both they both are sort of like indicative of like the the panoramic. This whole you're going to see everything kind of thing and one is the one that I thought you were actually talking about coming up from Hyde Park on Lakeshore Drive up from like where the Museum of Science and Industry is.
[00:17:42] Jake: There's this specific Shoulder, just like this bend on the road where, as you go around it, if you look slightly to your right, you can see you see like Navy pier to the right. And then just like the whole the whole skyline kind of, that's like looking up from like three miles South of the skyline.
[00:17:58] Jake: And for some reason, that one's just always gets [00:18:00] me. That one's just awesome. And then another one is actually coming when you're driving on. 1994 kind of coming back from the airport and you're driving south you're technically it's east is like the or it's 90 east but you're driving south at that time and that's where you get like You get the full panorama of even like all the all the hotels and apartment buildings and condo buildings and stuff that line like the lakeshore drive going all the way north and then linking to the actual downtown you know river north and the loop and all that so it looks like you just have miles and miles of skyline from that view and that's just really cool.
[00:18:39] Jay: I was gonna say honorable, honorable mention to Lakeshore Drive, right when you're perpendicular to the Chicago River, where it lets out, you just see that opening into the loop.
[00:18:48] Jake: Yeah.
[00:18:49] Jay: driving with some friends back from like a road trip. And they were like, and I was like, guys, guys, when we go past here, you got to take a look at this view.
[00:18:56] Jay: It was like nighttime or whatever. They're like, Jay, that is the most dad coded thing you've [00:19:00] ever done. Stop and look at the view. So I guess, I don't know, to my friends, I'm, I'm bringing the paternal vibes when I'm pointing out the view, but yeah, love Chicago. It's just such a pretty city.
[00:19:10] Jake: If, if appreciation of beauty is suddenly a dad thing, I mean, whatever, I'll take it. Like
[00:19:16] Jay: know what I mean? I was like, okay, whatever.
[00:19:18] Jake: Yeah. Whatever label you want to put on that, I'll accept that label. So.
[00:19:22] Jay: Thank you, Jake.
[00:19:23] Jake: Yeah, I got your back. So you're talking about like when you're on Lakeshore and then you look down the river and then you see, yeah, yeah, definitely, yeah, it's maybe 10 percent better if that giant Trump sign wasn't like the first thing you saw when you look down there, but you know,
[00:19:39] Jay: That, what, what can you do really?
[00:19:40] Jake: Yeah, and I'd be saying that regardless of who Donald Trump is, it's just like a tacky thing to do
[00:19:45] Jay: Sure. Yeah.
[00:19:45] Jake: name on there, you
[00:19:46] Jay: big, big name on the side of the building. Yeah.
[00:19:49] Jake: yeah, like it's a, it's a beautiful building. Otherwise, I mean, say what you will about that, man, that, that, that dude, he, he knows how to build a building.
[00:19:56] Jay: Dude, I I only learned this cause I went on the Chicago architecture tour, [00:20:00] but did you know I think the person who designed like the Burj Khalifa or something like that designed that building as well, which is quite a range. I'm.
[00:20:08] Jake: yeah, definitely. Yep, that is a fact and yeah, and like that building is really cool. Like the the different, you know, how it has like different levels. Like uh, the building, I don't know if they told you that on the, on the architecture tour, how like the different levels are meant to be as high as like other famous buildings like that are around it and stuff.
[00:20:25] Jay: Ah, I
[00:20:25] Jake: So there's like a lot of thought that goes into kind of every, every little detail of it. And yeah. Yeah, we talk about the architecture tours a lot. I always tell people like if you only have a couple hours of free time to spend like in during an afternoon in Chicago, don't go out to eat. Don't go to a museum.
[00:20:42] Jake: Don't nothing to do the architecture tour. Like
[00:20:45] Jay: Yeah.
[00:20:46] Jake: the thing to do.
[00:20:47] Jay: I will second that. It was really fun. Way more fun than I thought it was going to be, to be honest.
[00:20:51] Jake: right. You hear like architecture tour and you're just like, well, I don't care what is that sounds going to be lame, but no, it is so not lame at all. Yeah.
[00:20:59] Jake: [00:21:00] Time for the real estate stats corner presented by me, Jake Lyons, real estate advisor in the Chicago land area with@propertiesandthechicagohomesource.com. And this like, man, I am going to provide. Three statistics that I believe will give you at least a general overview idea of what real estate stats are, what real estate prices are going for in the Lincoln park neighborhood of Chicago.
[00:21:23] Jake: Since that is what we are talking about right now. As a real estate agent, it might be a little bit biased, but we're talking neighborhoods. And I think that real estate is very important to any discussion about any neighborhood, because really what is a neighborhood or without real estate. Right. So. With that being said, let's go ahead and get into it.
[00:21:40] Jake: The stats that I am going to present are the median sales price. As of the most recent data I have access to, which right now is February of 2024. So take that with however you will. This is the median sales prices for two bed condos. The median sales price for all houses, single family houses with at least [00:22:00] three bedrooms. And then the median rent price, the median monthly rent price for a two bed apartment. So the median sales price. Uh, for a two bed condo. And Lincoln park. As of February 20, 24 is $475,000.
[00:22:17] Jake: So half sold for more half sold for less. That is the price point. That was right in the middle of all the condos that sold in Lincoln park in February, 2024. The median sales price for a single family houses in Lincoln park is $1.855 million. Lincoln park. Definitely. One of the more pricey areas to get into in the city of Chicago. And then the price, if you are looking to rent. A two bed. Apartment. And the Lincoln park neighborhood is 29 50 $2,950.
[00:22:52] Jake: Is the median that you would expect to pay. For a two bed apartment in Lincoln park. And there you have it. There is the [00:23:00] real estate sass corner presented by Jake Lyons and the Chicago home source.com. If you want to see what all is available right now in the Lincoln park area or anywhere in Chicago, for that matter, you can go to the Chicago home source.com and there will also be a link in the show notes.
[00:23:17] Jake: What has been your experience of just like the safety levels and sort of the comfort from that point of view that you've experienced in the neighborhoods you've been in so far?
[00:23:26] Jake: Yeah, Lincoln Park, even West Loop we can touch on.
[00:23:29] Jay: Yes,
[00:23:30] Jake: Chicago in general.
[00:23:31] Jay: Well, it goes without saying, obviously being a man in these situations is way different than being a woman. I'm not even aware of a lot of things that probably other people would notice. And I recognize that privilege. I appreciate that privilege. I was able to run, you know, at night with no problems, nobody harassing me without doing that.
[00:23:49] Jay: I feel like Lincoln Park is pretty safe. I think that especially because you've got this campus right in the middle of the neighborhood. Just in general, there happens to be more like [00:24:00] police and kind of, like the presence of comfort or perceived comfort is good. A lot of families it's very neighborhood y, so I think that a lot of things also get caught and noticed a lot.
[00:24:10] Jay: Like you said, it's not cheap to live in a lot of these areas and the people who are paying to live in this area tend to want to keep it in an orderly fashion for better or for worse. And I think that that makes me feel really safe in Lincoln park. I think for West loop, I was in the West loop gate.
[00:24:25] Jay: So like the, the, the area in between the West loop and the loop. So it was mostly you know, office buildings, but there was some residential and I I lived close to Ogilvie transportation station and union station. So there was a lot of. Movement from, from Chicagoans people from the suburbs, people not from Chicago.
[00:24:43] Jay: So I did run into a lot more interesting figures in those areas. I personally never had any problems, but for the record, I did hear a couple of times my apartment building notified us of some you know, unwelcome behavior on or near the residential properties. I think in general, just like, most [00:25:00] places, Near the central area of Chicago, obviously going far north, far west, far south.
[00:25:05] Jay: You're going to have lots of different experiences, but by and large, just. Like any metropolitan area being about your wits and maybe not listening to your music too loud or causing too much ruckus and, you know, drawing attention to yourself. These are things that I kind of just picked up over, over living in Chicago.
[00:25:21] Jay: Also I've never had a platform to actually share this, but I, I actually do think that this is a reasonable hack if you're watching and maybe concerned about drawing too much attention in Chicago. I think something really interesting. really drastically change the interactions that I had was wearing sunglasses.
[00:25:37] Jay: I, I found that when, when you're wearing sunglasses, like the, you know, the eyes are the entrance to the soul and all of this. And really people begin to, they move out of your way. They don't mind, you know, their mind, their business. They tend not to interact with you. And I found that for me, there was a really stark difference.
[00:25:52] Jay: Maybe it's cause I just have kind eyes. I don't know. People just want to come up and talk to me, but when I'm wearing shades, nobody bothers me. So, that can be a little bit of a, of [00:26:00] a help, but anyway, that that's my thoughts on safety. Try it out. Try it
[00:26:04] Jake: That is interesting. I wonder, yeah, I'd like to explore that. I wonder, yeah, that's, that is, yeah. I could see how that would be the, how that might, might be, because yeah, nobody's, they can't read you as well, so they can't tell if you're, a mark or not,
[00:26:17] Jay: Yeah, man.
[00:26:18] Jake: this, in the same way.
[00:26:19] Jay: Especially if you're coming into Chicago with like suburban energy like no offense. Love you guys. I am you guys but I can tell. And I think that, yeah, I don't know. Someone with malicious intent is going to look for a target that seems easy. So, if, if that's something that's important to you, maybe, maybe give it a try.
[00:26:34] Jay: I just don't, sometimes when I'd be rushing to work, I'd walk through the loop to work when I lived in West Loop. And at first, like the first couple of weeks, it's like, You're stopping by people chatting. Why not? But eventually I would just I just want to, I want to be line. And so I found when I had that window closed I was able to, to just move more undisturbed.
[00:26:55] Jake: Sunglasses, throw, throw on the RBF a little bit.
[00:26:58] Jay: There you go.
[00:26:59] Jake: your day. [00:27:00] Yeah.
[00:27:00] Jay: exactly.
[00:27:02] Jake: Were you in the presidential towers?
[00:27:04] Jay: I was,
[00:27:05] Jake: Yeah, yeah.
[00:27:08] Jay: how you got me. I know I gave you all the, I gave you a location. It's
[00:27:13] Jake: Well, there's this only so many places that, that would meet that, that Venn diagram of, of that area and an apartment. There aren't that many big apartment buildings in that area. So,
[00:27:22] Jay: right.
[00:27:22] Jake: and Ogilvy and all that stuff. Yeah. What's that?
[00:27:25] Jay: I said, good guess. Good guess.
[00:27:26] Jake: Yeah. What's between, so just living in Chicago in general, what, how would you say that that has influenced sort of your professional and creative endeavors?
[00:27:38] Jay: Oh, it's been, it's been a huge influence. Chicago feels small. To me, I think a big part of the reason that I started my career here was because I wanted to keep the momentum I had going from you know, growing up in the area and going to school in the area. A lot of people obviously trickle down into the city.
[00:27:56] Jay: I felt like it would have been more hitting the ground running than maybe going to another [00:28:00] big metropolitan area and having to kind of. Establish myself again, but I really underestimated that effect of Chicago, I think within creative disciplines you know, a lot of them don't tend to in and of themselves pay a super livable, comfortable wage, depending on, what percentile performer you are.
[00:28:18] Jay: And so I say that because I think a lot of creative people have more than one job. And what's really fun about that is that. People that I've met on photography events. I've also seen on set and people who I've seen on set I've worked with from the agency perspective. And all of a sudden the city begins to feel very connected to me.
[00:28:37] Jay: And I know that when I go to one area that these people might be here, this person might know somebody else. And additionally, I think that it's helped me build my brand a little bit more, it's confusing to do so many things and be like, wait, is J town's the photographer or is he's the writer guy or is.
[00:28:51] Jay: But overall, I think something that has been really valuable to me is to actually be able to be a connector of other people. So because of all the things that I've [00:29:00] done and the people that I've gotten to meet and become acquainted with. People ask me, do you know a cinema cinematographer that can do this work or or somebody who can help me out with this brief and it feels really good to be like I just met a guy yesterday when I was out at this bar who does this because Chicago is a place where like I feel like anyone could be anyone and I think that's The same for other big metropolitan areas as well.
[00:29:22] Jay: But I think the difference in the Chicago vibe is that it feels very collaborative. It feels like we're all on the same team. That is something that I could not say about LA. I could not say that about New York. It feels like competition. And of course there's competition no matter where you're going to go, but Chicago has a bit of that Midwest charm to it.
[00:29:40] Jay: It does. And I think that, I just feel a lot more comfortable here. I feel like, I feel like people want me to win here and it makes me feel like I want to pass that along as well.
[00:29:51] Jake: hmm. Mm hmm. Very nice. People want you to win here. That's a good, that's a nice, that's a nice review right there of the
[00:29:58] Jay: Yeah. I love Chicago. [00:30:00] You got a, you got a Chicago fan boy on the podcast today for sure.
[00:30:03] Jake: Nice. Good. And so all those things, all those different creative endeavors that you're doing, they all kind of inform each other and probably, 'cause you're all okay, you're, they're all kind of working the same, same parts of your brain and they're probably all, I don't know. I'm, I'm kind of babbling a little bit now,
[00:30:17] Jay: No, no. I mean, you're right. I think especially, I mean, I love the acting and photography. I feel like a very tactical and so is writing, but it's, it's very, You show up, you do a thing, you provide that service and you leave. And obviously you can probably break down any job and do something like that.
[00:30:32] Jay: But I feel like for me those two things are things I feel so comfortable with and so confident in that I am allowed to kind of, I know I'm here to take pictures. Who else can I meet while I'm here? Or like what, what impression can I leave? What information can I gather? And what's really cool is then going into more of the cerebral work of doing like conceptual copywriting, coming up with campaigns, figuring out what resonates with a certain target audiences.
[00:30:57] Jay: Is that I get to draw on my experience of [00:31:00] experiencing the culture, not just observing it from afar, but having been there, having been to that neighborhood, having been to and, and interacted with people who, who really are about what we're talking about, I think not to get into this too much, cause I know this is not, we're here to talk about, but I do think that media can sometimes feel really removed from culture, which is super ironic, right?
[00:31:20] Jay: And so I think that it's. To me, I feel like a huge asset when it comes to bringing lived, real lived experiences of creative types, which tend to be minorities, which tend to be, people who are disenfranchised and are trying to use these creative platforms to get a message across to the majority.
[00:31:36] Jay: To be on their team when I'm doing my freelance work and then to come into my, my full time job and be like, this is actually what matters to these people, like, this is, I it feels like an invaluable resource. And so I'm so happy to see, and that's the reason why I do all these things. So yeah, it's because it's never hurts to make a little bit more cash, but more than that, I think doing all of these things actually makes me better at all of those things.
[00:31:59] Jay: So it feels [00:32:00] like a cycle that feeds itself. Yeah.
[00:32:01] Jake: Mm hmm. It's beautiful. What what kind of, what kind of, what, what, so, okay, you told me a little about what kind of photography you're, you're doing, what kind of acting are you doing and what kind of advertising are you into? Are you doing kind of like, are you into any of the sorry, like your classic like second city IO kind of circuit or are you doing any of those or are you kind of more in like the TV?
[00:32:23] Jake: Stuff or like what theater, what are you doing?
[00:32:26] Jay: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I I have done a little bit of everything I kind of market myself in acting to be more of like a TV and film. I also recently started doing voiceover, which is very cool and fun. But I think for my lifestyle theater does not really fit in a lot. It's just longer hours. It's a lot of rehearsal.
[00:32:44] Jay: And with a full time job and things it just doesn't usually work out very well. And then but for TV and film, these projects can be done over a weekend, they shoot over time over longer periods of time but are a bit more flexible in their approach to scheduling. I did my first [00:33:00] commercial last October, which was fun.
[00:33:02] Jay: It was actually for visit Illinois which is like a tourism kind of a campaign. So that was super fun. That was the first commercial I did and I got to go to different parts of Illinois. I'd never heard of and do fun outdoor activities. So that was really cool. And then on the advertising side I, I just made a pivot.
[00:33:17] Jay: So I used to work in B2C consumer goods and mostly beer and candy. So I worked on like Miller Lite, Coors Light, Skittles, Starburst, things like that. Some alcohol and yeah, things like that. And that was really fun. You know, those kinds of ads are really fun. It's kind of, it's about consumption, you know, and, and just good vibes.
[00:33:38] Jay: I think some more interesting work that I'm into now as I've kind of changed agencies, changed accounts that I'm working on. And now I'm going to be trying to be careful about the details, but I work on a healthcare account. And it's very fun to think about It's completely differently. It's completely different conceptually, you know, people don't need starburst, but you know, if you want [00:34:00] some, let's give it a brand voice, right?
[00:34:02] Jay: Whereas like working with medicine and on the diseases and illnesses that I work on. They're very serious. And so people know that they need this. The question is like, what is the impression that we're leaving you with? What, what is the tone? What is the tonality of this and how are we making sure that we're being optimistic while also being realistic?
[00:34:19] Jay: So it's, it's very sobering. It's very intense, but it feels like it's feeding a bit more of a true human need. Which is great. I people in advertising always say we're not, it's not, we're not saving the world here. And I think that that's true. And it's good to remind oneself of, I think that for most people, it just makes them feel better about maybe being not needing to be super stressed about some of the deadlines and things, work for everybody can seem like end all be all, but you're not, you're, you're, you're not, You're not going to kill somebody with with a bad ad, but I do think that it feels like to me, so the downside is low.
[00:34:50] Jay: There's, there's, it's not the worst that could happen. It's just not that bad. But to me, I really, I am a product of conscious media consumption, and I care about things [00:35:00] that I like, because I know what they stand for. And I think that, we as a culture are starting to expect more from brands to kind of put their money where their mouth is.
[00:35:08] Jay: And I love the upside potential of advertising. I think that at its lowest level, you're, you're, you're selling something worth 2 and you're making five and it's like, this is capitalism's core. But I think the potential. That it can have to to to just like films and any other form of art, but with a much more structured approach to create cultural change to bring awareness to issues that people didn't know about and overall to change like our social fabric like that is what I'm really interested in.
[00:35:37] Jay: So, even though the work that I did before and the work that I'm doing now feel very different in concept. Or, or in, in content, I would say in concept, they are very similar. And that's why I like doing the work that I do.
[00:35:53] Jake: It's going to let all that sink in. That was
[00:35:55] Jay: Yeah, no, I appreciate it.
[00:35:56] Jake: I have no follow up on that. That's this. Yeah, that's a, that's, that's a great way [00:36:00] to to, to go to think about what, what you do. I mean, yeah, that's really interesting. Cause I mean, yeah, the media that we consume does, does matter. It does influence us and on a, on a individual level and then on a cultural level on up from there, so, I mean, yeah.
[00:36:14] Jake: It's hard to say that this stuff doesn't, you're just selling selling a widget But you know it it can and could and should be should be more than that if it can be I guess, you know So
[00:36:23] Jay: I love that.
[00:36:24] Jake: that's cool. Have you noticed much of an art scene specifically in Lincoln Park or have you had have you been there long enough to really? Take much of that in.
[00:36:32] Jay: You know, it's funny. I keep I always tell my friends like I just moved to Lincoln Park. It's I can't keep using the word just it was in July of last year. It just feels like life moves so fast. But I think that to answer your question, I've not done my due diligence on the art scene in Lincoln Park.
[00:36:48] Jay: I'm sure there is one and I don't want to speak on behalf of it. What I will say is that I've heard of some really fun things going on. I know there's the Old Town School of Music is, there's one I believe on Armitage that is that I hear [00:37:00] people having fun performances at. There are a lot of just little shops and boutiques that are like music and art stores usually owned by usually managed by the owner and a lot of self produced products.
[00:37:11] Jay: And I think that that's such a really cool energy. I think that's like I was saying, I think that's what makes Lincoln park a bit more personable. There's a bit more of that, that mom and pop shop feel to a lot of the businesses here. And honestly, yeah, I can't speak too much to the art scene, music scene.
[00:37:28] Jay: within Lincoln Park specifically, but the only thing I'll add is that I they have some great venues in Lincoln Park and it's nice to be conveniently located where I can walk to them. Lincoln Hall is great. I think, I don't know if Riviera is around here, I forget, but there's some cool
[00:37:41] Jake: uptown. It's not far
[00:37:43] Jay: Okay, yeah but I, I think I, I saw one of my favorite artists named Bruno Major. He performed He performed somewhere, somewhere close to here. Maybe I'm going to stop guessing because I'm going to get it wrong. But yeah, Lincoln Park's got a lot of cool music venues, so it's cool to be able to
[00:37:58] Jake: Yeah Is there [00:38:00] anything about either Lincoln Park as specifically or Chicago as a whole that has surprised you since living here? or maybe like a misconception that people have that
[00:38:11] Jay: Oh, well, I mean, I'll definitely start with a misconception. I mean, growing up in the suburbs and really anywhere that's not actually living in Chicago, you get a very different picture of Chicago than the one that truly exists. But I'm going to add some nuance to that further. So first, I think what people think about Chicago is that it's crime ridden, that it is, Basically unlivable.
[00:38:29] Jay: There was always this joke about Chiraq. You know, this is a place where it's basically a war zone could not be further from the truth, no matter where you are in Chicago. There's always a story to be told. And usually the people that are fighting are not fighting each other. They're fighting against the systems that have been pushing them down and forcing them into situations that would make people behave in a way that That is not seemly that is not supposed to be projected on TV in a manner that makes you scared about living in Chicago, but the reality is, just like any other metropolitan [00:39:00] area in America, unfortunately, there's a huge discrepancy huge, especially Chicago.
[00:39:05] Jay: There's a huge discrepancy between the people who earn the most and live in the really small secluded areas like River North, anywhere near the loop Lincoln Park included on, and then you have, you know, the rest of Chicago. 80 percent of Chicago living under like the me, the median for for, for a household in the United States, it's insane.
[00:39:24] Jay: And it's really not cool. And I, anyway, so I'm just like anybody who's living in that situation. If that's your reality that you grow up in the social norms that you have are just going to be different than those who grew up privileged. Like I did a lot of the people that I interact with everybody living in my neighborhood, clearly, so there's that.
[00:39:40] Jay: But then I also think that past that, that there is there's such a beauty in Chicago. And I'm I when I. To live in the suburbs, I would tell people that weren't from Illinois, that I was from Chicago and people from Chicago get really pissed at you when you do that. And I didn't use to understand why, but I think that now that I, I finally have lived in Chicago, of course, in two of like the [00:40:00] bushiest areas.
[00:40:01] Jay: Right. So it's like, who are you to say, but like I said, that's why I'm so thankful for the experiences that I have with my artistic pursuits, because I've been able to actually touch some grass, you know, talk, touch some concrete, talk to some people who, who have lived the experiences that. That people talk about and what I love about Chicago is that there is this camaraderie and people from Chicago feel so beholden to it.
[00:40:21] Jay: I think because there is so, there's such a unique sense of, of familiarity, but also difference per neighborhood. The, the, the beautiful thing and the terrible thing about Chicago is that it Your lived experience is going to be vastly different depending on what neighborhood you live in, but because of that, I think that Chicago has become a hub for so many communities to feel to feel a sense of kinship within their neighborhood.
[00:40:44] Jay: So, places that have been gentrified like West Loop and Lincoln Park. Yeah, I don't think that there's anything that's unifying me personally. To my neighbor's culture just because we live here. I don't think that that's there's personally I don't find that to be the case. And I think that's the nature of gentrified [00:41:00] areas, I don't think that this was how these places were meant to stay but the reality is this is how they are.
[00:41:04] Jay: And I'm benefiting from it because I want to live in a place where I have convenience, but There are areas in Chicago that have retained their culture or, or have developed a culture of their own over time that I know people that live in that feel really special to them, places like Pilsen for the Hispanic community, especially that they're able to have.
[00:41:23] Jay: An area that they, that they, they do literally know their neighbor and that, that you can have a sense of home away from home, especially a Chicago, not to get into it has become you know a sanctuary city for better or for worse, and that people are able to find within their areas. When I was in West Loop, I lived right next to Greek Town.
[00:41:40] Jay: There's Little Italy, Chinatown, like the list goes on. And I think that every big city has things like this, but Chicago people, I think, really cherish that about their neighborhoods. And I think that's really special. I don't think that that's something that you find in many other places, if any other place in the world, really, because the U.
[00:41:56] Jay: S. is already a melting pot. And then when you look at the most diverse [00:42:00] cities that that like Chicago which, which how many of these cities are really creating these? Areas for different people to authentically live their culture. I don't know. I don't know if there are many, I don't know, actually, cause I'm not an expert on this, but I haven't found many.
[00:42:14] Jay: And so I love that about Chicago. And I think that that's, that's the most beautiful part about it.
[00:42:19] Jake: Mm hmm. Yeah, that's cool. I mean, I'd imagine parts of New York, the your Brooklyn places like that probably have places that are comparable and whatnot. But yeah, I do know what you mean. I mean, my experience of New York is like, that is like a true melting pot, where it's just like, no matter where you are, you are going https: otter.
[00:42:41] Jake: ai Instead of like it being a melting pot, I describe it as kind of like a stove with a bunch of pots on it
[00:42:46] Jay: Yeah,
[00:42:47] Jake: every, you know, and like every once in a while you'll have some, some something in once in one pot might splash into another pot, but for the most part, you kind of, it's a little more siloed, which is like.
, not great for lots of reasons, but [00:43:00] it does on the other side of that coin kind of does create like the opportunity for what you were talking about to where, you know, you can really go into an area and truly, like truly feel like you're in another country for a little while.
[00:43:10] Jake: I mean, it's, that part of it is cool for visitors and I would imagine the people living there alike. I mean, maybe, maybe some good and bad to both of those. I'm
[00:43:18] Jay: Absolutely some, there's nuance in all of this and I'm no sociological expert, you know, like the fact of the matter is though, Chicago is a place just like any place, but the, you know, these cities that have these histories. The live Chicago experience is inexplicably linked with its history. There was, there was redlining happening here.
[00:43:36] Jay: There was segregation happening here. There is a bunch of gentrification happening of these neighborhoods. And this is what we have because of it. So I just try to look at the positive side of it and see, What, what have we gained because of this and, and what can we focus on that is, is on that positive side.
[00:43:52] Jay: But that's absolutely true. And, and I, and I love, I love your metaphor. It's way better than melting pot. I'm definitely going to use that now.
[00:43:58] Jake: Feel free. Yeah. [00:44:00] All right. I know you got just a few more minutes. I have just a couple two more things. So basically this the last last kind of neighborhood center question is this bottom line in summary. Why do you think somebody should A, want to live in Chicago, and then B, if they go that far, why do you think they would want to live in Lincoln Park?
[00:44:17] Jay: Chicago is the best value of a large city to live in in the United States. I'll just leave it at that values objective to everyone, but I believe that to be true. And Lincoln Park, I think, if you are a, if you're a high net worth family that would like to live in a city that feels safe. welcoming to a family then I would live here.
[00:44:43] Jay: If you are a young person who would like to experience living near other young people I think that's a good idea. And if you enjoy nature and you like being in an area that has more of a tie to nature, there's a zoo near, near the lake just kind of more outdoor kind [00:45:00] of aesthetics. Then I think Lincoln Park is a great place to be in.
[00:45:03] Jay: Lastly, I'd say it's a pretty centrally located area. I think what I like for me, again, location is the biggest thing that I think about when I'm living in a place. And what I mean is, is just like topographically, what is it near? How, how does my life live? I own a car thankfully, but I find myself 95 percent of the time just taking public transit because I'm near it and it's, and it's convenient.
[00:45:22] Jay: Lincoln Park is a super centrally located neighborhood. And I would highly suggest if you've got, ties to different parts of the city, you want to be in a place where you could kind of do anything. Lincoln park is, is a great area to find yourself in.
[00:45:35] Jake: hmm. Definitely, yeah. Public transit in Lincoln Park is so easy. You got all the red line stops, brown line stops. Diversity bus, Fullerton bus, the 141 that goes down to the, the loop. I mean, yeah, there's, there's so many ways to get around, so that's a good, that's a good call out. Even biking along the trails and all that, so we didn't spend a lot of time talking about transit and just how people actually live and get around, but yeah, that's definitely something worth, worth calling out.
[00:45:57] Jake: Cool, and then you, last but certainly [00:46:00] not least, I would like to for the people here to know, if they want to Get in touch with you or learn more about you? How, what's, what are the best ways to, to do that?
[00:46:09] Jay: Feel free to get in touch with me anywhere on the internet. If you look up J towns, that's J A Y T O W N S. I'm chronically online. So all of my social profiles are populating, but Instagram, LinkedIn, great places to start both at J Towns, J A Y T O W N S. And yeah, I look forward to seeing you there.
[00:46:28] Jay: IMDB, perhaps, if you would like to check that out as well. Not much going on on there as of late, but anyway, yeah, happy to
[00:46:36] Jake: but you're on there. You're, you're in the room and that's half the battle, so
[00:46:39] Jay: There we go. There we go. I love it. Glass half full with Jake.
[00:46:42] Jake: Yeah. That's all I got, man. Thank you so much for your time. Anything else that I missed? Anything that you, that I should have asked or that you wanna throw out there? Promote anything? It's okay if not.
[00:46:51] Jay: No. Yeah. I thought this was great. I really appreciate the time and I I enjoyed the conversation.
[00:46:57] Jake: I did as well. All right. Well thanks a lot man.[00:47:00]
[00:47:00] Jay: Yeah. Catch you later.
