The outside tour- aka the good, the bad, and the tear it down.

Hello All

We've been living in a large storefront for a number of years. It has served us well. It is approx. 2000 sq. ft. with one very large bedroom and one typical small bedroom. The ceiling height is 12' tall and the space feels very open and airy, although it rather dark and cave like. Which can be mentally troubling in Chicago's very long gray cold winters. For a number of years, I ran a storefront gallery. My wife now uses that storefront space for her studio, which gives her a large working area for free (compared to paying for an outside studio).

It's time to move on. The neighborhood has been fully gentrified and I expect our reasonable rent (grandfathered in) to continue to go up every year. We also are very handy people and really would love to fix this space up more than we already have. However, the futility of giving away our services for free (and material cost) to our landlord for a brief enjoyment just seems wrong. We have been looking for a single family home that would be somewhat central in the city, works in our budget, not be in too bad of a neighborhood (crime-wise), near public transport. Sounds too good to be true. However, we feel there are deals to be had with the troubles in real estate. Not to mention the incentives for first time home buyers and for using energy star appliances. Wish us luck.