CHICAGO â If you've attempted to find the perfect apartment in suburban Chicago lately, you maybe already know that it can be difficult. But a new set of national rankings underlines the pain of hunting for a place in the greater metro area.While some might regard New York City, or possibly the San Francisco Bay Area, as the toughest place to find a place to live, a survey actually says the champion for that dubious title is actually suburban Chicago.
'The demand is intensified by high occupancy rates â only one in 20 apartments is available â and slow construction of new apartments, which account for just one in 1,000 rental properties in the Chicago suburbs and one in 200 in the city itself. This has led, in places, to rent bidding wars,' reporter Tim Heffernan wrote. All of these elements helped nudge the Chicago suburbs past Miami-Dade County atop the list.