2909 N Sheridan Rd Condominium Home

First, let me qualify this review by saying that this is a condominium building, and all of the units are individually owned. Your experience may vary depending on your landlord.
That said, 2909 Sheridan is probably the cheapest high rise building in all of Lakeview/​Lincoln Park. It sits right on the corner of Sheridan and Surf, and all of the northbound buses (151, 156, 77 everyday, and 134, 143 during weekday rush hour) stop right in front of the building. Southbound is right across the street, so you can’t beat the convenience. Yes, the Brown Line Wellington or Diversey stops are 15 – 20 minutes away on foot, but the 77 Bus picks you up at the door and drops you off right at Belmont, plus the 76 Diversey bus is a block away.
Inside is an old but clean open foyer with a 24-​hour door person. The building manager also has his office there (I’ve found Vito and his crew to be quite responsive, even though all interior fixes are technically the responsibility of the unit owner). The mailboxes are small, but the door person also receives all packages that are kept in a separate locked room, which is pretty awesome. Laundry is on the first floor, with about ten washers and ten dryers ($ 1 each for washer/​dryer with a change machine). It’s open and airy; I’ve never had a problem getting a washer, but if you come at 5pm on a Sunday, you might find only one open (I try to avoid peak times).
The hallways and entryways are kept clean, and in addition to the door person, there is a secured entry with a keypad. This connects to your land line or your cell phone so you can buzz people in. It’s worth noting that until the door person becomes familiar with you, they probably won’t open the door for you automatically (to keep out strangers). Even after being here for a year, I never expect it because of security reasons, but it is nice to be greeted when you come home.
I can’t say much about the apartments, just lay out my own experience. There are two towers in the building, and six units on each floor of each tower. The studio apartments face west and are on the ends, bracketed by a one-​bed and a two-​bed on each side. Noise has never been a problem for me (except for the chick who wants to belt Whitney Houston in her kitchen. I want to tell her that her vibrato needs work, but you can only hear her in the kitchen and she keeps it to daylight hours, so I lay off). This building is quite old, but that means the walls are pretty solid. All units have a long hallway leading into the main rooms, and you can hear your neighbors in the hallway (depending on how insulated your door is, I’m sure a good door stopper would fix that). You won’t be living your life in the hallway though, so no worries!
The studios have really good closet space. In addition to two hall closets, you get a walk-​through closet that leads to the bathroom, a linen closet in the bathroom, and a smaller closet in the main room. One-​beds have just the closet in the bedroom, and I think one near the bathroom. Again, this depends on what improvements (or lack thereof) your landlord has done. The living area is 17×13 for the studios, which is not half bad considering the closet space. Tons of sunlight comes through the windows and all units have A/​C. You also get heat (building controlled, though you have your knob on the radiator), water, trash (bins are inside next to the laundry room), and basic cable included! Internet is $ 25 and in my studio, my electric has never been more than $ 30 a month (and I’m from the South, so I believe in the power of A/​C).
The building has an exterminator come in twice a month for the main areas, and he’ll come to your unit by request. I got freaked out the first time I looked out my bathroom window at night and saw HUGE spiders. However, they never come inside, they just cause me to nearly pee my pants every time I need a potty break at midnight.
Overall, I’ve enjoyed my time here, and plan to stay. It’s an old place; there isn’t a gym, a rooftop deck, or a pool, but it’s clean and comfortable, and will certainly last me until I can land a place in that Mies van der Rohe dream building down the street.