Illinois has decently strong tenant laws, and Chicago in particular (including things like minimum heat temperatures, etc. which are posted on big billboards where you see them as you go past on the train) but yeah, a lot of it has gone wayyyyyy up. The place where I had my first solo apartment has gone up almost 50% in eleven years. I probably would struggle to afford even the medium tier of these apartments solo and I make low-end tech money, which is just....whew. (Well. I wouldn't struggle if I didn't also have things to pay off, but it'd be a lot more than my mortgage, and above the "advisable" percentage one is "supposed" to spend on housing.)

I despair, a little bit. More than a little.