The kind of place that has some bars in walking distance, maybe some decent, not to expensive restaurants, that sort of thing. Easy access to the 163 or 15 would be good too. My initial research seems to point to the hillcrest, north park, south park type area but I don't really know. Thanks.
I would go for North Park / University Heights / Normal Heights.
Depends on what kind of place you're looking for. Normal Heights is a VERY laid back place, it might LOOK slightly shabby but it's really not. There's several good bars, including my favorite, the Ould Sod. A block away from that is Le Stats, a 24/7 coffee shop with free wi-fi, plus live music in a separate venue next to the coffee shop on different days throughout the week such as Open Mic, etc. Across the street from there are cheap but nice dining restaurants, your mandatory 24/7 mexican food eatery, plus gas stations. As if that wasn't enough, the Ken Cinemas and movie store features independent films and video rentals. (If you're into that).
Normal Heights in between the 15, 163 and 805 so it should be easy to get around. Let me know if you have any more questions, I've lived here for too long.
By the way, Hillcrest, University Heights, Normal Heights are all relatively in the same area, and it's a very laid back place to live. There's great stores too in University / Hillcrest.