Hello everyone, thanks for welcoming me to the forums here.

I'm new to the Chicago area, originally from the suburbs of Minneapolis and downtown area for work.  As the weather has warmed up since I've moved here I've become more and more antsy about getting out and riding.  Currently I have a Rans Tailwind recumbent which is not something I'm very comfortable riding anywhere but on trails due to my own lack of skill piloting it and the low visibility factor.  I had a Schwinn hybrid but that was stolen the first day I tried riding it up to the Financial district (I live in the South Loop).  Yes I locked it up!  Apparently not well enough after posting in the stolen bike forums and messaging with a member here afterwords. :)

Anyway, I would really love to be able to get out and ride and use a bicycle for commuting around to various appointments and such.  I also really love building/creating things with my own hands if I think I can give it an honest effort.  I've built my own speakers before and built/maintained a lot of IT related equipment/servers/etc.  I'm fairly technical and good with my hands once I'm comfortable, but I admit I have next to no knowledge of working on bicycles outside of basic maintenance.  I have worked on various motorcycles and cars so I have some mechanical aptitude outside of the electronics world.

So, now that you know some of my story, should I build my own bike or would I be better off just buying a used bike off craigslist/posting a want ad on these forums?  In general I'm looking for something city-oriented, so I thought a single speed might actually be nice here to remove that added cost and complexity when trying to stay safe around here (Chicago drivers are much more aggressive than what I'm used to from back in MN and it does worry me some in regards to riding safely on the roads here).  I also have pretty regular back/neck pain from some prior injuries so I prefer riding in an upright position as much as possible so I'm not a big fan of the drop down road bike bars.  I see a lot of people around here riding what look like single speed steel framed bikes with a single brake and a tall flat bar that looks really perfect for city riding.

Thank you to anyone who is willing to offer advice/help.

Also of note, I'm very much willing to part with my recumbent as part of financing my build or trading for parts, or whatever.  It's not being ridden at the moment as I don't feel safe on it unless I basically walk myself over to the lake shore drive / museum campus trails.