Commute from Naperville to Hyde Park
Michael Dost
enamored with the Naperville area (new homes, good value, good schools).
But I will be working in Hyde Park.
Can anyone give me a sense of the commute. I would drive, would like to
get to work by 8:00 and leave between 6-6:30.
Thanks.
Ed Janik
wrote:
Drive? Not a great idea IMHO. You really should look into Metra if you
want to keep your sanity and avoid unnecessary wear & tear on your
car. I know there's a train from Naperville into downtown, and
an electric IC line from downtown to Hyde Park, this train is part
of Metra. I'd really look into that if I were you.
If you want to get to work by 8 am and insist on DRIVING, I guess you
take I88 east and expect a hellacious backup getting onto 290 east,
really bad traffic on 290 east to 94 south to Lake Shore Drive south
and you probably would take an hour and a half to two hours to get
to work, and I think I'm being conservative.
OTOH, you could sleep, read, eat breakfast, listen to your walkman,
drink coffee or just chill on the train and it probably wouldn't
take any longer...and it's probably cheaper in the long run, especially
if you're paying for parking.
--
A bleeding heart is better than an empty heart.
Oink if you love Rush.
Joe Ozelis
>(Michael Dost) wrote:
>
>> I will be moving to Chicago in the next few months. My wife seems to be
>> enamored with the Naperville area (new homes, good value, good schools).
>> But I will be working in Hyde Park.
>>
>> Can anyone give me a sense of the commute. I would drive, would like to
>> get to work by 8:00 and leave between 6-6:30.
>>
>> Thanks.
>
>
>take I88 east and expect a hellacious backup getting onto 290 east,
>really bad traffic on 290 east to 94 south to Lake Shore Drive south
>and you probably would take an hour and a half to two hours to get
>to work, and I think I'm being conservative.
>
You could also take 88 east to 355 south to 55 north to LSD... it's
more miles, but 355 from 88 to 55 is pretty fast and is lightly
travelled. I-55 from the 355 merge to around 1st Ave or Harlem is
also pretty quick... it bogs down mostly from Harlem to the Ryan.
I think you could do it in 1hr+ . I can get from Rt. 59 and 88 to
the near Southwest side in 45 minutes in the evenings... so it might
be about 1:00 - 1:15 in the mornings from Naperville. That's not any
shorter, really , than taking the 88/290 combo, but you'll spend less
time sitting and more time moving. I'm pretty sure it would be less
than 2hrs, but not by much. Of course, all bets are off if it snows...
Either way the drive is no fun. Parking in Hyde Park is no pcinic at
times either.
Do you really *have* to live in Naperville ? There are other suburbs
that would be closer to the city, and just as nice, IMO. There are
also some great places in the city to live (I wish I could live there
again, but I work too far away...), but if really good non-private
schools are a concern, then maybe that's not an option for you.
Joe
Ed Janik
Ozelis) wrote:
[snip]
> You could also take 88 east to 355 south to 55 north to LSD... it's
> more miles, but 355 from 88 to 55 is pretty fast and is lightly
> travelled. I-55 from the 355 merge to around 1st Ave or Harlem is
> also pretty quick... it bogs down mostly from Harlem to the Ryan.
> I think you could do it in 1hr+ . I can get from Rt. 59 and 88 to
> the near Southwest side in 45 minutes in the evenings... so it might
> be about 1:00 - 1:15 in the mornings from Naperville. That's not any
> shorter, really , than taking the 88/290 combo, but you'll spend less
> time sitting and more time moving. I'm pretty sure it would be less
> than 2hrs, but not by much. Of course, all bets are off if it snows...
>
> Either way the drive is no fun. Parking in Hyde Park is no pcinic at
> times either.
>
> Do you really *have* to live in Naperville ? There are other suburbs
> that would be closer to the city, and just as nice, IMO. There are
> also some great places in the city to live (I wish I could live there
> again, but I work too far away...), but if really good non-private
> schools are a concern, then maybe that's not an option for you.
>
>
> Joe
Good point, Joe...on the route and whether the dude *has* to live
in Naperville. Mike, why not take your wife to Evanston and see if
she falls in love with that community... or La Grange (some really
nice architecture), or Skokie... the schools are far better than the
Chicago Public School system, the commute is far less brutal (you
can drive in or take the Metra from LaGrange or the El from Skokie
or Evanston). Hey, why not check out Wilmette? Just north of
Evanston/Skokie, beautiful area, easy access via the El or you can
drive if you have to (I-94 south to LSD)...
In any case, driving during rush hour in Chi-town is a pain in the ass,
but driving in from Naperville? I'd go insane.
--
A bleeding heart is better than no heart at all.
Oink if you love Rush!
Hey, Newt! Whatever happened to those term limits?
jabe...@mcs.com
You might be best served by taking Metra (suburban commuter
rail) to Chicago then taking a CTA bus to Hyde Park. A
monthly Metra pass might sound expensive at first, but it
would save you a lot of $$$ in the long run. You can call
322-6777 (days) or 836-7000 (evenings & weekends) for
further information, costs, and connection times. (Both
numbers are dialable as either 708 or 312 area codes.)
By car, you're looking (at best) at a one hour commute via
I-88 to the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290). On bad days (and
what day on the Ike isn't a bad day?) you're looking at 90
to 120 minutes of pure hell.
The Eisenhower is a freeway and backs up every afternoon by
3:30 (earlier on Fridays, days before holidays, and nights
when the Bulls play in the United Center); I-88 is a
tollway and is usually pretty clear. Watch for the friendly
local gendarms on I-88 - it's easy to exceed the speed
limit and they're *so* selective about who they stop.
Jim
Bob Kusumoto
>You might be best served by taking Metra (suburban commuter
>rail) to Chicago then taking a CTA bus to Hyde Park. A
>monthly Metra pass might sound expensive at first, but it
>would save you a lot of $$$ in the long run. You can call
>322-6777 (days) or 836-7000 (evenings & weekends) for
>further information, costs, and connection times. (Both
>numbers are dialable as either 708 or 312 area codes.)
actually, the Metra Electric (the old IC) does a good job of
getting you to Hyde Park once your downtown. Of course, the
stations between the CN&W west line (I think that's the one
that serves Naperville) and Metra Electric are on opposite
ends of downtown Chicago, meaning a nice 20 minute walk or
a 10 minute bus ride (if you're lucky). But, you only need
a single Metra ticket between Naperville and downtown and
use that to get the trip to Hyde Park thrown in for free.
>By car, you're looking (at best) at a one hour commute via
>I-88 to the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290). On bad days (and
>what day on the Ike isn't a bad day?) you're looking at 90
>to 120 minutes of pure hell.
Then going from downtown to Hyde Park. Not fun. Forget it.
>The Eisenhower is a freeway and backs up every afternoon by
>3:30 (earlier on Fridays, days before holidays, and nights
>when the Bulls play in the United Center); I-88 is a
>tollway and is usually pretty clear. Watch for the friendly
>local gendarms on I-88 - it's easy to exceed the speed
>limit and they're *so* selective about who they stop.
If anything, live in Hyde Park (probably the safest neighborhood
in the city, based on crime stats). Live in Evanston or
Wilmette (both have an el line close to them that goes to the
loop, then transfer to the IC to Hyde Park, believe me, I did
this for years commuting from the Edgewater neighborhood in
the North Side of Chicago, taking the el downtown and then
transfering to the IC the rest of the way, took me about an
hour (with some judicious planning since the IC are on a schedule
and the CTA usually isn't). Plus, if you work for the University,
sending your kids to the lab schools isn't that bad :-).
Bob
--
Bob Kusumoto | The truth is not an obstacle for
Internet: qu...@ripco.com | someone such as me...because...we
| create our own reality. -MC 900'
| Jesus, "Truth is out of style"
Gareth Newfield
: I will be moving to Chicago in the next few months. My wife seems to be
and city neighborhoods Naperville is overpriced, and when you consider
geography it is down right bad value unless maybe you work in Naperville.
: But I will be working in Hyde Park.
Hyde Park is a fine place to live. Has your wife been to Hyde Park?
Great houses/apartments, restaurants, the lake, parks, being able to walk to
work, an easy train ride/drive ride downtown.
: Can anyone give me a sense of the commute. I would drive, would like to
: get to work by 8:00 and leave between 6-6:30.
Obviously your wife should drive you to work, that way you can sleep
during the long commute and you can save money since you won't need to
buy a very nice house since instead of enjoying your house you'll be
on the road all day/night.
Gareth
Paul Botts
Ed Janik <ja...@spss.com> wrote:
>In article <mdostD5...@netcom.com>, md...@netcom.com (Michael Dost)
>wrote:
>
>> I will be moving to Chicago in the next few months. My wife seems to be
>> enamored with the Naperville area (new homes, good value, good schools).
>> But I will be working in Hyde Park.
>>
>> Can anyone give me a sense of the commute. I would drive, would like to
>> get to work by 8:00 and leave between 6-6:30.
>>
>> Thanks.
>
>Drive? Not a great idea IMHO. You really should look into Metra if you
>want to keep your sanity and avoid unnecessary wear & tear on your
>car. I know there's a train from Naperville into downtown, and
>an electric IC line from downtown to Hyde Park, this train is part
>of Metra. I'd really look into that if I were you.
Trouble is that (a) you'd have a two-leg train trip and who knows if the
schedules would mesh right, and (b) you'd have to walk about 1.5 miles
across the Loop to get from one train to the other. So I'd estimate that
total trip at around 2 hours door to door. Not really a viable option.
--
"Don't take life too serious; it ain't nohow permanent." - Walt Kelly
Paul R. Botts email to: p...@chinet.chinet.com
Paul Botts
Well I'm sure others will say the same but in case somehow they don't:
FORGET it! That would be a hellish commute. You're talking something
like 1.5 hours each way during most weekday rush hours, and on those
days when something really snarls up the expressway you'd be using,
you'd be screwed. The trouble is that not only are those two places
rather far apart, there are no good alternate routes to choose from - if
I-88, for example, is snarled, there's no other option to switch to.
As a native Hyde Parker with a 2-year-old, I would have bought a house
there myself if I could afford a decent house with yard there, but I
can't. Hyde Park actually has a couple of the few public grammar schools
in Chicago that I would be willing to enroll my son in. Plus I don't
like new homes, so thats another difference, though there is a little
spasm of new building going on in Hyde Park at the moment.
We moved to Oak Park and are quite happy with it. Excellent value, very
good schools, and plenty of medium-vintage homes in excellent condition.
Property taxes are high, but we have a good sense of getting what we are
paying for (park district, police, and etc. are responsive, well-run and
all that good stuff). My commute via train to the Loop is a breeze.
Commute to Hyde Park would be longer than that but much better than from
Naperville - figure a 30- to 40-minute drive each way.