I'm transferring from LAX to ORD. Where should I move to (Chicago: best neighborhood, rent)

[maquina]

Hi There.
I need some help trying to decide where should I move to. What city, that will be close to O'Hare International Airport. Im looking for some place nice and safe close to Metra or any transportation that will take me to the Airport.
Also close to Restaurants, malls, etc.

I've ben looking en Arlington Heights, Lincoln Park and Oak Park all of this on internet.
would like to pay on rent no more $1100.
Im 33 and Married no children yet.

Thanks.

[Golden Camel]

Although there is a Metra station at O'Hare Airport (the North Central Service), Metra service on that line is extremely limited, mostly in the rush hour direction, with some token midday and reverse rush service. There is no weekend Metra service on that line. I'm guessing that maybe you are a flight crew member, so relying on Metra is going to be a problem for you if you are on reserve and need to report to the airport within an hour. Outside of rush hour, Metra trains run at least an hour apart and don't run in the wee hours of the morning.

The Metra line that runs to Arlington Heights (the UP-Northwest line) doesn't go to the airport, but you can connect to the CTA Blue Line at the Jefferson Park station. But again, remember that Metra service is not frequent outside of rush hour. (But the UP-Northwest line has far better service than the North Central line.)

The trains that run (mostly) inside the city are operated by an agency called the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority), not Metra. The train system is called the 'L' (the CTA does not use "El"). The Blue Line 'L' trains run frequently to the airport 24/7. (There is a little gap in the wee hours of the morning where trains are 30 minutes to an hour apart.)
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If you want to depend on public transit and will not be riding during traditional rush hours, you should probably consider getting a place in the city that is near a CTA (not Metra) Blue Line station somewhere between O'Hare and downtown.

Lincoln Park and Oak Park will both be mighty inconvenient for getting to O'Hare on public transit. In the case of Lincoln Park, you'll have to either ride across town on the bus to get to the Blue Line or you will have double back through downtown and change trains. The Blue Line does happen to go to Oak Park, but after it passes through downtown. It's a little over an hour on the train plus time to get to/from the train station and you have to go through the west side ghetto. You could patch together some north/south bus routes to get to O'Hare from Oak Park, but service is very infrequent and will probably take longer than riding the train when you take the time waiting for connections into account.

I've been assuming that you are an airline employee who might be working non-traditional hours, if this is not the case, please elaborate.

[chet everett]

If you want / need to rely on CTA to get to O'Hare the best neighborhood for singles is probably Bucktown / Wicker Park. There are some airline flight crews that live much cloer to the airport, but you then going to spend much more time getting to interesting places. Wicker Park / Bucktown have a lot of hipster bars and such...

As far as suburna, Oak Park would be horrible convoluted commute. Arlington heights much worse. Park Ridge is mostly quiet, but does have a nice mix of restaurants nearby. It would be fairly easy commute to O'Hare from some spots where the blue line is walkable / bus routes intersect. Technically Edison Park / Jeffersonnare inside Chicago but have more of a suburban feel than Bucktown / Wicker Park..

[urza216]

Chet, that was a good post for the most part.. But the OP said he or she was married. So I don't think "single bars" in Wicker Park and Bucktown are very relevant.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by chet everett

As far as suburna, Oak Park would be horrible convoluted commute. Arlington heights much worse. Park Ridge is mostly quiet, but does have a nice mix of restaurants nearby. It would be fairly easy commute to O'Hare from some spots where the blue line is walkable / bus routes intersect. Technically Edison Park / Jeffersonnare inside Chicago but have more of a suburban feel than Bucktown / Wicker Park..

re: Oak Park commute to ORD via public transit, if you live close to Harlem Ave (ie: western side of Oak Park and north of about Madison St, you can take the CTA #90 bus (Harlem Ave bus) which runs very frequently and travels north from Harlem Ave and the Green line to Harlem and the Blue line (takes about 15 minutes +/- 10 minutes depending on traffic). From the Harlem Ave Blue line it takes about 5 minutes of transit time (+ up to 10 minutes waiting time) to take the train to ORD. Other than the pain of waiting for a bus/train, the commute itself isn't bad at all. If you live further east or south where getting to the Harlem Ave bus requires another bus/train, then the annoyance/time increases dramatically.

[chet everett]

Having driven up Harlem as well as all the other arterials that link the north side of Oak Park to the Blue Line I think the "15 minutes + 10 " is extremely generous and there is ABSOLUTELY NO PHYSICAL WAY that ever takes 5 minutes (15 -10 = 5 -- only violating every speed limit and red light...)

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

re: Oak Park commute to ORD via public transit, if you live close to Harlem Ave (ie: western side of Oak Park and north of about Madison St, you can take the CTA #90 bus (Harlem Ave bus) which runs very frequently and travels north from Harlem Ave and the Green line to Harlem and the Blue line (takes about 15 minutes +/- 10 minutes depending on traffic). From the Harlem Ave Blue line it takes about 5 minutes of transit time (+ up to 10 minutes waiting time) to take the train to ORD. Other than the pain of waiting for a bus/train, the commute itself isn't bad at all. If you live further east or south where getting to the Harlem Ave bus requires another bus/train, then the annoyance/time increases dramatically.

If the OP is not interested in nightlife / hipster music maybe Edison Park or Jefferson Park makes more sense -- there are good restaurants and such but I would not classify it as great for meeting others. Commute to O'Hare is pretty easy.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Having driven up Harlem as well as all the other arterials that link the north side of Oak Park to the Blue Line I think the "15 minutes + 10 " is extremely generous and there is ABSOLUTELY NO PHYSICAL WAY that ever takes 5 minutes (15 -10 = 5 -- only violating every speed limit and red light...)

25+/- 10 minutes. My error.

[cubssoxfan]

I live in east/central Arlington Heights, northeast of downtown AH. Even in rush hour, taking the "back roads" I can make it to O'Hare, by car, in 30 minutes or less. So if you change your parameters to driving, AH is an excellent choice.

[chet everett]

I agree that driving to ORD from DesPlaines or Arlington Heights or even Wooddale could easily be done, but OP asked about "public transit" and from the west the options are much more limited...

[Golden Camel]

Arlington Heights (or anywhere else along the Metra UP Northwest line) to O'Hare really isn't bad. It's 30 minutes from the AH station to Jefferson Park, 5 to 15 minutes to connect to the Blue Line (they are at different levels in the same station), and then 15 minutes on the Blue Line to O'Hare. That's probably a faster trip than all of the other commuters who are going downtown from AH have. You do have to pay two fares (as do all the downtown commuters who have to get from Ogilvie to the Loop or North Michigan Avenue).

The big disadvantage of depending on Metra is that airline staff (ground or flight) often end work after midnight or have to report to work at 5:00 or 6:00 am, when Metra isn't operating. Or they have to work on Sunday when the first Metra train isn't until after 9:00 am. Or they have to be on call, making it tough to report to the airport within a hour if Metra trains run only once an hour.

I overlooked taking the 90 Harlem bus from Oak Park to the Blue Line. For some reason I fixated on the 330 Mannheim bus. Thanks, oakparkdude. But, again, the bus does not run 24 hours.