Living in the city but working in the burbs? (Chicago: renting, home)

[jamaicabound60565]

Curious in hearing about people who live in the city but work in the burbs. Do you like it or dislike it? Is it a huge hassle? Is it just a temporary thing while you try to find a job in the city?

About a year back I was working in River North but living in the burbs, now I'm working in the burbs but thinking about moving to the city. I don't plan or want to stay at my current job for all that much longer so if I moved I would probably step up my effort to find a job in the city but with the job market how it is I understand I could have months and months of this commute so want to hear how bad or good it is?

Also, b/c of the industry I'm in I imagine a future job would very likely be in River North. I'm not really at all familiar with Chicago outside of the loop. What would be some good areas to live in, ideally safe, close to public transportation and not too far to get to an expressway.

Just from looking at Chicago neighborhood maps a few that jumped out at me would be Old Town, Streeterville, Little Italy, West Loop.

I wouldn't mind renting but would be down to buy if I could get something for say 130k or less even if its just a small studio.

[Jandur]

I currently live in Lincoln Park and work in Oakbrook. It's not awful, but it's getting old to be frank. The only reason I am still with my current employer is because we are moving to the loop in December.

It really depends where you live and where you are going to. My commute takes an hour or so, sometimes an hour and a half on the way home. It just depends. My co-worker lives in the west loop, and his commute to Oakbrook is more like 45-50 minutes which is pretty reasonable.

Now, the drive is wearing on me, I spend 2-3 hours a day in the car in addition to 10-11 hour days. I leave at 7am to get to work by 8 and usually don't get home until 7 or 8pm. But it's what I signed up for.

Neighborhood from a location standpoint depends a lot on what suburb you are driving to. If you work in the north burbs,then obviously somewhere like Lakeview/Edgewater would be ideal. If you are driving west, then live in the west loop.

Then you have to take into account what type of area do you want. Busy, trendy, low key, etc. Old Town, River North, Gold Coast, Streeterville, South Loop, Lincoln Park, Roscoe, Wrigley, Lakeview, Southport, Wicker Park etc etc etc, are all safe. It all depends on what environment you want and where you want it to be geographically.

Finding something to buy for 130k in a decent area will be a stretch.

[Drover]

Where in the suburbs makes a gigantic difference. Commuting to Summit is a whole different exercise than commuting to Wasco.

[jamaicabound60565]

Originally Posted by Drover

Where in the suburbs makes a gigantic difference. Commuting to Summit is a whole different exercise than commuting to Wasco.

Working right off the expressway in the Lisle/Naperville area.

[OrdoSeclorum]

If you work in the West suburbs DO NOT live on the north side of the city. My first job was in Downer's Grove and I lived in Lakeview. It was a grind. You'd be much better off living in Ukranian Village or something where it's easy to get on to 290.

[jamaicabound60565]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

If you work in the West suburbs DO NOT live on the north side of the city. My first job was in Downer's Grove and I lived in Lakeview. It was a grind. You'd be much better off living in Ukranian Village or something where it's easy to get on to 290.

Was traffic pretty good since you were giong the opposite way of traffic most times? Was just driving out to Rogers Park Friday night and we flew the whole way into the city from Lisle but the other side was bumper to bumper the entire way. Wondering if this is pretty typical of the ride, though I do imagine in the winter when people drive like idiots its bad regardless.

I'd probably be planning on living in west loop, south loop, printers row, maybe east ukranian village.

[OrangeAndBlue]

Originally Posted by jamaicabound60565

Was traffic pretty good since you were giong the opposite way of traffic most times? Was just driving out to Rogers Park Friday night and we flew the whole way into the city from Lisle but the other side was bumper to bumper the entire way. Wondering if this is pretty typical of the ride, though I do imagine in the winter when people drive like idiots its bad regardless.

I'd probably be planning on living in west loop, south loop, printers row, maybe east ukranian village.

The commute / rush hour traffic on I-290 is pretty much bumper to bumper for both the traditional and reverse commute directions. I used to commute to Oakbrook for a while from the Loop, and it would be stop-and-go in that direction just as it was going the other way. In fact, in my experience, with the exception of the Dan Ryan going south, there is no such thing as reverse commute on any of the expressways going to the Loop in Chicago. They are all jammed in both directions during rush hour.
If you're going out towards Lisle, I highly recommend you live with close access to 290 in one of the areas you mentioned. If you go to Lincoln Park, you can easily add 20-30 minutes to your commute versus living in the West Loop. Also, if you live in the West Loop within easy walking distance to Union Station, you may find that it's possible to take the Metra instead of driving and get there more easily - depending on your office location in relation to a Metra station out in the suburbs.

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by OrangeAndBlue

Also, if you live in the West Loop within easy walking distance to Union Station, you may find that it's possible to take the Metra instead of driving and get there more easily - depending on your office location in relation to a Metra station out in the suburbs.

At the very least, nice to have the option to take the train/cab on snow days or big events in the city.

[cubssoxfan]

And the "reverse commute" will be much worse anytime there is a Bulls/Blackhawks game or concert at the United Center.

[jamaicabound60565]

Originally Posted by OrangeAndBlue

The commute / rush hour traffic on I-290 is pretty much bumper to bumper for both the traditional and reverse commute directions. I used to commute to Oakbrook for a while from the Loop, and it would be stop-and-go in that direction just as it was going the other way. In fact, in my experience, with the exception of the Dan Ryan going south, there is no such thing as reverse commute on any of the expressways going to the Loop in Chicago. They are all jammed in both directions during rush hour.
If you're going out towards Lisle, I highly recommend you live with close access to 290 in one of the areas you mentioned. If you go to Lincoln Park, you can easily add 20-30 minutes to your commute versus living in the West Loop. Also, if you live in the West Loop within easy walking distance to Union Station, you may find that it's possible to take the Metra instead of driving and get there more easily - depending on your office location in relation to a Metra station out in the suburbs.

Taking the train woudl be ideal but with public transportation being nonexistant out in the west burbs unless your one of hte few companies like office depot who has a private but to take people to work from the downtown naperville station youd be stuck taking a cab if you were lucky enough to find one.