Reverse commute Chicago to Northbrook (Evanston, Lincoln: neighborhoods, construction, living in)

[teamramrod]

I might be taking a job in Northbrook soon and have been looking all around this forum on advice for advice on reverse commuting from the city. I've found a lot of conflicting advice so I'm still really torn on whether or not to take this job.

Living in the suburbs is out of the question for me. I'm a 23 yo single male and a longer commute is more than worth being near my friends and the action in the city. I'd love to be able to keep my commute (at least in the morning) to under an hour though. My thinking right now is to stay as close to the expressway as possible.

Is somewhere like Wicker Park / Bucktown too far south to be reasonable?

Also, anyone have good advice on a faster way to skip over the Kennedy up to 94 if I were to live that far south (either west or east of the Kennedy)?

Thanks for the help!

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by teamramrod

I might be taking a job in Northbrook soon and have been looking all around this forum on advice for advice on reverse commuting from the city. I've found a lot of conflicting advice so I'm still really torn on whether or not to take this job.

I don't know what else anyone can add to what has already been said in those threads. Even with starting a new thread, you are going to get "conflicting advice" because people have different ideas on how long is too long of a commute and their commuting thresholds are different.

Originally Posted by teamramrod

Also, anyone have good advice on a faster way to skip over the Kennedy up to 94 if I were to live that far south (either west or east of the Kennedy)?

Not really, and since the Halsted bridge over the river is going to be out for a year, that is going to muck up all kinds of traffic in the neighborhoods around it. Streets and routes normally not busy will be busy.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/halsted-street-bridge-construction-begins-chicago-river-north-branch-20101129 (broken link)

http://ward32.org/planning-developme...cture/halsted/

[chet everett]

Not sure why the question of avoiding the expressway is being asked. While the average speeds on the Kennedy, Edens, and Tri-state will be well below posted limits during rush hour, so to will the even lower speeds, poorly timely lights, backed up bus stops, and random delays make travel on surface streets a losing proposition...

I mean do really think there is some secret hidden route to drive or are you asking about other means of getting from Bucktown to Northbrook? Rail and other public transit combinations are generally not faster for a commute that is opposite of rush hour schedules..

[teamramrod]

Pretty much just curious if taking any alternate routes to avoid the 90/94 split would save any time. I've heard bad things about the Kennedy. I wouldn't be surprised though it there isn't any faster way around that though. Plus packed city streets can be a lot more frustrating.

[tonythetuna]

Originally Posted by teamramrod

Pretty much just curious if taking any alternate routes to avoid the 90/94 split would save any time.

Nope.

[chirack]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I mean do really think there is some secret hidden route to drive or are you asking about other means of getting from Bucktown to Northbrook? Rail and other public transit combinations are generally not faster for a commute that is opposite of rush hour schedules..

I woulnd't say this about reverse commutes. Rail is usually as fast if not faster than driving(in terms of travel time rather than counting ability to leave at any time) no matter the direction. The two big problems are :

1. Getting from the Metra Station to your place of work(not all burbs are walkable and there may be no pace bus to/from your place of work).

2.The Metra schedule might not work(CTA is better in this regard but CTA doesn't go into many burbs).

From Chicago to Northbrook I see three trains that could work for a job that starts between 8:00-9:00am(7:16(1st train in), 7:46,8:05,8:25). There also seems to be pretty good outbound coverage. I don't know your work schedule but check metra and see if it can work.


I wouldn't live in bucktown if I did this reverse commute though. Bucktown isn't totally unreasonable in that it is a short trip to Union from bucktown but I would either live in the west loop or live somewhere near the western station of the milwakee disitrict northline.

In fact if I had to make this kind of commute, I would prefer doing it this way. Less stress than driving and you can read a book, sleep, or do work while riding.

[tonythetuna]

If I had a ten dollars for everytime this same question came up.

[HillaryClare]

Last summer I had an internship in Northbrook and my employer suggested I live in Evanston. Even living in Evanston, the commute after work was always 45 minutes to over an hour long. I would not suggest living farther south than Evanston just because the commute will be a headache. Only one co-worker at my company lived in Chicago and I thought he was nuts for making the commute because he did not have a car and would spend almost two hours one-way getting to work using public transportation.

If you are completely set on living closer to Chicago than Evanston, test out the commute a few times to see if you could handle it. That commute is the biggest reason I'm not taking a job at my internship once I graduate. I'd want to live closer to the city, but it just wouldn't work out for me, especially since I don't want to deal with a car.

[Heechee]

I live in lakeview and did have to commute to northbrook once a week for an internship 3 years ago. I took the red line all the way to howard, yellow to skokie, then a pace bus from where they were lined up at the skokie terminal. unfortunately I can't remember the number of the bus I took, but it dropped me right onto the road i needed in northbrook. I believe this was a bus that went to a mall out in northbrook at some point along its route, if that helps at all. the whole trip took just over an hour. A couple times I borrowed a car and traffic wasn't too bad in either direction. Don't know if this vague advice can help at all, but i think it can be done if you are determined to stay in the city.

[chicagojlo]

My husband used to drive out to Lincolnshire from the Loop every day, and did it for a year. If you can get your hours right it's doable but it's never going to be a breeze. You need a place thats as far north and close to the 94 as you can bear, the more of the combined 90/94 stretch you can miss, the better as that's really the worst part. But that of course is going to suck for going out.

You may look into whether pacebus.com runs anywhere near your potential office. Also check whether the company offers a shuttle service because some do.