Chicago Metra/El Commute Times (Evanston, Deerfield: apartment, live, bus)

[diogenes_]

I'm getting a job in Chicago and trying to find an apartment that will be close by. So my question is, how long does it realistically take to get downtown from:
- Evanston
- Andersonville
- Rogers Park

Also, does anyone know if there is a way to take the Metra from the north side near the lake (like, Andersonville area) up to Deerfield on the Milwaukee District North Line?

Thanks a lot, I'm not very good at figuring these things out. Such a big city :-)

[ahava]

Originally Posted by diogenes_

Also, does anyone know if there is a way to take the Metra from the north side near the lake (like, Andersonville area) up to Deerfield on the Milwaukee District North Line?

You can take the #84 bus west and get on that Metra line at the Edgebrook stop. Here's a map, although it may be more confusing CTA | System Map - North (broken link)

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

The Metra doesn't offer much in the way of outer city to suburb travel if the locations are on different lines.

It's really a sort of hub-and-spoke system.

I used to take the Union Pacific North from Ravenswood (one stop closer to Downtown from Rogers Park) to Ogilve, and it takes 12-15 minutes. A breeze. If you live and work close to the Metra, there's no excuse not to take it. That, however, is if it's all the same line. If you're going city-north to north burbs, it might even be better to drive. Or to do as the other poster said and drive or bus to an up-north metra stop and take the train. Still... hassle.