River West vs Lake View for commute to Niles

[ToriaT]

I doubt if you will be happy on public transportation...too far to walk, bikes can be problems in winter, get stolen, etc. Rain, snow not to mention freezing temperatures, etc. I would suggest to live as far north as you can it will make it easier. Also learn some of the short cuts. Well, they might not be short. But I lived in Skokie for ten years and sometimes when traffic was clogged up I would take streets such as Pulaski, Lincoln Avenue, etc. Everybody thinks of the expressways and Lake Shore drive but sometimes regular streets are better at least you are moving and not stuck in traffic, and you can escape and go other ways. Keep in mind people constantly quote very optimistic times for travel. Some good days will be 40 minutes, on bad days it can be an hour and a half or even more.

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

I doubt if you will be happy on public transportation...too far to walk, bikes can be problems in winter, get stolen, etc. Rain, snow not to mention freezing temperatures, etc. I would suggest to live as far north as you can it will make it easier. Also learn some of the short cuts. Well, they might not be short. But I lived in Skokie for ten years and sometimes when traffic was clogged up I would take streets such as Pulaski, Lincoln Avenue, etc. Everybody thinks of the expressways and Lake Shore drive but sometimes regular streets are better at least you are moving and not stuck in traffic, and you can escape and go other ways. Keep in mind people constantly quote very optimistic times for travel. Some good days will be 40 minutes, on bad days it can be an hour and a half or even more.

Agree with the main point of the last few sentences. If you're in Lakeview or Wicker Park, it would be very rare to have a 90 minute commute home while avoiding the expressway, unless there was a huge blizzard. It's not common, but a lot more likely to have a 90 minute commute home if you take the expressway, and it's more difficult to escape traffic when on the expressway.

[vsc1976]

Public transit options:

River West: If you live anywhere off the blue line. Then take the L to Jefferson and the 85A N. Central Bus (Does not run on Sundays).

Lakeview: Take the L to Howard, then the Pace 290 Touhy bus.