Live in the city, work in the suburbs?

December 21, 2011 4:26 PM

Chicago-specific question: I'll be accepting a job in the northwest suburbs. Is living in the city and working in the suburbs doable?

It's exactly the job I wanted, except for the location. I suppose I could live in the suburbs, but that's not a very thrilling option; I'm definitely a city person, and the suburbs aren't so friendly for single people who like nightlife. But commuting by car from the city to the suburbs in rush traffic seems like a special form of hell.

So here's my current plan: live in the West Loop, within walking distance of Union Station / Ogilvie. Take the Metra train to the suburbs (50-60 minute train ride.) Then there's a shuttle that will take me from the station to my office about 5 minutes away.

I'm one of the few people who don't mind train commutes all that much - it's an hour to read, play games, listen to music, use an iPad, whatever. Living close to Metra means that I don't need to worry about an extra el train or bus ride which would add time to the commute. The West Loop can be expensive, but that's alright. I don't know much about the neighborhood, safety, level of noise, or parking situation though. It seems to skew more 'yuppie' than 'hip' for my tastes, but I think that's something I can live with.

Any advice would be appreciated. I think this is the optimal plan for me, but I'd like to hear other options, and problems I'm not considering. Surely I'm not the only one who's tried to make this work!

posted by naju to travel & transportation around Chicago, IL (19 answers total)

I don't live in chicago, but I live in boston and work in a boston suburb. I don't have a car, and I take two trains to get to work, the entire commute taking about 1 and a half hours door to door.

The mornings aren't so bad, I have a routine, I mentally prepare for the day on my way in, but the ride home can be rough. If I have plans with my boyfriend or a friend or a show I want to see it can get stressful. But I am learning how to make my train ride more productive. For the most part I find it very relaxing and I do not resent the commute. Bad weather can make it a bummer, too, I hear you get some of that in chicago.

Keep in mind the whole amount of time door to door. If the train ride is approximately an hour, remember too that there is walking to the train and waiting for it. Same goes for your shuttle. Those are the really annoying parts.
posted by pazazygeek at 5:04 PM on December 21, 2011

I'm not positive on this (I live in the northern burbs but don't commute), but isn't the majority of the traffic going the opposite direction, ie from the suburbs into the city in the morning, and from the city to the suburbs in the evening? Your reverse commute might not be too bad, so I wouldn't entirely rule that out.
posted by kylej at 5:06 PM on December 21, 2011

No comment on the West Loop, but loads of people do that sort of commute. Both my parents did it in the other direction for years. Of course, they did both end up moving because they got sick of spending so long on the train. (My dad moved to within walking distance of his job and has moved since to keep it that way. My mother moved further along the train line.) The reverse commute trains aren't as crowded as the 'standard' commute trains (my mother's train home would be standing room only), but they're full.

Have you considered other neighbourhoods on the appropriate train line? (I'm afraid I don't know anything about the ones on the lines to the northwest suburbs.)

In my experience, Metra is generally reliable. They don't do construction during rush hour (so sometimes the schedules go wonky midday). It's occasionally inexplicably late. Sometimes they hit a pedestrian, which slows subsequent trains down. Once I sat outside Clybourn for quite a while due to a switching problem. You may get lucky and be able to take an express train (though I don't know if there are outbound express trains in the morning). Buy a monthly ticket.

One potential downside of the reverse commute by train is that there's one train an hour in the afternoon, I think, which means you have to be strict about your departure time from work, else you're stuck waiting for an hour for the next train. (Outbound trains in the morning are more frequent, but some lines have a weird two hour gap at a certain point. However, I think that gap's too late in the morning for someone commuting to worry about.)
posted by hoyland at 5:12 PM on December 21, 2011

Taking a train wouldn't be too bad given the scenario you describe, you likely wouldn't want to drive. The junction where 90 and 94 meet can result in some pretty lousy backups in the afternoon.
posted by borkencode at 5:16 PM on December 21, 2011

I think the weak link in the chain is the shuttle. How early/late does it run? What happens in February when you have to work one night until 8:30 for a deadline? Can you still get the shuttle? Also, find out the train schedule for nights... sometimes there's a 2 hour gap after a certain time.

Otherwise you'll be fine, especially with your attitude about the train.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 5:22 PM on December 21, 2011

As long as you have that shuttle, I think you are in good shape. I live right near the Kennedy Expressway, and most of the time the outbound traffic is twice as bad as the incoming.

West Loop is pretty safe these days. As long as you use common sense, you should be fine.

This is a pretty good way to keep up with what's going on in the neighborhood.
posted by timsteil at 5:22 PM on December 21, 2011

Oh my. First, what I am about to write, is based on my preferences. If I lived downtown, I would favor something much closer to the lake. There's a jogging/bike path which is great year round. And the beaches in the summer. And the boat harbor. And museums. And Lincoln Park Zoo. All on the lake. Geographically speaking, the lake is really the most attractive feature Chicago has. West of the loop. no thank you. Maybe a lot has changed and that's the new hip place to be. But I don't know. The lake is pretty cool. Real hard to beat the lake.

Now as far as the metra commute. 50-60 minutes from Ogilve. I'm guessing probably Libertyville? This shuttle that picks you up -- is it a company shuttle that runs on time and frequently? Or is this a Pace bus route that stops at the metra stop? Do you plan to work regular business hours (say between 7am and 7pm)? Because trains stop running frequently outside of those hours -- like once an hour. A monthly pass will run you about $150.

I might suggest looking at Evanston. It's a vibrant city with lots of young people (Northwestern University is right there), great restaurants and rivals many parts of downtown Chicago. It has both the El, and metra trains for access to the city. Oh, and it's on the lake. Driving a car, the commute to the Libertyville area is about 40 minutes.

Now, about traffic. It generally runs heavy northbound (Chicago towards Wisconsin) in the morning, and southbound (back towards Chicago) in the afternoon. You'd be OK driving before, say 7:15 in the AM, but any later and it could be heavy.

Now you don't say where you are coming from. Chicago winters can be quite depressing. Not only does it get cold, but we have persistent overcast, dull gray skies. Like weeks on end. There is also no spring (well, there have been 2 since 1996 that I remember). I say this, in case that shuttle/metra transition ends up leaving you waiting out in the cold. Or some dreary station.

Best of luck.
posted by Land Ho at 5:33 PM on December 21, 2011

Nthing what Land Ho just said. And if it's Libertyville, god help you. That is no man's land and you're better off living near the lake. Or even Wrigleyville or Evanston, yes.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 6:05 PM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

(Ms. Vegetable):
HA! Oh, wow, I did this for 2 years.

You have picked the best option of your commuting.

- So we lived in the West Loop, I took the Metra to Northbrook every day, shuttle to job. 1.5 hours each way. You HAVE TO MAKE THE SHUTTLE in the afternoon. That is good or bad depending on how you look at it.
- You have no car in the suburbs, meaning you are stuck at your office all day. Again, good or bad depending on what's important to you.
- For the love of whatever deity you hold dear, do NOT drive from the West Loop out to the northwest suburbs. I did this for a month and threatened to quit unless I could take the train. I had to leave the house at 6am to have any sort of decent commute time, I had to leave work at 3pm and got in trouble more than once for leaving that early. The "reverse" commute mentality does not hold this direction.
- Driving from Evanston might be fine.
- Living in the suburbs as a single person is quite lame; I had several friends who did this for a year and then moved to the city.
- Living in the city rocks. I just spent the evening in the West Loop, in fact.

Again, you have picked the best option for your commuting. Metra tends to run on time, you see the same people, watch out for the regulars' seats - don't take them. You'll be one soon enough.

I now live and work downtown.

Memail for more questions/details. And welcome to Chicago!
posted by a robot made out of meat at 6:47 PM on December 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

I think you've answered your own question, in that you're OK with the train commute and can use the time. Go for it!

You might look at the next stops out-- if this is the UP-NW line, Clybourn and Irving Park. Your commute would be shorter and you're still in the city. And if anything you're closer to the cool stuff to do in town, which tends to be north of the Loop.
posted by zompist at 6:49 PM on December 21, 2011

Yes it would be the UP-NW line, and I didn't even consider the Clybourn and Irving Park stations. Those could be great options, thanks!
posted by naju at 7:09 PM on December 21, 2011

a robot made out of meat: it's a relief to hear that someone's done exactly what I'm contemplating with no serious complaints. Seriously great info, I appreciate it.
posted by naju at 7:24 PM on December 21, 2011

I partially chose to live in Logan Square so I would be near the blue line, with an easy way to get to the NW suburbs without a car. The blue line links up to the UP-NW line at Jefferson Park and Irving Park. It's easy but, outside of rush hour, the trains are only once an hour and then every two hours on Sundays I think. If you miss a train you're waiting an hour.

It still takes a long time because you're dealing with the L, which you never can really count on schedule-wise. Living at the Clybourn Metra stop might be okay, on the west side of the tracks in Bucktown. Irving Park is a lot quieter and more family-like and my friend with small kids love it there. It's not really for me.

The upside to living in the West Loop would be that all trains originate there, including express trains. You will want to plan your commute around express trains if possible as they save a lot of time. Some express trains stop at Clybourn, Jefferson Park and Iriving Park but not all.

The lakefront path is great, but getting (by car or public transit) all the way west to the expressway or the UP-NW Metra adds considerable time to any commute. Don't underestimate the time savings of living close to the 90/94 and the metra line heading northwest.
posted by Bunglegirl at 9:03 PM on December 21, 2011

My dream location to live is near the irving park metra stop so I can take the metra UP-NW to work (near Arlington Park) and then take the irving park bus or belmont bus to most of the stuff I like to do in the city (Schubas, Beat Kitchen, The Playground Theatre, half a dozen other cool spots). You should pick where you live based on the cool stuff you want to do in the city.

The nice thing about the metra is that it's regular schedules are easy to plan around. The bad thing is that oftentimes, if you miss a train, especially an evening train, you have an hour plus wait. Living near the irving park stop puts you right on the blue line, and on/near some convenient bus lines as well, although these won't help much with your job commute.

I second a robot made out of meet -- set yourself up for train commuting, and try to never, ever drive this route. Chicago traffic on 90 is never good, and the northwest hwy (depending on where your work is) out in the suburbs has a lot of stop lights.
posted by garlic at 9:05 PM on December 21, 2011

Regarding the shuttles: My experience with the PACE ShuttleBugs has been good. The one that makes the Lake-Cook Metra/Takeda/Discover/Wolters Kluwer loop, at least, is extremely reliable. Company-provided shuttles are probably even more so but I have no experience there.
posted by indyz at 10:24 PM on December 21, 2011

I lived in Oak Park and worked in Hoffman Estates and drove every day (there was no way to get there by train). I wanted to kill myself. kylej is wrong, it doesn't really matter what direction you're going; during working hours, traffic will suck. I personally would want to live closer to work and take the train into the city when I felt like going to the theater or whatever.
posted by desjardins at 7:16 AM on December 22, 2011

Now I'm strongly leaning toward living in Bucktown and walking to the Clybourn Metra. That area is pretty much where I'd want to live regardless of transportation, so it's perfect that my Metra line has a stop right there. Gonna scout out some apartments this weekend.

Thanks for the invaluable help! (And keep it coming if you'd like...)
posted by naju at 8:03 AM on December 22, 2011

There's a cute little stretch of shops on Cortland right next to the Metra stop. Jane's Restaurant is good (not cheap though). You should pay attention to what other transport is near your apartment. When you're that far East of Milwaukee you're quite a walk from the blue line. I would Google map the walking routes to determine the best distance walking to the Clybourn Metra and the blue line or a few bus routes (Armitage, North, Damen?) for non-work transportation. There are no buses on Elston or Clybourn.
posted by Bunglegirl at 8:14 AM on December 22, 2011

Not a ton to add, except to add another voice that lots of people do this particular commute and I've done a similar one (on the UP-N line, first to North Chicago) -- both using company shuttles. (Driving occasionally does supposedly give you more freedom, but at what cost?) Of course it depends on the company, but I always found -- even when I was a first-starting-out, not-speaking-up-for-myself-like-I-should kid out of college that "I have to make the X PM shuttle" was always an acceptable reason for getting out of the office on time, and if a shuttle is offered, it's likely the place you are working will be similar.

As long as you recognize the time you'll spend and don't feel like it's 'lost time', it sounds like you'll be great. Though I don't do it anymore, I do miss the Metra in regards to comfort; that time was much easier for writing and comfortable for reading than the 30+ minutes I now spend on the L. (Once you get really into what you're reading, it seems like you're home. That is, if you're lucky enough to sit and read.)

Also if you're a city person, there's nothing like spending time in the suburbs to make you appreciate where you live.

And (early) welcome to Chicago! Metafilter meetups are first Wednesday of the month downtown (and totally attended by people who work in the burbs and live in the city)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:26 AM on December 22, 2011