Place and commute between East Chicago,IN to Lincolnshire, IL (Cicero: rent , job)

[faltuid]

I need help. I appreciate your input. I searched for the forum for information. I found some very useful information but some more information will greatly help me. I moved from Atlanta to work in East Chicago, Indiana last year. I live in Highland, Indiana (off I-80/94) which is 20 minutes from work. My wife found a job and the closest job is in Lincolnshire. She will move from the Atlanta. WE WOULD LIKE TO RENT A PLACE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN LINCOLNSHIRE AND EAST CHICAGO. I will have to go east/south and she will have to west/north. I would like to take the majority of the commute. She has not driven in the snow before.
OPTION A (Downtown) -- seems to be really crazy for the commute and also living expenses. I am not really confident if moving into downtown is a good idea. I am not crazy about living in the downtown though I like it.
OPTION B (OFF 294/94) -- I have driven in the mornings (8am - 9am) from Ohare airport to East Chicago and it takes me 1hr to 1hr 10 min on a good day and about the same or little longer in the evenings to Ohare.

I appreciate if you could suggest which places would be good for a reasonable commute to Lincolnshire. Should I look for south or north of Ohare and any particular areas. We are not looking for school districts or such. Just a decent place to live and commute. And also can I find rideshare to lincolnshire? Thanks in advance.

[vester72]

I'd look in the city - Hyde Park, Wicker Park/Bucktown/Ukranian Villiage, South Loop or West Loop. All have easy access to the highways - maybe even Bridgeport in the city.

[Windy City John]

I agree. Hyde Park has some nice neighborhoods and good highway access.

[sbd78]

I wouldn't recommend living in the city for a commute to Lincolnshire. I used to make that commute (from West Lakeview) and it was bad, bad, bad. Although the distance isn't that far, traffic is a nightmare on the Edens. It frequently took me 2 hours+ to get home. And I think now the Edens is under construction so it is probably worse. Maybe try Rosemont or DesPlaines, right around where 90 and 294 meet? Then your wife can take 294 up to Lincolnshire which is usually better than the Edens, and you will be close to 90 to get down to East Chicago. But that won't make for a very good commute for you. That's a tough one because your places of employment are so far from each other!

[lakecountylifer]

I would never live in the City and make the commute up to Linclonshire--crazy. I concur that the Rosemont-Des plaines area is your best bet with easy access to 294.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by faltuid

I need help. I appreciate your input. I searched for the forum for information. I found some very useful information but some more information will greatly help me. I moved from Atlanta to work in East Chicago, Indiana last year. I live in Highland, Indiana (off I-80/94) which is 20 minutes from work. My wife found a job and the closest job is in Lincolnshire. She will move from the Atlanta. WE WOULD LIKE TO RENT A PLACE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN LINCOLNSHIRE AND EAST CHICAGO. I will have to go east/south and she will have to west/north. I would like to take the majority of the commute. She has not driven in the snow before.
OPTION A (Downtown) -- seems to be really crazy for the commute and also living expenses. I am not really confident if moving into downtown is a good idea. I am not crazy about living in the downtown though I like it.
OPTION B (OFF 294/94) -- I have driven in the mornings (8am - 9am) from Ohare airport to East Chicago and it takes me 1hr to 1hr 10 min on a good day and about the same or little longer in the evenings to Ohare.

I appreciate if you could suggest which places would be good for a reasonable commute to Lincolnshire. Should I look for south or north of Ohare and any particular areas. We are not looking for school districts or such. Just a decent place to live and commute. And also can I find rideshare to lincolnshire? Thanks in advance.

YIKES!!! Thats some commute. Well I would recommend to be fair to both of you, you look around Willowbrook or Claredon Hills right off 294 or even Elmhurst. Now heres the stickler in all this, IDOT and the Tollway Auth. just ripped up 294 for a 4 year widening project just north of O'Hare on 294. Nice thing is though that 294 will fly once the project is completed, just don't plan on it being done anytime soon. IDOT is widening the Tri state to 4 lanes on each side from O'Hare to nearly the WI line. Anyways though, traffic during rush hour is pretty bad going north on 294 and during the afternoon can be bad coming south.

Here's the problem in all of this though, you need to be centrally located because if you move too far north, then you will be looking at a two-three hour commute each way per day going to and from IN! So, my advice here would be to look at a map, find Willowbrook, Burr Ridge, Claredon Hills, or Elmhurst and start there. The area will be centrally located for both of you and the area is very nice. With those areas you both can plan on an hour commute a piece, but that sure beats 90-120-180 minute commute.

As for the snow, while yes it does snow here, don't worry too much about that. This isn't the south where they wait till the storm stops to then go out and start clearing the roads. No, here as soon as the storm is even approaching the plows are already out dumping down tons of salt just as I have seen them doing today in preparation for tonight's little storm coming down out of Canada. Don't worry about the snow seriously, while we do get snow, its not as much as everyone thinks. Maybe 6 storms per year. Honestly, Chicago just gets more cloudy dreary weather than anything from Nov-March which is a far greater aggravation than the snow will ever be.

[aragx6]

If you are used to snow then the snow isn't bad, but I don't blame you for being at least a little concerned for your wife if she's never driven in snow before. It really is kind of scary, not matter how well they clear the roads.

[NYrules]

I would recommend you maybe look into getting her a big heavy 4 wheel drive SUV if she is going to be so scared of the snow. The big SUV's can handle the snow like nothing, that is one of the many reasons you see so many of them up here.

The Chevy Suburban, Caddy Escalade, GMC Avalanche, GMC Yukon, Ford Expedition, Excursions are all good choices for heavy snowfalls. In many cases you turn on that 4 wheel drive and you wont even know it's snowing outside as those cars can handle it so well. On the Japenese end I have a Lexus RX 300 AWD model and it is fine in the snow and has the snow traction control system built in which limits the car's ability to skid.

Other good choices for tough snow cars here are; Toyota 4 runners, Lexus RX300s AWDs, and Acura MDXs. Mercedes are good as well as B-mer SUVs.

This is what you can typically expect during our snows here though. As you can see nobody is really zipping right along. YouTube - Snow Storm Just tell her to take it slow and stay on the busiest of busy streets and she will be fine. Some of the streets are so busy that the snow can hardly even accumulate on them. Cicero in Bedford Park/Burbank would be a good example of one of those streets.

[aragx6]

Chicago also has extraordinarily high gas prices. I would never suggest a Suburban or similar that gets 15 miles or less a gallon, especially if she'll be making a fairly lengthy commute. In stop and go traffic she'd be lucky if she got 13 to the gallon!

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Chicago also has extraordinarily high gas prices. I would never suggest a Suburban or similar that gets 15 miles or less a gallon, especially if she'll be making a fairly lengthy commute. In stop and go traffic she'd be lucky if she got 13 to the gallon!

UMMMM a Hybrid model??? Hybrid Technology: Chevrolet Tahoe: Chevrolet
RX Hybrid | Overview

Ford Vehicles: Ford Escape Hybrid - Newly Redesigned for 2008

The days of SUVs getting 13 MPG are going bye bye rapidly. THANK GOD!

The technology is there now so I wasn't recommending something that gets 13 miles to the gallon! My father owns a sub and it gets on the average of 16-20 MPG. Thank you. Specifications: Suburban: SUVs: Chevrolet