Naperville to Itasca commute-How bad? (Chicago, Aurora: travel, rent , job)

[braves31]

I asked about algonquin before and got some great responses. How bad is the commute from Naperville to Itasca? I assume that since Naperville is pretty big, it can vary depending on where you are in Naperville, but any estimates would be great..Mapquest says like 19.3 miles and 32 mintues I think...

[FormerStocktonian]

It really depends on which part of town you live in. From experience, traffic can be pretty bad in Naperville. But then again, the Chicago are has a weired reputation for reverse commute in which in which the traffic cad be really bad in the opposite direction in which you are traveling. From my experience, it might take you at least an hour from Naperville to Itasca due to traffic

[Steve-o]

If you lived in the far northern sections of Naperville and had easy access to I-88, the commute wouldnt be that horrible, maybe 45 minutes or so depending on traffic. If you lived in the southern portion of Naperville, Id say forget it, as youd tack on another 30 minutes or so of commute time.

[Drover]

Yeah, 32 minutes at 3am. Try about an hour when you actually need to get to work. When my now-wife lived on the north end of Naperville and I lived in St. Charles (that is, she lived in the part of naperville closest to St. Charles), it took about half an hour to get from one place to another at almost any time of day between noon and 7pm. And consider that Itasca is considerably further away than St. Charles is.

[Steve-o]

I used to go to conferences at the Wyndham in Itasca, and it was normally 40-45 minutes from Naperville (where I lived on North Aurora Rd) to Itasca, via 88 to 355. 30 minutes? Incredibly doubtful, unless youre doing 90 mph and traffic is light. The longest it took me was a little over an hour, because traffic was jammed on 88 (construction).

[tcs1366]

That Wyndham now is a Westin .... my sister used to work south of Rte59 off of 88, and mid-day, it would take me a MIN of 45 min. now i know that's the western side of Naperville ... but it was highway most of the way... and even with mid-day traffic, it was still time consuming. I could not imagine doing that commute daily.

My thoughts are ... with all the people moving out west [NW, SW, and just West] of the city ... and working in various directions... there are not too many routes where you will NOT be sitting in traffic these days.

Best for a work commute is to live near to where you work .. .though that always is not possible if your "work" changes.

[Drover]

True enough... nothing wrong with living in Itasca itself so long as the job is there. Nice little suburb.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Drover

Yeah, 32 minutes at 3am.

No kidding. I remember when I worked in Evanston. Sometimes for work, I had to do runs to St. Charles and back to Evanston between 9-5.

Driving from Evanston to St. Charles,dropping of a full cargo van worth of merchandise at a large retail store (which would take a half hour) and driving back to Evanston it would take me about 3 hours 30 minutes and that was on a really good day with great traffic. Sometimes it would take almost 2 hours in each direction.

These geniuses that were my bosses used map quest to "time" the trip. They were like mapquest says it should take 1 hour 10 mintutes or something stupid. "You must be messing around, it should not take you more than 3 hours roundtrip including dropping off the load of merchandise." I am like what?!

I actually just looked it up and thats what it says 1 hour 9 minutes!
I told these morons mapquest assumes you hit every green light, there is very little or no traffic on the roads and the weather is super clear.
The only way I am getting from Evanston to St. Charles in 1 hour 9 minutes is if I drive 45 on the regular streets, 80 on the expressway/tollway and hit just about every single green light,there is no snow or rain,and almost no traffic!

[tcs1366]

Ug... what a route. My dad is in evanston, and i hate that drive.
and considering, i'm about 40 from St chas [taking 64] and 45 from evanston on a good day.... right there is well over an hour.

Mapquest is decent enough for getting a 'route', but times are way off unless you are driving at that 3am thing.

Braves31 -- I'm sorry, i had forgotten your very first post.... you will be working in Itasca and are looking for a good place to call home, without the nasty commute??

[braves31]

Originally Posted by tcs1366

Ug... what a route. My dad is in evanston, and i hate that drive.
and considering, i'm about 40 from St chas [taking 64] and 45 from evanston on a good day.... right there is well over an hour.

Mapquest is decent enough for getting a 'route', but times are way off unless you are driving at that 3am thing.

Braves31 -- I'm sorry, i had forgotten your very first post.... you will be working in Itasca and are looking for a good place to call home, without the nasty commute??

Correct. My main concern is the best schools for my 7 and 5 year old and obviously crime/safety. I commute 40 min now in CA...bu less would be nice. We are looking to rent the first year or so up to $2,500/mo