A few questions on crystal lake (Chicago, Naperville: real estate, renting, to buy)

[mike3512]

i've posted a lot lately, since i'm interested in moving to the chicago area and attend college there within the next few years. one area that really caught my interest was crystal lake. i looked it up and it seems very quiet and pleasant, not too pricy, which is great since everything in long island is too expensive. do people commute from there to chicago? would it be feasible to commute from there to evanston or elmhurst (2 possible university locations0? thankss.

[mdz]

The commute to either of those places would be horrific.

[outsider1]

Don't do it. Seriously don't!! This is a type of commute that'll drain all your energy at least 15 minutes before you finally get a chance to set a foot into either of your chosen schools.

There are a few of these "very quiet and pleasant, not too pricy crystal lakes" between those schools and the actual Crystal Lake. Chicago traffic is no better(actually can get worse in some parts) than Northeast. So try to limit your average commute to 40 minutes, because it can easily stretch into 1:20 on any given day. Or look for the place where you can efficiently use public transit like Metra(metrarail.com), Pace(pacebus.com) or CTA.

[mike3512]

thanks for your responses. how far is crystal lake from the chicago area? i heard it's reallyyy nice there that's why. i currently live on long island and i'm an hour from new york city. how many hours is crystal lake to chicago, driving? i take the long island rail road, which is less than an hour to nyc, which is like metra. how long is crytal lake to chicago on metra??

[outsider1]

I think it's on Metra's Harvard line and would be about 1:30 from downtown Chicago. No convenient public transit connection to either of those schools though. So you'll need to plan for attending downtown campus exclusively.

If you're driving, I'd say some 50 miles to downtown. Driving is a shear misery. First you would probably take Route 14, which has become a drag with all the new traffic lights. Eventually you'll hit I-90 which at times can turn into a parking lot once you're within city limits.
But that route is for getting to Chicago. If you're going to Evanston, there will be no expressway, you would need to take the streets. If you obey the speed limits and don't run red lights, that's at least 2 hours one way.

By the way, have you ever visited this area? I guess that you've heard of an older part of Crystal Lake which is sort of like one of those nice and pretty small towns in the middle of CT. But Chicagoland is rapidly expanding that way and the surrounding area is gradually turning into a typical sprawl, so there's not a whole lot to get excited about unless you can afford an older part of town. Are you planning to buy or rent? If you'll be renting, definitely reconsider as there are much more convenient places within 10 miles of Northwestern campus in Evanston.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by mike3512

thanks for your responses. how far is crystal lake from the chicago area? i heard it's reallyyy nice there that's why. i currently live on long island and i'm an hour from new york city. how many hours is crystal lake to chicago, driving? i take the long island rail road, which is less than an hour to nyc, which is like metra. how long is crytal lake to chicago on metra??

Im a little late to the party so to speak, but I figured Id chime in here. The commute (as others have said) would be stuff nightmares are made of. I wouldnt wish that commute on my worst enemy. Crystal Lake is pretty decent in and of itself, but you can find better communities that are alot closer in. And if youre looking for "quiet", Crystal Lake is hardly that anymore. The area has grown exponentially in the last 10 years, and has become quite congested. Not on the levels of say, Naperville or Chicago, but compared to what it was 10 years ago, traffic nowadays is a nightmare.

[Hepmac]

I did the commute from CT to NYC years ago. I think you'll find the traffic in Chicago to be similar to Long Island/NYC. For that reason, I wouldn't make a choice on towns until you know for sure where you will be attending school. Then I would recommend you narrow your town choices to two or three outside your college town. Or, try to get a town on the train line that goes to your campus. Metrarail.com for train lines. ksmgac.com has real estate info by region, zip code, etc. Good luck.