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My husband and I have been trying to solve this problem for years now and I have about given up because it seems like there's not really a solution.
He teaches in Montgomery, IL.
I am a software engineer in the West Loop.
We live near the Rt 59 train station. It takes him 30 mins to drive; it takes me an hour and a half on the train + L/walking to get to my office north of the Morgan stop.
We have one car, and I really don't want to drive in 290 traffic.
Any place we look at that's closer to the city really doesn't gain me that much travel time, and his gets exponentially worse after we get closer in than Downers Grove. Also everything east of us on a train line is much more than what we're paying now.
From what I can tell, there's no point in moving because it just doesn't get any better than this. Neither of us wants to leave our jobs.
My husband and I have been trying to solve this problem for years now and I have about given up because it seems like there's not really a solution.
He teaches in Montgomery, IL.
I am a software engineer in the West Loop.
We live near the Rt 59 train station. It takes him 30 mins to drive; it takes me an hour and a half on the train + L/walking to get to my office north of the Morgan stop.
We have one car, and I really don't want to drive in 290 traffic.
Any place we look at that's closer to the city really doesn't gain me that much travel time, and his gets exponentially worse after we get closer in than Downers Grove. Also everything east of us on a train line is much more than what we're paying now.
From what I can tell, there's no point in moving because it just doesn't get any better than this. Neither of us wants to leave our jobs.
Are we stuck in this configuration?
I'm fairly familiar with both the area north of Morgan stop (near Google) as well as the schools of D308 and there is really no magic to shortening either commute the two of you face -- 30 minutes is pretty decent for the approximately 15 miles of mostly surface hubby has to face and all things considered 90 minutes is not bad from Rt 59 via Metra and CTA to N. Morgan St, that's upwards of 35 miles no matter how you plan the route and driving would not consistently save any time at all
Really even if you were to move the hassles that one of you might save would likely dramatically increase for the other.
I guess the best advice is to make every effort to use your time on the Metra as calming as possible, for some people that means prepped their day's email, for other it is napping, some folks invest in good headphones for music or podcasts, reading novels also works well. As far as the drive, I have found that when I plan out errands for the ride back home it helps me feel better about things. A quick stroll through the grocery where I can pick up meal items, a bottle of wine, maybe fresh flowers a few times a month helps to quell the aggravation of dealing with bad drivers and such.
Sorry there is not any hidden solution. Maybe suggest to Elon Musk that boring some tunnels for high speed transportation near you would be a great ...
Thanks for the suggestions; I've been trading off between podcasts, audiobooks, music, trying meditation, etc. on the train for the last few years. Unfortunately, the train part is the easy part. It's the fact that my office is not easily accessible from Union Station that makes it hard, and that's the part of the commute I have no control over. I have to walk south to the Blue Line, get up to Milwaukee/Grand and then transfer to the Grand bus and then walk a few blocks, and that's the option with the least amount of walking. Podcasts kind of help but most of the time I'm just sick of having to do what feels like 80 things to get into my office, and usually arrive sweaty or freezing depending on the month.
I've considered moving us to the West Loop to give it a trial run, maybe even just try an Airbnb for a week during the school year and see if my husband is as miserable with the drive as I would be. :/
Ah, well. I guess this is the best we can do. Thanks for the input.
So, how far from the Morgan stop is your office? There's no Morgan stop on the blue line that I'm aware of, so do you mean the green line? Do you take the blue line to the green line somehow? I'm a little confused.
If your office is pretty close to the Morgan stop why don't you just walk there? Why bother with the L?
The only thing I can think of that would make your commute better would be getting on a train line that goes into Ogilvie. Despite what I know Chet will say, those 4 blocks north make a big difference when you're walking everyday. You can go out through the north side of Ogilvie by the Metra Market and the doors are between Washington and Randolph on Clinton. That's what I do everyday to get to work on Racine and Randolph. I always walk between Ogilvie and my shop. It can feel long in really bad weather, but most of the time it's a non-issue.
Could your husband commute from Wheaton or Glen Ellyn? If cost is a factor, then maybe Villa Park? If you could get a place walking distance from the train station on the home side that help, too, in my experience. I hate having to switch and do a bunch of different things to get to work. I walk, train, walk. There's very little thinking involved, which is a plus, IMO.
Have you considered trying to change jobs? I moved thinking I should plan my living place around my job - but then changed jobs to be closer. Just a thought if the commute is that bad!
Agreed about asking your boss about WFH options. They might be open to it.
Maybe looking into areas along the BNSF that are closer to downtown?
Maybe I'm just not understanding the OP, but it seems like the real problem is the portion of her commute after she gets off the train. The most she can save is going to be probably 10 minutes because already the train portion of her commute is only 30 minutes long. So, she's got to save time in some other way. That's why I suggest she get a train that goes into Ogilvie. I'm guessing the OP spends a lot of time waiting for transit; the more transit segments you have the more time you spend just waiting because it's impossible to time everything perfectly on a consistent basis. If the OP can completely eliminate needing to use the L, that's probably her best bet for saving time.
Thanks for the suggestions; I've been trading off between podcasts, audiobooks, music, trying meditation, etc. on the train for the last few years. Unfortunately, the train part is the easy part. It's the fact that my office is not easily accessible from Union Station that makes it hard, and that's the part of the commute I have no control over. I have to walk south to the Blue Line, get up to Milwaukee/Grand and then transfer to the Grand bus and then walk a few blocks, and that's the option with the least amount of walking. Podcasts kind of help but most of the time I'm just sick of having to do what feels like 80 things to get into my office, and usually arrive sweaty or freezing depending on the month.
I've considered moving us to the West Loop to give it a trial run, maybe even just try an Airbnb for a week during the school year and see if my husband is as miserable with the drive as I would be. :/
Ah, well. I guess this is the best we can do. Thanks for the input.
I've seen a large number of folks either invest in good locks or join the city's 'subscription' bicycle service. It would seem to be a fairly good alternative for the trip from Union Station to N. Morgan. From what I've seen and heard from others the key to safely getting out of the worst congestion is involves simply timing things wisely and using the grid to your advantage -- if one street backs up just head over to the next one-way street so that you don't have to worry about reckless left turns, those are highest probability of collision. Unless mobility issues limit your ability to use a bicycle this might be the quickest way to get between the station and the office -- https://goo.gl/maps/ZAjaM6W3d722
Can't you tele-commute for part of your work week?
Yeah, we do work from home Fridays but the preference is to be in the rest of the days. It doesn't always work out like that. TBH, commuting 1-2 days a week sometimes feels more like a slog than going in every day because if I can work from home *most* days, why not *all* days? Also I get depressed if I WFH too much.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikitakolata
So, how far from the Morgan stop is your office? There's no Morgan stop on the blue line that I'm aware of, so do you mean the green line? Do you take the blue line to the green line somehow? I'm a little confused.
My office is about an 8 minute walk north/west of the Morgan stop. My choices are:
1 - walk north to the Clinton Green Line from Union and take it to Morgan - I'm on the L for 5 seconds but it saves me 10 more minutes of walking. All in all, the Union -> Clinton Stop -> Morgan Stop -> Work portion is a half hour.
2 - (what I've been doing now) - walk south to the Clinton Blue Line stop from Union and take it to Milwaukee/Grand, then get on the Grand bus and go West a couple blocks (again saves me 10 mins of walking), and then walk south to work. This Union -> Clinton Stop -> Milwaukee/Grand -> Bus -> Work part is a couple minutes longer but it saves me a ton of walking when it's cold, rainy, or super hot.
3 - walk only, which is 30 minutes
That's mostly why I've been bothering with the L, because half the time it's raining or it's 95 or it's snowing or whatever, and I have my laptop on my back every day because we can't leave our computers at the office.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikitakolata
Could your husband commute from Wheaton or Glen Ellyn? If cost is a factor, then maybe Villa Park? If you could get a place walking distance from the train station on the home side that help, too, in my experience. I hate having to switch and do a bunch of different things to get to work. I walk, train, walk. There's very little thinking involved, which is a plus, IMO.
I just did some calculations on moving to Glen Ellyn; my commute would be the same minus the 10 mins being at Ogilvie would save and his would go up by 15 minutes. I do agree that coming into Ogilvie would make a noticeable difference in my commute, but when I think about the hassle of moving (moving all our furniture, finding a place near the train station, etc.) and what we'd gain for it, I'm feeling like the first thing Chet said was right - there's no solving this problem. Even though it seems like you gain an hour and a half, unless you time it right, you eat that time back up by waiting for the next train, or the L line was down, or whatever. And on a daily basis, the difference even of 10 minutes each way is pretty limited (my last job was almost 20 minutes worse each way and I can barely tell that I've got an improvement).
I'm with you about "the less things the better"; walking 30 minutes in the rain/snow/murderheat with my laptop on my back is a not-ideal alternative though. I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer here but what I'm realizing with this conversation is that I already *have* considered most of the options and none of them seem to be worth it. :/
I've got a superslim backpack for a laptop in my closet; maybe I'll try walking the whole way with nothing but my bag next week and see how it is. Given train schedules, the luckiest I would be is leave my house at 7:35, arrive at the office at 9:00 on the dot. Most days I've been leaving my house between 7:35 and 8:15 and meandering into the office sometime between 9:15 and 10, because I'm getting dejected with this commute.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RJA29
Have you considered trying to change jobs? I moved thinking I should plan my living place around my job - but then changed jobs to be closer. Just a thought if the commute is that bad!
Agreed about asking your boss about WFH options. They might be open to it.
See above re: WFH days; also I just got my job and I'm really trying to get ahead in the industry, my best bet is going to be in the loop for a few years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by amd555
Maybe looking into areas along the BNSF that are closer to downtown?
Yeah, this is kind of where my original post was - if we move far enough in that I gain any real difference in transit time, my husband's commute then becomes miserable, so we're basically trading my misery for his. :/
Quote:
Originally Posted by nikitakolata
Maybe I'm just not understanding the OP, but it seems like the real problem is the portion of her commute after she gets off the train. The most she can save is going to be probably 10 minutes because already the train portion of her commute is only 30 minutes long. So, she's got to save time in some other way. That's why I suggest she get a train that goes into Ogilvie. I'm guessing the OP spends a lot of time waiting for transit; the more transit segments you have the more time you spend just waiting because it's impossible to time everything perfectly on a consistent basis. If the OP can completely eliminate needing to use the L, that's probably her best bet for saving time.
^^ yeah, pretty much this. The walk from Ogilvie to my work is still 20 minutes, so in bad weather it's not making a big difference. (though my commute from Rt 59 is 45 minutes on an express rather than 30, and with frequent delays, the line to get off the train platform, etc., it's often an hour or hour and ten)
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett
I've seen a large number of folks either invest in good locks or join the city's 'subscription' bicycle service...
Yeah, I could look into that. I'm a bit afraid of being plowed over by a car since most of the riding would be in the loop, but maybe it's something I could work up to. It would cut about 10 minutes out of my commute, but the closest dock to my work is still the Morgan station so that last 8 minutes of walking is unavoidable I guess.
Seriously, everyone, I really appreciate all the suggestions, sorry it took me so long to get back to this, I was working on code all day. What Nikita said is true; mostly waiting for transit, etc. is a huge factor. Like, even if the train + commute is an hour and a half, unless I walk out my office door at the perfect moment, I'm probably going to end up waiting in Union for the train for at least 10-15 mins. On my best days I walk out the door at 7:15am or so and get home at 6:30pm, which is better than my last job where I was not able to get home any earlier than 7:00 no matter how fast I got out the door.
Anyway, I'll keep looking around at options closer on the BNSF or on the UP-W like Nikita suggested. Thanks for the input!
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I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer here but what I'm realizing with this conversation is that I already *have* considered most of the options and none of them seem to be worth it. :/ 
