Commute from Naperville to Mundelein/Libertyville (Arlington Heights, Schaumburg: apartment, travel, zoned)

[kspec]

Hi,

I am thinking about commuting from the Naperville area to the Mundelein/Libertyville area. Would anyone have an opinion on just how feasible this is and perhaps the projected commute times? If travel by car is too much, would taking Metra lines perhaps be reasonable? One thing I am particularly worried is how long the 40-some mile commute would be in winters (snow, ew). I hear that the Metra fares are quite expensive too..

I am doing this because I have a great place to stay in Naperville and would rather not pay $700+/mo. for a single apt up in Vernon Hills, Mundelein, or Libertyville. Is it highly unlikely that I could find a decent apt. for less than $700 in these areas?

Thanks everyone!

[Spac3d]

Unless you are leaving at an odd time (very early or off peak shift), then it would be a very long commute.

[jessiegirl_98]

I drove very close to this route a few weeks ago and it was well over 2.5 hours (left at 3 on a Friday). Fun fun. Think of the money that you will be saving in gas if you live closer and you could afford to spend more than that in rent! Also, you could likely find something in your price range much, much closer to work.

[kspec]

Which routes are you guys taking? I thought that the commute should be closer to an hour if you take the right streets/highways.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by kspec

Which routes are you guys taking? I thought that the commute should be closer to an hour if you take the right streets/highways.

With so much of I-88 torn up I have tried to take some alternative routes to / from western burbs and Lake Co. Nothing is good now. If you try and take 355 north you are stuck with surface streets in northern Cook / southern Lake where the residents and politicians have deliberately decided to keep roads too narrow.

If you try and take 59 itself north from Naperville it is a never ending chain of stoplights and backed up intersections.

If you get on 88 and take it to 294 it all construction all the time.

I have lived in Libertyville and there are some attractively priced places to rent.

You really are going to have to move unless you plan on AVERAGE commutes of about two hours. Even if you get up before the sun and can start work by 6 AM when leaving at 3PM it WILL BE A NIGHTMARE and you can count on days that are well over 12 hours door-to-door with the commute...

[cubssoxfan]

Metra will not work. They are too busy talking about the outer ringsuburb to suburb, STAR line instead of just building it. The NIMBY Barrington-ites don't want it either. Hmm, ya think they would rather have it now instead of CN buying the right-of-way and running 20-30 freight trains a day through the middle of Barrington? Sorry-just venting You have to commute downtown on Metra AND then take another train out to Libertyville. Driving would be faster. There are MANY attractive communities closer to Naperville where you can rent. Even Schaumburg or Arlington Heights would greatly reduce your commuting time. Try Buffalo Grove or Libertyville. Besides the low rent, what else makes you reluctant to leave naperville? What do you need near a new apartment to be happy?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Metra will not work. They are too busy talking about the outer ringsuburb to suburb, STAR line instead of just building it. The NIMBY Barrington-ites don't want it either. Hmm, ya think they would rather have it now instead of CN buying the right-of-way and running 20-30 freight trains a day through the middle of Barrington? Sorry-just venting You have to commute downtown on Metra AND then take another train out to Libertyville. Driving would be faster. There are MANY attractive communities closer to Naperville where you can rent. Even Schaumburg or Arlington Heights would greatly reduce your commuting time. Try Buffalo Grove or Libertyville. Besides the low rent, what else makes you reluctant to leave naperville? What do you need near a new apartment to be happy?

I agree with everything you posted, but have to note that CN has agreed to work with any plans to run commuter trains on the old EJ&E tracks. For folks who live in towns that do have freight from the BNSF moving through 20-30 trains a day is about par. Not too bad (though I will concede that as the EJ&E was all but abandoned while the BNSF has always been pretty active the comparison is not quite apples-to-apples).

Anyhow even if Metra had the cash, which they don't, it would take YEARS to develop suburb-to-suburb trains. Schedule would be rough. I mean take a look at the satellite map and have the shear distance between the towns means this route will not be a super speedy way to get around...

[cubssoxfan]

Anyhow even if Metra had the cash, which they don't, it would take YEARS to develop suburb-to-suburb trains.

I know it's off-thread, but I just get *#ssed at the lack of infrastructure. I look at the local opposition to widening rte 22 and rte 83 in Lake County and all the opposition to the 53 extension, even though it was planned for back in the late 60's before the mansions got built in Long Grove on the highway right of way land. Our region and state plan poorly and act slowly to build infrastructure. I mean, why isn't there a 4-lane bypass for rte 59 around the Barrington bottleneck or another bridge option for rte 62 in Algonquin? Why isn't there a modern "flyover" interchange (like they have in Texas) at 290&90 interchange?! I'm all for controlled and zoned growth, but once the development happens keep up with it!
I feel better now, thanks for letting me vent "off-thread".

[Paige65]

In a word, hideous.

Sorry.

[jessiegirl_98]

Originally Posted by kspec

Which routes are you guys taking? I thought that the commute should be closer to an hour if you take the right streets/highways.

Sorry, there is NO way that this would be even close to an hour! You are seriously looking at 2+ each way on a daily basis. As others suggested, ignore (or double or triple) google estimates and there aren't any "right" streets, as anyone from the area knows all "shortcuts" and they get just as clogged. There really isn't a solution except: 1) have a horrendous commute or 2) move closer to work