River North Area

[Frank the Tank]

I do the opposite commute (Naperville to the Loop) and it's not too bad since there are plenty of Metra express trains. However, going from the Loop to Naperville (or most of the other major suburban office areas) via train everyday is not advisable. Trying to coordinate train schedules is much harder since there aren't as many options on the reverse commute and even if you're able to get to Naperville on the train, you'll then very likely need to catch a bus or find some other type of ground transportation to get to your office. It's possible, but I personally wouldn't do it (and like I've said, I'm someone that already does an hour-plus commute).

Driving isn't any better - the 1.5 to 2 hour figure is very much accurate. I-290 gets congested very early coming out of the city and I-88 isn't any better with its constant construction.

I completely understand the desire to live in the city (I was there prior to heading out to Naperville) and I could understand if this was a permanent move where you could at least enjoy the city on the weekends to make up for the lack of time there during the week, but it sounds like you're just flying in during the week for work and then heading back to DC for the weekends. This is just me, but if I had to travel that much for work, the last thing that I would want is a super-commute everyday on top of that just to get to the office for a consulting gig.

Trust me: find a place near or in Naperville. It's not a proxy for the city, but there's still tons of restaurants and bars considering that it's a suburb (the town's downtown area is great). Besides, since you're going to go back to DC during the weekends, there's little point to living in a place in River North because you're not going to have any time to enjoy that neighborhood during the weekdays with all of the commuting you would need to do.

Thursday night is also measurably better to fly out of Midway compared to Friday morning.

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

I do the opposite commute (Naperville to the Loop) and it's not too bad since there are plenty of Metra express trains. However, going from the Loop to Naperville (or most of the other major suburban office areas) via train everyday is not advisable. Trying to coordinate train schedules is much harder since there aren't as many options on the reverse commute and even if you're able to get to Naperville on the train, you'll then very likely need to catch a bus or find some other type of ground transportation to get to your office. It's possible, but I personally wouldn't do it (and like I've said, I'm someone that already does an hour-plus commute).

Driving isn't any better - the 1.5 to 2 hour figure is very much accurate. I-290 gets congested very early coming out of the city and I-88 isn't any better with its constant construction.

I completely understand the desire to live in the city (I was there prior to heading out to Naperville) and I could understand if this was a permanent move where you could at least enjoy the city on the weekends to make up for the lack of time there during the week, but it sounds like you're just flying in during the week for work and then heading back to DC for the weekends. This is just me, but if I had to travel that much for work, the last thing that I would want is a super-commute everyday on top of that just to get to the office for a consulting gig.

Trust me: find a place near or in Naperville. It's not a proxy for the city, but there's still tons of restaurants and bars considering that it's a suburb (the town's downtown area is great). Besides, since you're going to go back to DC during the weekends, there's little point to living in a place in River North because you're not going to have any time to enjoy that neighborhood during the weekdays with all of the commuting you would need to do.

Thursday night is also measurably better to fly out of Midway compared to Friday morning.

I second this.

[jessiegirl_98]

Look around downtown Naperville if you consider it. There are a ton of restaurants and bars and things to do. If you still look in the city, I second the west loop comment

[via chicago]

just to echo whats been said: paying 3,000 a month to rent a place you're hardly ever going to be at seems very unwise.