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Old 05-04-2012, 08:30 AM
 
674 posts, read 1,158,262 times
Reputation: 569

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I live in the city and my former jobs were all located downtown. It would take me an hour door-to-door via publc trans. I've recently started working out in Arlington Heights commuting from the city and I get a mix of metra train and driving for my commute. It's still about the same commute time door-to-door, 1 hour.

However, I'd much rather be in a comfortable and quiet Metra train car or the privacy of my own vehicle for that hour than in a moshbit el train car with no A/C and sacrificing my personal space and comfort for the likes of the dirty bums and smelly coffee breaths and the woman who doesn't mind yelling into her cellphone with 100 people right on top of her.

Traffic is a small price to pay for your personal space, but that's just me.
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Old 05-04-2012, 08:35 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,957,533 times
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Default Yes but...

On of the frustrating aspects of dealing with traffic in the region is role that old time politics continues to play in making things WORSE instead of better. If you look at an arial view of all the highways it is pretty clear that the "spokes" part of the overall radial layout toward the Loop would benefit a WHOLE LOT from some sections being a MUCH broader and having a MUCH better set of "interconnects" so that folks could bypass areas instead of being funneled into areas of greater congestion.

Too many folks fight efforts to help the situation. Whether it is those that oppose the obviously desperately needed widening of the Eisenhower west of Cicero or those that fought the Crosstown or those that fight the extension of 53 or those that fight a Fox Valley ring highway or those that fight a western approach to O'Hare a whole lot of regions would work together to remedy these sorts of things...

In places like Philly or DC the geography really limits where one could plunk down enough asphalt to handle the without plowing up a national historic site or constructing bridge into scenic waterways.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vlajos View Post
The region has 9.5 million people. Traffic can get bad.
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Old 05-04-2012, 08:47 AM
 
483 posts, read 837,963 times
Reputation: 503
In my opinion, street-level traffic in Chicago isn't that terrible, except on Fridays. Much better than what I've experienced in the past.

It's the expressways that really screw things up. Having lived in New York and Boston, I've been shocked by the routinely terrible traffic on the highways in Chicago. It's pretty annoying.
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Old 05-04-2012, 09:01 AM
 
413 posts, read 829,034 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rca215 View Post
In my opinion, street-level traffic in Chicago isn't that terrible, except on Fridays. Much better than what I've experienced in the past.

It's the expressways that really screw things up. Having lived in New York and Boston, I've been shocked by the routinely terrible traffic on the highways in Chicago. It's pretty annoying.
I'd say this is pretty much on target. As a city resident I actually find driving around town to be relatively easy. I think traffic moves pretty good for a city of this size and LSD is a godsend. I have really always thought the opposite about Chicago traffic as the thread title.

Now if we are talking about a suburban commuter aspect, than I suppose I do see it. I see lots of problems on the expressways, especially the Kennedy. I try and avoid that whenever possible. So if these are suburbanites complaining about driving into the city, then I see the complaint.

On the subject of parking. Chicago is by far the easiest major city in America to park. I think its actually ridiculously easy. Even when I go to neighborhoods like Lincoln Park or Lakeview, I drive. There are plenty of spots as long as you are decent at parallel parking. I think if you are complaining of parking in a Chicago, you just don't understand parking in a big city. NYC, Boston, Philly, and DC will all be a lot worse.
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Old 05-04-2012, 09:18 AM
 
14,802 posts, read 17,562,567 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
Too many folks fight efforts to help the situation. Whether it is those that oppose the obviously desperately needed widening of the Eisenhower west of Cicero or those that fought the Crosstown or those that fight the extension of 53 or those that fight a Fox Valley ring highway or those that fight a western approach to O'Hare a whole lot of regions would work together to remedy these sorts of things...
NIMBYs annoy the crap out of me. There is a proposal to build a high rise apartment tower at Clark and Division (it's currently a crappy old Jewel with a parking lot, Jewel will occupy the ground floor of the new building). To me, I couldn't think of a better use of the space, of course NIMBYs are complaining about "congestion". It's the Gold Coast, one of the City's most dense areas. Buses run on either side of the site and there is a freakin' subway stop right there.

Idiots.
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Old 05-04-2012, 09:35 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,957,533 times
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Default Amen!

I am all for "historic preservation" and sane zoning policies but a bunch of whiny oldsters that are worried their views are gonna be obstructed and would prefer to stare at the shopping carts in a Jewel lot are just too much...

(gosh, we've been agreeing a lot lately -- is one of us off their meds? )

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vlajos View Post
NIMBYs annoy the crap out of me. There is a proposal to build a high rise apartment tower at Clark and Division (it's currently a crappy old Jewel with a parking lot, Jewel will occupy the ground floor of the new building). To me, I couldn't think of a better use of the space, of course NIMBYs are complaining about "congestion". It's the Gold Coast, one of the City's most dense areas. Buses run on either side of the site and there is a freakin' subway stop right there.

Idiots.
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Old 05-04-2012, 09:42 AM
 
Location: Bay Area
1,490 posts, read 2,663,783 times
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Don't worry, the residents will *****, but the city will push it through.

Think of all the additional tax revenues that could be collected.
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Old 05-04-2012, 09:53 AM
 
103 posts, read 301,059 times
Reputation: 110
Quote:
Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays View Post
Philly , DC and SD are not exactly smooth commutes
At peak times they are not. But what I see here in Chicago is that is bad all the time expect maybe from 11pm to 4am. A drive that can easily take 15min can take 45min it just horrible.
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Old 05-04-2012, 10:00 AM
 
14,802 posts, read 17,562,567 times
Reputation: 9244
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
I am all for "historic preservation" and sane zoning policies but a bunch of whiny oldsters that are worried their views are gonna be obstructed and would prefer to stare at the shopping carts in a Jewel lot are just too much...

(gosh, we've been agreeing a lot lately -- is one of us off their meds? )
It is strange
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Old 05-04-2012, 10:37 AM
 
Location: SoCal
6,418 posts, read 11,546,250 times
Reputation: 7093
How one perceives traffic is relative to one's experience.

I lived in Chicago for 30 years. Commuted by car and by train.

I've now lived in San Diego for a bit over 30 years. There are people here who actually complain about the traffic! That amazes me because it's nowhere near the issues that Chicago had even as long as 30 years ago.

I now commute in San Diego, but I live three freeway exits away from where I work. I would actually prefer to take public transportation, but the downside of having relatively light traffic is that we have woefully inadequate public transportation. It would take me 1.5 hours on public transportation vs. 15 minutes in my car.

And I've also spent three hours driving across London on the motorway during rush hour, so Chicago traffic even now is nowhere near that bad ...
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