How bad is the daily drive from the city to Joliet area

[chet everett]

Anyone that thinks there are only open roads between a job far to the SW and the south Loop pretty clearly does not get out much -- there is in fact a $719M project underway to increase traffic capacity / egress from 294 to 57. Read the details here: Tri-State Tollway (I-294)/I-57 Interchange Project - www.illinoistollway.com

[UPChicago]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Anyone that thinks there are only open roads between a job far to the SW and the south Loop pretty clearly does not get out much -- there is in fact a $719M project underway to increase traffic capacity / egress from 294 to 57. Read the details here: Tri-State Tollway (I-294)/I-57 Interchange Project - www.illinoistollway.com

I drove the route for 4 months......maybe the expansion is for Chicago inbound traffic, ever thought of that because as I stated the traffic outbound during rush hour isn't heavy at all.

[UPChicago]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

I agree that 57/80 is a better way to go, but it's still 54 miles from South Loop to Millsdale. That means to do it in 40 minutes he'd have to average 81 mph, including the portion on the streets of the South Loop itself, through the Stevenson / Dan Ryan interchange, and after he gets off the highway at Millsdale. That's not happening.

With no traffic he's looking at an hour at least, and during rush hour maybe an hour and 15 if there are no accidents or bad weather. It's doable, but will suck.

So, maybe I use to speed a little and I usually stated my trip at 59th Street and ended in Joliet so yes thats a shorter trip than South Loop to Millsdale

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by UPChicago

So, maybe I use to speed a little and I usually stated my trip at 59th Street and ended in Joliet so yes thats a shorter trip than South Loop to Millsdale

Yep, your commute was 15 miles shorter than his would be and didn't involve downtown traffic. I'm not sure how you thought he could make his in the same time as yours.

[UPChicago]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

Yep, your commute was 15 miles shorter than his would be and didn't involve downtown traffic. I'm not sure how you thought he could make his in the same time as yours.

Eitherway once you get on I-94 going south the commute isn't that bad time wise, 59th to Cermak isn't that far of a distance. If he is set on living in the city then it's my opinion that his commute won't be unbearable given that there isn't much traffic south bound during morning rush hour or northbound during afternoon rush hour. I'm all for transit, I worked for ATA, but I don't think the Metra is a good opinion commuting from the city. There are other things to consider like wear and tear on your car, that's almost 100 miles a day. You could consider living in the burbs but really who wants to live in the burbs!

[ChiNaan]

I repeat: Your commute was 15 miles shorter than his would be (each way...so 30 fewer miles per day), and didn't involve downtown traffic as his would. Those are two very significant differences any way you slice it.

It's not "almost 100 miles a day," it's around 110 miles a day.

It's doable, at least for some, but it's not comparable to yours.

[Swandaddy]

As a gay male myself, IMHO by far and away the greatest concentration of LGBT people in the Chicago region are in the northside lakefront areas such as Boystown, Andersonville, Edgewater, and to some extent Rogers Park. I have some friends who live in the South Loop but just as often they're partying/hanging out/etc in B-Town or RP. When it's 3AM on a Saturday night and you stumble out of Berlin s%^t faced drunk, you'll want to have a 20-spot available to jump in a cab to whisk you back to the South Loop (and an extra $50 on top of that so you can vomit in the cab if need be ;-) )

If they're paying you cash $$$$$$ for your gig, and/or if they'll let you either work a 4 day work week and/or telecommute some of the time, it could be worth it. Going SW to Joliet-ish you'd def wanna take 57 to 80 and then maybe some side streets b/c I-80 changes from 3 lanes to 2 lanes as you get close to Joliet. As I live in Buena Park and work in Lakeview, in theory I would place a $15,000 premium on an employer (on top of the regular raise to entice me to switch jobs) if I had to buy a car and drive to the burbs; as to me that's the value of the money invested in the car, gas, car insurance, maintenance, car taxes, and time necessitated by the company/organization's decision and/or necessity to be located in the burbs. But my perspective is admittedly biased by my own personal experience and life as I am strongly committed to The City.

[UPChicago]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

I repeat: Your commute was 15 miles shorter than his would be (each way...so 30 fewer miles per day), and didn't involve downtown traffic as his would. Those are two very significant differences any way you slice it.

It's not "almost 100 miles a day," it's around 110 miles a day.

It's doable, at least for some, but it's not comparable to yours.

It's very comparable it's the same route, same exit and I think you may not be too familiar with the south loop, it is not downtown traffic as you say. I quoted 100 miles to say that it's a lot of miles per day which is the reason I wouldn't have done it longer than I had. You can take Roosevelt to the expressway which I wouldn't recommend I'd take Clark to Cermak and get on there.