need to live in a cute neighborhood in city, but work in Palatine (Chicago: fit in, buy)

[Mister Mappy]

Ravenswood to Palatine would be a pain. You could take the Metra at Lawrence & Ravenswood south to Clybourn and then switch to the UP-NW there, which is going out of the way or you could take either the Lawrence or Foster bus west to Jefferson Park, and get the Palatine train there, but that's a pretty long bus ride.

[molly1280]

Originally Posted by Mister Mappy

Actually, the Metra UP-NW which stops in Palatine has a stop at the eastern end of Bucktown called Clybourn (Ashland & Cortland), so unless there is no bus from the train station, it shouldn't be too bad.

Yes! His office has the metra UP-NW running right past the door. I have been looking at the Clybourn station and using that possiblity to be in Bucktown. I also considered living in Ravenswood, biking to the Jefferson Park metra, and taking the metra to Palatine for him. Is there bike parking, or does he have to try to bring it on the metra? I heard they are just starting construction on a bike shelter...
Metra schedule says its 43 min from Palatine to Clybourn.

[Lookout Kid]

Bucktown is cool... No reason to bike from Ravenswood!

[Mister Mappy]

There is bike parking at Jefferson Park, but it would be a LOOOOOONG bike ride from Ravenswood. About 4 1/2 miles one way.

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by molly1280

Yes! His office has the metra UP-NW running right past the door. I have been looking at the Clybourn station and using that possiblity to be in Bucktown. I also considered living in Ravenswood, biking to the Jefferson Park metra, and taking the metra to Palatine for him. Is there bike parking, or does he have to try to bring it on the metra? I heard they are just starting construction on a bike shelter...
Metra schedule says its 43 min from Palatine to Clybourn.

No bikes on trains during rush hours.

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

And none of these will get you to Palatine!

No but living in the burbs when you are young w/o kids is really not a fate I'd wish on anyone. Its well worth the commuting time to live in the city.

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by jdiddy

No bikes on trains during rush hours.

What about those (dare I say "cute') folding bikes? Would they allow those?

[molly1280]

Originally Posted by Mister Mappy

There is bike parking at Jefferson Park, but it would be a LOOOOOONG bike ride from Ravenswood. About 4 1/2 miles one way.

I guess i don't see that as too bad since he bikes 6 miles to work each way right now, but put a train ride on top of that and you might have a ridiculous commute. I thought reverse traffic trains might have different rules for boarding bikes, but even leaving his sweet bike locked up seems like a bad idea on second thought. I figure Bucktown/Logan Square area is our best bet in terms of finding a fun neighborhood that has easy access to Palatine. Would anyone have any other suggestions for neighborhoods that run along the Metra UPNW line that aren't too too far out? ... or Bucktown it is!
Thanks everyone!

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Anthera

What about those (dare I say "cute') folding bikes? Would they allow those?

Only if you could camouflage it by putting it into a suitcase or something... I'm not sure I've ever seen the "No Bikes" rule enforced by the CTA, but I would think that the angry riders on a packed train would make it a "self-enforced" rule.

[molly1280]

Originally Posted by Anthera

No but living in the burbs when you are young w/o kids is really not a fate I'd wish on anyone. Its well worth the commuting time to live in the city.

Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I can be miserable when I am old and don't know what's going on