commute from Milwaukee to Evanston IL (Kenosha, Union: how much, house, neighborhood)

[happyhue]

I am looking at taking a new job in Evanston, IL but my wife and I are not willing to leave Milwaukee yet. We love it here on the eastside, the brewers, the festivals, our neighbors etc. simply put this is our home for now.

I am looking to commute, which is an hour and a half drive or I can take the train. Are there are Milwaukee to Chicago commuters? If yes, what is your method?

Thanks.

[ccjarider]

For what it's worth, consider a move. Are you willing to lose that much of your time -every single day just to stay in a neighborhood that you will not be able to enjoy anyway? You will be too tired.

I hear from others that long commutes really start to become a grind. During snowstorms, I have co-oworkers that have taken 3-4 hrs to get home. On a good day it is 1 1/2 to 2 hrs one way!!!

Draw a circle around any area closer to your new job and you will note that you are not that far away from MKE. The things that you value are still within a relativley short drive.

Further - you can explore a new area and discover other spots, activities you may enjoy.

We moved to AH from MKE last years for same reason (new job). Moving here kind of gives you the best of both worlds actually - old friends/activities are less than 2 hrs away and yet we now have new friends/activities because we have been exploring some new ground.

Just my perspective - good luck with your job/choice.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by happyhue

I am looking at taking a new job in Evanston, IL but my wife and I are not willing to leave Milwaukee yet. We love it here on the eastside, the brewers, the festivals, our neighbors etc. simply put this is our home for now.

I am looking to commute, which is an hour and a half drive or I can take the train. Are there are Milwaukee to Chicago commuters? If yes, what is your method?

Thanks.

I would really consider moving. It takes me about an about an hour to get to Evanston from downtown Milwaukee. This is only when there is no traffic. If "no traffic" was a guarantee I would make the commute any time, because it's an easy drive and mostly interstate.

To really get the feel for it, you need to make the trip during the normal commute times. If you get away with an hour and a half commute each way, you are lucky. The traffic can be rough.

As far as taking the train, there is no way to take the train from Milwaukee to Evanston, unless you were to go all the way to Union Station and take CTA or Metra back to Evanston. Otherwise you'd need to drive to Kenosha and take Metra, or take the train to Glenview and leave a car there to drive to Evanston. Any of those alternatives are bad, so driving is probably going to be the 'best' way to accomplish this commute.

Just in my own experience, commutes like this look OK on paper. But they lose their appeal once you actually start doing it. I've lived/worked in Chicago, DC, New Jersey, Virginia, and other places that have some really awful traffic. I've seen people donate three or four hours a day to their commutes so that their family can have a nice life. The problem is that they can't participate in it because they've lost 15-20 hours a week sitting in traffic.

The voice of experience says "don't do it".

[Fishtacos]

Originally Posted by happyhue

I am looking at taking a new job in Evanston, IL but my wife and I are not willing to leave Milwaukee yet. We love it here on the eastside, the brewers, the festivals, our neighbors etc. simply put this is our home for now.

I am looking to commute, which is an hour and a half drive or I can take the train. Are there are Milwaukee to Chicago commuters? If yes, what is your method?

Thanks.

Feel free to do a search for similar threads in which I've posted regarding commutes from Lake Forest IL or other places and Milwaukee.

If your question is to commute for 3-6 months, I'd say it'll be super rough but okay, but you won't make it longer than that.

1) Would you be commuting daily or 1-2 times per week? If it is daily, you will not even last the above mentioned 6 months.

2) You are aware that it takes a LOT of time to get from Evanston to 94 in Chicago. It is awful. It's not as if you are commuting from 94 and Skokie area which would also be rough. The bottle neck around Touhy Ave is brutal.

3) Evanston is a great area, much more expensive than the East Side of Milwaukee, which is also a great area. They have some things in common too. If you lived in Evanston, the purple line to the city is a solid ride into Chicago compared to other areas and things, so it is a good locale for Chicago and getting to and from the city. You also will be close enough for a short trip to Wrigley field to see the Brewers play the Cubs frequently, and there are always plenty of Brewer fans.

4) An hour and a half is ambitious. Many times that commute will be closer to two hours or perhaps worse, one way. You could consider living seperately for awhile, get an apt in Evanston, and go home on weekends, until you get more comfortable. This is worth looking into...especially if you have a pretty secure relationship. See how you like Evanston from day to day, work, people, area, etc...and you and your wife can take turns going to Milwaukee and Evanston to visit on weekends until you make up your mind. I cannot overestimate the physical exhaustion and physical pounding, not to mention mental stress this will take on you over time, the mentioned commute. You have no idea. I've done something similar before, in the past between the two cities, so I understand your situation very well. Even if you are a young vibrant person, it will eat you up and spit you out over time and you will not last. Pick a city, and pick a job. You cannot go wrong either way. And, if it is a too good to pass up thing, you can always make a decision a few years from now to move back and do a search while living in Evanston. Don't be afraid to make a mistake. Too often imo people are too afraid to try things, overanalyze them and they watch things go by in front of them. Just my opinion. Staying in Milwaukee may be the best thing for you, I simply do not know your situation so it would be difficult to pick one. I can tell you that you that you will not last long at all in this commute. Either stay in Milwaukee, move to Chicago, or live during week in Chicago, and spend weekends in Milwaukee and Chicago as a couple. I know a lot of people who have successfully done that for awhile, years, until one of them moved to the other's city more permanently, ....so a secure married couple should do fine for a little while with that.

5) Way the pro's and cons of your current job vs your new job, just the job themselves, short term and long term.

I do not know your job situation or career ambitions, etc..so I cannot help you more than that. I can say generally speaking, and despite the current economy, you can always move somewhere for a job, stick it out awhile, and move back to another area. The key is if you do it, do it with the idea in mind that you are giving the opportunity enough time to make a reasonable decision, not say...6 months or something.

Both are great areas. Evanston and Chicago will of course be more expensive. It's sounds like a nice problem to have.

[adam76]

+1 on the suggestions to consider moving instead of commuting. At the very least, start commuting and keep an open mind about moving. I spent about six months commuting to downtown Chicago via the Amtrak. For me it was relatively easy because it was a 10 min drive to the Amtrak station, and on the Chicago side it was a three block walk to the office. Even with this easy commute it still became somewhat of a grind.

The other problem I hadn't anticipated when I agreed to do the commute (I knew going in it was temporary) is that while I was only an hour train ride + 10 minute drive home I was truly out of pocket. The once or twice when something comes up and the family really needed me home for whatever reason I did not have the option of just leaving an hour or two early or late. I either had to take the entire day off or if it was unexpected we would just be SOL.

It is only about a 25 minute drive from my house to the IL border on I-94. I think if I were on a job hunt my absolute southern limit on a commute would be Lake-Cook Rd and I would go that far only if it were fairly close to either the tollway or 41. I don't know your history if you have ever commuted this far before but if you haven't I think you would be surprised how much of a drag on life a long commuting time can be.

[EnjoyEP]

What great insights / posts by 43-87 and fishtacos! If the OP is still checking in here, I think those posts told you pretty much all you needed to know!

Anyway, I thought this was one of the better points made on the forums in quite some time - very relevant in terms of current society and our priorities:

Originally Posted by 43north87west

I've seen people donate three or four hours a day to their commutes so that their family can have a nice life. The problem is that they can't participate in it because they've lost 15-20 hours a week sitting in traffic.

[tully]

The only way you can seriously consider this is to have a 2nd car (or 3rd.. whatever the case) parked someplace around the Glenview Amtrak station. Take Amtrak, get off at Glenview. This takes 1 hour. Drive your local car 5 miles east to Evanston. (Disclaimer: I don't know anything about the parking situation in Glenview.. you might have to work out a private driveway-parking deal..)

I can't think of any other feasable option. Commute is totally unreliable. Taking Amtrak all the way into downtown Chi, then Metra up to Evanston, just seems to long. (But don't quote me on that I haven't actually trip-planned it on the Metra site. But I'd guess 2 hours, minimum.)