Please help (South Bend, Gary, Portage: how much, homes, safe area)

[volcano13]

Hello to everyone. I am an international student who has been admitted as a PhD student at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend. My fiance has been admitted to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. For the first year we are looking to stay at our Universities "homes", i.e I will live in South Bend and my fiance in Chicago. I want to ask how easy is to commute to each one's place every weekend? Are there any toll we have to pay (we both gonna have a car)? In the future (second year and later) we are considring to live together in a place between South Bend and Chicago. We are thinking about Portage and Chesterton. Will it be easy to live in those areas and commute daily to each one's uni? Can you give us any thoughts, experiences you have? Thank you in advance!

[domergurl]

The commute from Chesterton will be halfway to both. But keep in mind that South Bend and Chicago are in different timezones, not that it's any big deal as long as you realize that.

You can actually take a train from the south bend airport to Chicago ... no need to drive unless you really want or have to (if your schedules aren't compatible with the trains).

The train is called the south shore line. The schedule is at Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District

Best of luck!

[Chuckity]

I have friends who live in Portage and commute every day to their jobs at Notre Dame ...

And there are tons of people in Portage & Chesterton (and throughout NWI for that matter) that commute to Chgo every day.

Definitely doable.

[volcano13]

Thank you very much for the answers. What about safety in these two towns? I heard that Gary and South Chicago are not safe areas and if you live in Portage or Chesterton you will be close to these two areas and furthermore if you drive to Chicago you will pass near them. What do you think about that. And one more think: What is the driving distance from Chesterton/Portage to Chicago and South Bend? Also what is the driving distance between South Bend to Chicago?

[domergurl]

Google map Chesterton ....it's very safe. You'll drive through Gary and south chicago to get to Chicago, but it's all interstate. You wont have any trouble.

But .... if you take the train ... you really won't have to worry about it.

[volcano13]

Ok, for all that you told me I figure out that it is not impossible to live in the half way, Portage or Chesterton, and commute daily with a car in S. Bend and Chicago. Are there any other towns/communities in the halfway that we can consider as a place to live besides Chesterton/Portage? And something more: What is the local atmosphere - culture in Portage and Chesterton? Does it worth to live there? From what I saw in the internet Portage/Chesterton are in the same timezone as Chicago? Thank you once again..

[Chuckity]

If I had to choose, I'd definitely choose Chesterton over Portage.

If by culture you mean like arts, museums, etc - you'll be hard pressed to find culture of that sort in a large volume anywhere outside of Chicago - or any semi-urban area for that matter. Though Chesterton does have the Wizard of Oz musueum. It's a definite small town atmosphere in both towns - moreso Chesterton than Portage though.

Also, I would commute via South Shore to Chicago and via car to South Bend.

And not quite sure what you mean by "worth it" - and yes, timezone in NWI is the same as Chgo.

[domergurl]

I give the not to Chesterton as well. Live as close to the train station as possible. The toll road, which is the road you'll be taking to South Bend, is also not far from the station. I'll even venture to guess you could find a car share to South Bend from the toll road entrance off state road 49 too. As far as cultural feel. Between the two of you, you'll both be making connections in South Bend/ND and Chicago. You'll probably be spending most of your social time in one or the other place.

[volcano13]

Can you give me a rough estimation of the driving distance between Chesterton and Chicago? Do you face a lot of traffic in your way to the Illinois Institute Of Technology? How much do you have to pay for toll? For what I understand from your posts Chesterton is a nice place, offcourse we have to figure this out by ourselves, and if we like it we will stay there after our first year. What happens during the winter time. Is it easy to commute via car with all this snow in the area?

[domergurl]

Originally Posted by volcano13

Can you give me a rough estimation of the driving distance between Chesterton and Chicago? Do you face a lot of traffic in your way to the Illinois Institute Of Technology? How much do you have to pay for toll? For what I understand from your posts Chesterton is a nice place, offcourse we have to figure this out by ourselves, and if we like it we will stay there after our first year. What happens during the winter time. Is it easy to commute via car with all this snow in the area?

Not sure about the tolls these days ...

According to google maps, it will take an hour ... give or take traffic. The interstates are usually well maintained and plowed first. But weather patterns can be tricky sometimes. When we lived in Valpo, one time, Valpo & Chesterton got dumped with almost 2 feet of snow and Chicago and South Bend got maybe an inch ...

Chesterton is really nice. Close to lake michigan ...