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Old 12-05-2010, 09:16 AM
 
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My fiance and I are relocating to Chicago for a job in Naperville. I've heard Naperville is wonderful; small town charm, great amenities, culture, etc. I'd like to live close or even in Naperville but, I will also be driving back to Michigan almost every weekend to see my children.

I'm looking for a town similar to Naperville only further east. I will be renting initially but want to start looking for a home too. I will have about $1500-$2000/mo for rent/mortgage.

If you have any suggestions for other towns....any info you might have on the commute time from that suggested town to Naperville would also be very helpful.

Any insight will much appreciated.

Chris.
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Old 12-05-2010, 09:46 AM
 
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I'd suggest just staying in naperville. Sure you could move an hour east of naperville to save two hours on your weekly trip, but the added 2 hours of drive time every day isn't worth it.
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Old 12-05-2010, 03:25 PM
 
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If your goal is to head from Naperville to Michigan on Friday after work I gotta tell you living anywhere east / south of Naperville is not going to help much at all.

Further, the extra time of getting from someplace like Flossmore to Naperville and back for the the rest of the week is going to be a huge PITA...

Naperville is a pretty short 10 miles or so west of the TriState tollway (I294) and getting to Michigan via 294 is the way to go...

Depending of what your work schedule is I really can't recommend not living in Naperville as day to day commute is so much worse than weekend travel...
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Old 12-05-2010, 04:15 PM
 
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Agreed. Stick with Naperville. Though I wouldn't really say it is small town charm. It is the height of suburbia.

The commute will tire you day after day if you live "closer to Michigan". You would probably much rather do 30 minutes more on Friday and 30 minutes more on Sunda Sunday to Michigan than save this time, but have it deducted by 30 minutes (or more) each way M-F to get to work.
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Old 12-05-2010, 05:40 PM
 
Location: Johns Island
2,428 posts, read 4,079,482 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
If your goal is to head from Naperville to Michigan on Friday after work I gotta tell you living anywhere east / south of Naperville is not going to help much at all.

Further, the extra time of getting from someplace like Flossmore to Naperville and back for the the rest of the week is going to be a huge PITA...

Naperville is a pretty short 10 miles or so west of the TriState tollway (I294) and getting to Michigan via 294 is the way to go...

Depending of what your work schedule is I really can't recommend not living in Naperville as day to day commute is so much worse than weekend travel...
Instead of 294, why not take I80 to the new I355 extension? If I lived in Homewood/Flossmoor, that's what I would do. I would imagine that's a pretty traffic-free route both morning and evening, especially with I-Pass on 355.
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Old 12-06-2010, 10:35 AM
 
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It will be easier to make that long drive every weekend if you aren't burnt out from a long daily commute. Understandably though living in Naperville vs somewhere 1/2 hour to an hour closer to Michigan will take away a few hours with your children every week and that's a trade off only you can decide to make. Since at this point you are leaning towards renting and not buying I would try to stay as close to the expressway as possible especially if your job is off of Diehl. So here's a few apartment locations I'd suggest for a north Naperville job that would fit your budget. There's an apartment complex on the north side of I-88 just east of Washington. Your commute would be as quick as it could get during the week and you'd have easy on/off accessibility to I-88 on Friday/Sunday. Moving further east there are two locations I'd suggest - the area around Yorktown Mall in Lombard has a number of apartment complexes located near the Highland exit to I-88 and the Butterfield entrance to I-355. A commute to the north Naperville area from here is only 15 minutes. Going south on 355 if you are going to use I-80 which I also recommend there's a newer apartment complex in Downers Grove right off the Maple exit to I-355. This will increase your commute to 20 minutes unless you are in the Ogden/Naper area in which case your commute will still be 15 minutes because you could take the back roads. You could also go further off the expressway into the Seven Bridges area of Woodridge which has a nice apartment community as well. Going further east along I-88 near 294 and keeping the commute under an hour there is a complex off of the Midwest Rd exit which will be helpful for your Michigan commute in Oak Brook Terrace but you'll have to drive all the way past Highland to get onto I-88 going west to work. Elmhurst also has a nice complex in the south section off of Butterfield and Roosevelt by the new hospital close to I-290/294 and I-88. That's as far east as I would go. Going further south on I-355 to Lemont or Lockport you should be prepared for a 45min-hour commute during the week especially if there's construction on I-355 like there was on the northern part this year if you work in the north Naperville area (I know someone that lives by Naperville North and commutes to I-55 and Lemont Rd every day and he says it is almost never more than 45 minutes). For Burr Ridge right by the I-55/I-294 crossing expect an hour commute. Of course this all assumes a North Naperville work location. I wouldn't suggest going any further south on I-355 than 159th or even looking at options off of I-80 like Frankfort because you will be sooo burnt out from your weekly commute you won't enjoy your time with the kids. If your work location isn't North Naperville - say so. Naperville is not a small town, it can take 20-30 minutes to get from one side to another. If you don't want to live in an apartment complex you could rent a house or large townhome with your budget in most of these locations as well.
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Old 12-06-2010, 10:37 AM
 
Location: Denver, CO
818 posts, read 2,083,167 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JacksonPanther View Post
Instead of 294, why not take I80 to the new I355 extension? If I lived in Homewood/Flossmoor, that's what I would do. I would imagine that's a pretty traffic-free route both morning and evening, especially with I-Pass on 355.

Agree on the I-355 extension also being a good option as far as getting to/from work and/or to get to 80,80/94,94 when driving to Michigan. For a short commute, it might be a good option for the OP to live on the East side of Naperville, near I-355 ,or in Woodridge/ Lisle. There would also be easy access to I-355 (to I-80) for the weekly trip to Michigan. As far as commute times to work, and leaning towards the South and East, Homewood/Floosmoor, and even Tinley Park would be a stretch given the daily commute.
If you are looking for small-town charm, I would actually recommend looking into Lemont, which is quite close to the I-355 extension. It's an old river town that has been swallowed by suburbia. Currently, Lemont has kind of a mixed feel, with the downtown area maintaining some of the old small-town charm, but a lot of fancy subdivisions which feel like suburbia. A cheaper alternate to Lemont is Lockport, which is a little bit down-river. The commute to work would be more annoying, but there would also be easy access to I-355 and subsequently I-80. New Lennox probably also has a small town vibe, but I am not sure how it is doing lately, and how the commute would be. You'd have to ask someone that knows more about New Lennox.
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Old 12-06-2010, 01:09 PM
 
Location: Johns Island
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To the OP, if you can give us the location of the job, we can give you better ideas on commute times.

By the way, I used to work in Lisle, Bolingbrook, Naperville. We had many people that lived in Chicago, the south suburbs, and places like Frankfort. I think the general consensus is that if you can avoid I290 and I294, your commute will be smooth as far as traffic is concerned. I80 to I355 to I88 should be pretty open, which opens up a LOT of living options.

A 45-minute commute where you're moving at highway speeds is a LOT easier to handle than a 45-minute stop-n-go commute.
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Old 12-07-2010, 07:07 PM
 
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My advice would be to live in Naperville. Its more important not to have commuting burnout every day and the less frequent trips to Michigan you'll still be able to get to easily. My suggestion is to live in central to north Naperville as its better connected to good road systems such as 355 and I-88 which connect eventually to other big road systems that can get you anywhere you need to go.
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