Evanston a good place to still enjoy Chicago?? (Addison, Sheridan: university, place to live)

[BigWyche16]

Hey everyone,

I am a single 22 year old looking to possibly relocate up to the Chicago area...I really enjoy it up there, visiting Chicago 3 or 4 times a year the last couple of years...I have been in the summer and the winter experiences the different weather...The food, the SPORTS...and the things a major city has to offer excite me...I am a cop in Florida right now and was thinking about a move to Evanston soon...Is the "L" a common thing from Evanston to Chi...could I get to Chicago easily to go enjoy things such as a Cubs game or even farther south like a Bears game?? I just want to be able to have easy access to Chicago but live and work in a nice area on the outskirts...WOuld Evanston be considered a "fun" place to live for someone my age?..Any information would be great..Thank you!

[Manigault]

Is the "L" a common thing from Evanston to Chi...Yes

Could I get to Chicago easily to go enjoy things such as a Cubs game or even farther south like a Bears game?? Soldier Field is South? Anyway, the answer is yes but people from Evanston drive to Bears games.

I just want to be able to have easy access to Chicago but live and work in a nice area on the outskirts...WOuld Evanston be considered a "fun" place to live for someone my age?..Any information would be great.. I think its a fun place.

[BigWyche16]

Thank you....How is Evanston as far as getting back and forth from the airport??

[brenty]

It is a bit complicated to get from Evanston to the airport, in fact the entire North Shore. There is no expressway connecting the North Shore to other suburbs. The only expressway takes you North or South. The airport is way west. Without traffic the trip would be about 50 minutes. With traffic expect 90 minutes to 120 minutes. Traffic is the usual. Many of my neighbors fly out of Milwaukee instead because of O'Hare's difficulty and time spent in traffic. You probably spend more time in the car in my opinion flying out of Milwaukee, but at least you feel like you are getting somewhere.

[mdz]

The el or metra is a definite option for getting to and from the bear games, unless you enjoy sitting in a parking lot for an hour after the game. And it's especially nice if you happen to tail gate and have a beer or 6. the traffic at bears games is miserable.

[JillSin2009]

You'll like Evanston. Northwestern University is occupies the lakefront at Sheridan Road, so you may want to consider staying over there or close to downtown Evanston, considering your age. The Purple line (Evanston-Chicago el) can take you into downtown Chicago on the weekdays during rush hour (AM and PM) and even stops at Addison (Wrigley Field) on game days and nights. mdz is right about driving to Bears games. It's brutal and unless you're tailgating, sitting on LSD is not worth it. Take the train downtown and hop on the Soldier Field Xpress, 9 times out of 10, the SMART Bears fans are right there with you. Since Evanston is so far east, the closest expressway is LSD but it won't get you to either airport. You best bet would be to drive west on Dempster until you hit I-94E and take that to I-90W which would take you to O'Hare. It's difficult, but not impossible. Midway is too far south to even consider, so don't.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by JillSin2009

You'll like Evanston. Northwestern University is occupies the lakefront at Sheridan Road, so you may want to consider staying over there or close to downtown Evanston, considering your age. The Purple line (Evanston-Chicago el) can take you into downtown Chicago on the weekdays during rush hour (AM and PM) and even stops at Addison (Wrigley Field) on game days and nights. mdz is right about driving to Bears games. It's brutal and unless you're tailgating, sitting on LSD is not worth it. Take the train downtown and hop on the Soldier Field Xpress, 9 times out of 10, the SMART Bears fans are right there with you. Since Evanston is so far east, the closest expressway is LSD but it won't get you to either airport. You best bet would be to drive west on Dempster until you hit I-94E and take that to I-90W which would take you to O'Hare. It's difficult, but not impossible. Midway is too far south to even consider, so don't.

Small points of correction here: a) the Purple Line schedule is not altered at all for day games; b) when the Purple Line does stop for night games, it stops at Sheridan, not Addison. They found that track-switching to allow the Purple Line to stop at Addison was too disruptive to rush-hour train-traffic flow, so it now stops at Sheridan because it can stop there without switching tracks.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Drover

Small points of correction here: a) the Purple Line schedule is not altered at all for day games; b) when the Purple Line does stop for night games, it stops at Sheridan, not Addison. They found that track-switching to allow the Purple Line to stop at Addison was too disruptive to rush-hour train-traffic flow, so it now stops at Sheridan because it can stop there without switching tracks.

Of course long ago the Evanston train stopped at Sheridan anyway. :-) I wonder how long it took the CTA to figure out that it would work? lol

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by JillSin2009

You'll like Evanston. Northwestern University is occupies the lakefront at Sheridan Road, so you may want to consider staying over there or close to downtown Evanston, considering your age. The Purple line (Evanston-Chicago el) can take you into downtown Chicago on the weekdays during rush hour (AM and PM) and even stops at Addison (Wrigley Field) on game days and nights. mdz is right about driving to Bears games. It's brutal and unless you're tailgating, sitting on LSD is not worth it. Take the train downtown and hop on the Soldier Field Xpress, 9 times out of 10, the SMART Bears fans are right there with you. Since Evanston is so far east, the closest expressway is LSD but it won't get you to either airport. You best bet would be to drive west on Dempster until you hit I-94E and take that to I-90W which would take you to O'Hare. It's difficult, but not impossible. Midway is too far south to even consider, so don't.

You cannot switch from 94 E to 90 W on the expressway when traveling east. You have to drive down Foster to do that. There is no Foster exit on 94 if you are traveling east.

The Dempster option is very good though, you can take that to Graceland which merges with Mannheim (12/45) and go south. Then switch to 190 west,and right into O'Hare.

[brenty]

Be careful of where you live. Some train stops may close due to the CTA budget crisis. Dempster and Foster may close, to name two.