Another help needed thread, I'm afraid!

[Mr Downtown]

Oak Park is completely irrelevant to a discussion of Lake Forest and I don't know why anyone would even bring it up. Many neighborhoods along the UP-N line, from the West Loop to Bucktown to Andersonville to Lakewood-Balmoral to Evanston or even Wilmette would offer quite a variety of housing options with an easy link to the Metra UP-N line.

However, it occurs to me that your workplace might be in Conway Farms or nearby and the shuttle link is to the Metra Milw-N Lake Forest West station, not the downtown Lake Forest station. If that's the case, you should be looking at neighborhoods along that line, from West Loop to Ukrainian Village to Logan Square to Avondale to Forest Glen to Morton Grove.

[chirack]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Oak Park is completely irrelevant to a discussion of Lake Forest and I don't know why anyone would even bring it up.

Because this is one of the few times when Oak Park is not a good option. 90% of the time when people ask where to live it is in the running if not the ideal place.

i.e. A diverse dense urban burb on the border of Chicago with good schools and quick easy access to the west burbs and city via 290 as well as both Metra and CTA EL lines and not far from the 24 hour blue line has a lot going for it.

It is just this posters need to be in Lake Forest that makes this a bad choice.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by tomcho

There is when someone works in Schaumburg, and since the OP has no idea where is wife is going to be working convenience to the Kennedy is a concern.

Yes. I was speaking assuming the person would be working downtown.

[tomcho]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Yes. I was speaking assuming the person would be working downtown.

For sure, I'm pretty sure the OPs wife will be looking for a job when they move.

[pothergavel]

Thanks again everyone, so much help and advice in this thread, it's just fantastic - I really appreciate it. At the moment we are starting to narrow our search to the West Loop and Bucktown areas I think. We'll hopefully spend a bit more time going over everything that you all have said on this thread over the weekend and that should hopefully make things a clearer.

Things are moving along nicely in terms of the position. We're probably going to be driving East in a few weeks. It looks like we'll have a week or so in a hotel while we try and get a feel for the neighbourhoods you guys have mentioned on here and then we should be good to go!

Thank you again to everyone that has provided advice on here. There may well be a beer or two on me for you guys once everything gets sorted out

[chet everett]

If you are coming in the next few weeks you really ought to make your anti-freeze/coolant is fresh, your battery is in excellent condition, your wiper blades are up the challenges of ice, you have a nice scraper to clear your windshield, there are "M+S" rated tires with plenty of tread on all four corners and the oil is correct rating for winter.

Nothing like waking up and finding your car won't start, the windshield is covered is ice, the heat doesn't work and your might as well have ice skates...

[chirack]

Originally Posted by chet everett

If you are coming in the next few weeks you really ought to make your anti-freeze/coolant is fresh, your battery is in excellent condition, your wiper blades are up the challenges of ice, you have a nice scraper to clear your windshield, there are "M+S" rated tires with plenty of tread on all four corners and the oil is correct rating for winter.

Nothing like waking up and finding your car won't start, the windshield is covered is ice, the heat doesn't work and your might as well have ice skates...

Yeap November is when fall often dies. Weather for late November can be freezing rain or snow that usually melts when it hits the ground. Lately it is just chilly and occasionally rainy but so far a bit early/warm for freezing rain. It can snow but not likely to stick to the ground. This is heavy jacket time. Temps can drop to near or just freezing at night. Sometimes it can be warm but so far this November has been on the normal side rather than the warm side. Day time temps can range from 40-60.

Weather for December means that any snow that falls can accumulate on the ground rather than fall and melt. Sometimes you luck up and the first two weeks are warm. Heck you can even get a 70 degree Christmas, but I wouldn't bet on it. Last two weeks of December is usually heavy coat weather with freezing temps in the day time.

Chicago’s winter isn’t constant cold more freeze thaw but boy those freezes can be nasty at times(i.e. It can and does get as low as -3 with windchills of -20 when things are at the worst).

Late January to early February is when winter is usually at its worse. April is sometimes the first warm month but very unreliable (i.e. Both people in shorts and snow can happen in April). May is probably the first safely warm month in the day time if it doesn’t rain too much. June is the month that you would only need a jacket to stay dry in rain rather than for warmth both day and night.

In terms of public transit comfort the bucktown stop does not have heat or wind breaks(other than ducking in the semi enclosed stairs). The Ogevile stop downtown is in a building. Weather should not be the decider but if you get a situation where you are split between the two the above is nice to know. Metra's on timeness means that if you have a ride to the station you usually won’t be out very long and Metra's suburban focus means there is often an enclosed station in the burbs.When you look at a metra schedule they mean the train will be loaded with doors closed and pulling off at the time they printed.

CTA EL stops (except the ones in the subway) usually have both heat lamps and wind breaks. Although the wind breaks are not always useful depending on wind direction. CTA is more frequent than Metra but they are also more trouble prone. In the end the CTA will get you there but you need to have an allowance for delay. Unlike travel by car you can't plan to arrive 15 mins before something starts (like work) or you risk being late.

If you need to ride the bus more than a short distance (i.e. the advertised bus trip is longer than 15 mins), I would plan to arrive at least 20 before the metra pulls off. 15-20 could be enough if you are depending on the el (the el has fewer problems with being on time than the bus.).Another option is to have a fall back Metra train. i.e. Aim for the early train but if the CTA is late you can still make the later train.

[Toddthestroker]

Chirack. What up my brother?

[pothergavel]

Originally Posted by chet everett

If you are coming in the next few weeks you really ought to make your anti-freeze/coolant is fresh, your battery is in excellent condition, your wiper blades are up the challenges of ice, you have a nice scraper to clear your windshield, there are "M+S" rated tires with plenty of tread on all four corners and the oil is correct rating for winter.

Nothing like waking up and finding your car won't start, the windshield is covered is ice, the heat doesn't work and your might as well have ice skates...

Thanks Chet. We actually just collected our car from the in-laws this weekend, and we're planning on getting it all taken care of before we start the long drive over

[pothergavel]

Originally Posted by chirack

Yeap November is when fall often dies. Weather for late November can be freezing rain or snow that usually melts when it hits the ground. Lately it is just chilly and occasionally rainy but so far a bit early/warm for freezing rain. It can snow but not likely to stick to the ground. This is heavy jacket time. Temps can drop to near or just freezing at night. Sometimes it can be warm but so far this November has been on the normal side rather than the warm side. Day time temps can range from 40-60.

Weather for December means that any snow that falls can accumulate on the ground rather than fall and melt. Sometimes you luck up and the first two weeks are warm. Heck you can even get a 70 degree Christmas, but I wouldn't bet on it. Last two weeks of December is usually heavy coat weather with freezing temps in the day time.

Chicago’s winter isn’t constant cold more freeze thaw but boy those freezes can be nasty at times(i.e. It can and does get as low as -3 with windchills of -20 when things are at the worst).

Late January to early February is when winter is usually at its worse. April is sometimes the first warm month but very unreliable (i.e. Both people in shorts and snow can happen in April). May is probably the first safely warm month in the day time if it doesn’t rain too much. June is the month that you would only need a jacket to stay dry in rain rather than for warmth both day and night.

In terms of public transit comfort the bucktown stop does not have heat or wind breaks(other than ducking in the semi enclosed stairs). The Ogevile stop downtown is in a building. Weather should not be the decider but if you get a situation where you are split between the two the above is nice to know. Metra's on timeness means that if you have a ride to the station you usually won’t be out very long and Metra's suburban focus means there is often an enclosed station in the burbs.When you look at a metra schedule they mean the train will be loaded with doors closed and pulling off at the time they printed.

CTA EL stops (except the ones in the subway) usually have both heat lamps and wind breaks. Although the wind breaks are not always useful depending on wind direction. CTA is more frequent than Metra but they are also more trouble prone. In the end the CTA will get you there but you need to have an allowance for delay. Unlike travel by car you can't plan to arrive 15 mins before something starts (like work) or you risk being late.

If you need to ride the bus more than a short distance (i.e. the advertised bus trip is longer than 15 mins), I would plan to arrive at least 20 before the metra pulls off. 15-20 could be enough if you are depending on the el (the el has fewer problems with being on time than the bus.).Another option is to have a fall back Metra train. i.e. Aim for the early train but if the CTA is late you can still make the later train.

Hey chirack, once again thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

My wife has already taken care of her coat needs (she didn’t need much persuading to go and buy another coat, to be honest), but I really appreciate all the information. It looks like we need to be prepared for all seasons and that the weather could change pretty quickly! I’m really excited about the move to Chicago, but the weather has me a little worried!

The information about the public transport stops was awesome. I have to admit that I didn’t even consider that there might be more (or less) heating or wind breaks to protect us poor commuters! I think Ogilvie is going to be the best stop for me to aim for – both in terms of the commute and also the weather protection. It’s nice to know that the metra is reliable and punctual too, something that I’m not entirely used to being from England originally!

We are currently looking around the West Loop and the Fulton River district, something close to Ogilvie that I can walk to (or have a very short commute) to Ogilvie if we can. The job is in the final background and checks stages, so hopefully soon it will all be finalized and we can start to make some decisions!

Thanks again!