Free parking in the near north side (Chicago, Lombard: house, neighborhood)

[Karate_Qid]

Hello there people.
I was wondering, are there any good spots where I could park my car for several hours during the day in the near north side? (Around the Devon Ave area)
I'm coming to visit Chicago in a few days and would be sleeping over in Lombard, but during the day I want to spend time on the near north side. Plus I figure maybe I could take public transportation from near north side to downtown, etc on other days.

Thanks!

[JBVirtuoso]

Wait, what? Devon Avenue is the FAR north side, not near north side. If you're parking around Devon Avenue, I'd recommend the blocks immediately north of there. Some of the streets in that area are zoned for residents only, but there are plenty of unzoned spots if you look around. As for the NEAR north side, near downtown, you should really just park in a garage if you need several hours. Alternatively, you can try parking in a neighborhood that's a bit further out and take the train in. In that case, you might look at areas along the brown line. In general, the further north and west you go from downtown, the easier it is to park.

If you're staying at someone's house in Lombard, it's probably easiest to just leave your car there and take the Metra into the city.

[Karate_Qid]

Originally Posted by JBVirtuoso

Wait, what? Devon Avenue is the FAR north side, not near north side. If you're parking around Devon Avenue, I'd recommend the blocks immediately north of there. Some of the streets in that area are zoned for residents only, but there are plenty of unzoned spots if you look around. As for the NEAR north side, near downtown, you should really just park in a garage if you need several hours. Alternatively, you can try parking in a neighborhood that's a bit further out and take the train in. In that case, you might look at areas along the brown line. In general, the further north and west you go from downtown, the easier it is to park.

If you're staying at someone's house in Lombard, it's probably easiest to just leave your car there and take the Metra into the city.

Hi JB.
You can obviously tell I am from out of state since my geography of Chicago isn't that great.

I am just going to be sleeping over in Lombard and that's it-and I really want to see the far north side and downtown. I am thinking I'll be spending most of my week in Chicago in the far north side.

You've given me a lot of useful information. Thank you very much!

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by JBVirtuoso

If you're staying at someone's house in Lombard, it's probably easiest to just leave your car there and take the Metra into the city.

Not really.

You would take the Metra into Union Station, have to walk down to LaSalle St. and spend 35 minutes on the CTA Red Line. And that only gets you to the Lake Shore area. To get to the more popular areas of Devon would be 15-20 minute walk.

Parking is not that hard to find along Devon.

[marothisu]

Most of the parking up there is free or pretty cheap (say hmm..$1/hour type of thing). Wouldn't worry about it.