Moving to the Ravenswood Metra area (Chicago, Evanston: apartments, rental, insurance)

[amantonio]

I am moving to Chicago this summer from Arizona and need some advice on where to live. I will be heading up to Northwestern everyday for school, while my boyfriend will be headed down to Chicago Kent (near the OTC Metra station) everyday.

Is living near the Ravenswood metra the best option for us?

Does anyone have suggestions as to which apartments/neighborhoods would be best for a 1 or 2 bedroom, that takes dogs, has parking, and is within walking distance to a metra stop?

How does parking work in neighborhoods like ravenswood/lincoln square? We don't want to use our car very much, but rather, keep it in a safe place for emergencies.

Thanks!!

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by amantonio

I am moving to Chicago this summer from Arizona and need some advice on where to live. I will be heading up to Northwestern everyday for school, while my boyfriend will be headed down to Chicago Kent (near the OTC Metra station) everyday.

Is living near the Ravenswood metra the best option for us?

Does anyone have suggestions as to which apartments/neighborhoods would be best for a 1 or 2 bedroom, that takes dogs, has parking, and is within walking distance to a metra stop?

How does parking work in neighborhoods like ravenswood/lincoln square? We don't want to use our car very much, but rather, keep it in a safe place for emergencies.

Thanks!!

1) What is your budget per month with and without utilities?
2) I wouldn't be too high on living near a metra stop. If you're talking about Kent School of Law, that's right outside the loop and the Blue Line metro is right near there (almost the same distance as the OTC stop is to Kent maybe) as well as the Pink, Brown, Orange, Purple at the Quincy and Washington/Wells stop a little further away but maybe a 5-7 minute walk. The metro is also cheaper than the Metra to ride.
3) What types of "things" do you want near i.e. restaurants, entertainment, etc...as well as neighborhood safety?

[Drover]

Originally Posted by amantonio

I am moving to Chicago this summer from Arizona and need some advice on where to live. I will be heading up to Northwestern everyday for school, while my boyfriend will be headed down to Chicago Kent (near the OTC Metra station) everyday.

Is living near the Ravenswood metra the best option for us?

It's one of your better options, yes.

Originally Posted by amantonio

Does anyone have suggestions as to which apartments/neighborhoods would be best for a 1 or 2 bedroom, that takes dogs, has parking, and is within walking distance to a metra stop?

Use a rental agency. They'll be able to filter for your stated criteria and locate matching units for you. Rental agents are free to the prospective tenants (they charge the landlord).

Originally Posted by amantonio

How does parking work in neighborhoods like ravenswood/lincoln square? We don't want to use our car very much, but rather, keep it in a safe place for emergencies.

I don't quite understand this question. You want an apartment with parking, right? In that case, you park where the landlord tells you to.

If you don't use your car very much, you're better off not bringing it. You can use cabs or a car-sharing service for occasional emergency use. Off-street parking alone will add about $100-175/mo to your rent, never mind operating costs, insurance, etc. That's a lot for a car that nearly always just sits there.

[Drover]

Another note on transportation costs: if you're full-time students, both schools will give you a fare card good for unlimited rides on the CTA system. This is built into your school fees whether you use it or not. This fare card is not valid on the Metra system. By using Metra instead of the CTA to get to school, you would be effectively duplicating your transportation costs. You can both still get to your respective schools fairly painlessly from the Ravenswood area; it'll just take longer to arrive at your destinations, especially for you since it would involve some doubling back.

[jsk1983]

Originally Posted by Drover

Another note on transportation costs: if you're full-time students, both schools will give you a fare card good for unlimited rides on the CTA system. This is built into your school fees whether you use it or not. This fare card is not valid on the Metra system. By using Metra instead of the CTA to get to school, you would be effectively duplicating your transportation costs. You can both still get to your respective schools fairly painlessly from the Ravenswood area; it'll just take longer to arrive at your destinations, especially for you since it would involve some doubling back.

I think Metra is 15 minutes from Ravenswood to Evanston, CTA might be more like an hour. If you want to use CTA you might want to look at neighborhoods near the purple or red lines.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by jsk1983

I think Metra is 15 minutes from Ravenswood to Evanston, CTA might be more like an hour. If you want to use CTA you might want to look at neighborhoods near the purple or red lines.

That would depend a lot on time of day. If (s)he catches a rush hour Purple Line express, it'll be considerably less than an hour. That said, the Metra does present an attractive time-savings proposition that may well be worth paying extra for at least once in a while. However, the two notable drawbacks are that a) you have to operate on their schedule rather than your own, and b) while it may be 15 minutes to Evanston, there's still a lot of hoofing to do from the station to campus. Or you could hop on the adjacent CTA platform to catch a Purple Line train closer to campus. By that time it may not that much more of a hassle to just take the CTA, especially at rush hour where (s)he could catch a Purple Line at Belmont.

In retrospect, somewhere near the Belmont CTA station would be a better idea, particularly if both get a U-Pass from their respective schools. But that'll cost more, a lot more if they insist on bringing the car and having off-street parking.

In either case, let me reiterate to the OP: Strongly consider ditching the car before moving here.

[emathias]

The time differential for Metra to get downtown between Ravenswood and the stops in Evanston isn't that big. I'd probably consider one trying to live walking distance to Northwestern in Evanston and the law student "commuting" via Metra downtown. The only reason I can think of to try and split the difference is to make you equally inconvenienced, which is just kind of silly.

Live in Evanston. His commute goes up by 10 minutes each way, and you have a much better one. Lifestyle will probably be better in Evanston, in general, than in Ravenswood, too. Don't get me wrong, Ravenswood is a decent neighborhood, but Evanston is more of a complete package for your situation, in my opinion.

[Golden Camel]

Two points I'd like to add:

The fact that it is a quick trip on Metra to Evanston might be offset by the fact that you may need to wait an hour or two for the next train in the off-peak/weekend time frame or reverse-rush direction.

My first thought would be why not move to Evanston and only one of you need to bother with a commute and you only need to pay one fare as emathias suggested above. But if you want a car in Evanston, try to make sure you have off-street parking arrangements in the winter. Evanston has this goofy system where they blow the air raid sirens (yes, really) and everyone is expected to move their cars across the street to allow for snow plowing. It sucks if you need to be away from home for an extended time.

I don't know what Evanston would do if the Russians really did launch missiles towards Evanston on a snowy day.

[marothisu]

Let me state/ask this again:

Is living near the metra really that needed in this situation? It seems like the OP has seen that Kent is near a metra station, but I hope you guys know that Kent is in the West Loop right near the blue line too. It's located at Clinton and Adams which is a few blocks from Clinton blue line (5-7 minute walk) and probably a 10 minute walk to the Quincy station. That's like one block further than the Metra, but Metra costs more money let's remember. In this situation, you're basically paying what, $4/day extra just to get closer by one block. $80 extra/month probably..Not worth it IMO.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Cost aside, the Metra is way faster than the el. Something like 17 minutes, Ravenswood to Ogilvie. 24 minutes Evanston (Davis) to Ogilvie. I'm trying to think of an el line combo that could get both parties to their locations in anything near that amount of time, and nothing comes to mind. Maybe Lakeview near Belmont? He takes the Brown to Wash/Wells and she takes the Purple to Evanston? Then both are traveling and both are spending more time commuting, no?