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Old 05-15-2012, 08:48 AM
 
1 posts, read 3,650 times
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Hi everyone,

Recent college graduate, I just recently accepted a job in Aurora and the employer is walkable from the Route 59 station. Not from Chicago so I do not know the city very well.

Currently looking at a condo about a block away from the United Center, however I have been reading and a lot of my friends from the suburbs are telling me this area is very sketchy. Looking at 1350 for a 2br 2bathroom on West Washington (750 after it is split with a roommate).

However I am looking for alternatives.. maybe a little closer to Chicago Union with a price range of hopefully 750-800.

Any thoughts?
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Old 05-15-2012, 09:34 AM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,751,831 times
Reputation: 7419
Quote:
Originally Posted by whirlpool View Post
Hi everyone,

Recent college graduate, I just recently accepted a job in Aurora and the employer is walkable from the Route 59 station. Not from Chicago so I do not know the city very well.

Currently looking at a condo about a block away from the United Center, however I have been reading and a lot of my friends from the suburbs are telling me this area is very sketchy. Looking at 1350 for a 2br 2bathroom on West Washington (750 after it is split with a roommate).

However I am looking for alternatives.. maybe a little closer to Chicago Union with a price range of hopefully 750-800.

Any thoughts?
I just want to make sure....you do know Aurora is like 40 miles away and the commute is probably 45+minutes from the United Center in the car in light traffic (because you have to get from the UC to the freeway first of all..after that you can go a lot faster..in light traffic), and almost 2 hours by train right? A lot of people in that situation end up not living in Chicago because they don't want to commute so much..so just wanted to make sure you're aware of that.
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Old 05-15-2012, 09:36 AM
 
Location: Uptown
1,520 posts, read 2,559,490 times
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Aurora is just too far for this not to be a major quality of life issue IMO
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Old 05-15-2012, 09:40 AM
 
3,695 posts, read 4,959,835 times
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The area around the United Center is kind of rough. It has improved quite a bit from the 80ies and 90ies but I would think twice about moving there and that area is a bit devoid of night life. I would go for Oak park, Forest Park, or Brywen. They are close in burbs to Chicago that would allow you to go to the city with ease on the weekends but not be in a bad location. West loop in Chicago is another spot that would allow you to get to union station quickly.
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Old 05-15-2012, 09:52 AM
 
3,695 posts, read 4,959,835 times
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yeah just looked at the metra scehdule the commute would suck most of the time. There are fast trains to Aurora but the leave kinda early and there are only 2 of them and they all skip a lot of near west burb stop. It wont be a 2 hour commute but it will be close.

Metra may be fast and comfortable but perhaps living nearer to work would be better.
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Old 05-15-2012, 01:00 PM
 
Location: River North, Chicago, Illinois
4,620 posts, read 8,112,258 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
I just want to make sure....you do know Aurora is like 40 miles away and the commute is probably 45+minutes from the United Center in the car in light traffic (because you have to get from the UC to the freeway first of all..after that you can go a lot faster..in light traffic), and almost 2 hours by train right? A lot of people in that situation end up not living in Chicago because they don't want to commute so much..so just wanted to make sure you're aware of that.
First, it's not 2 hours by train.

BUT ...

Driving is 45 minutes in LIGHT traffic - like 9pm or later on Wednesday. Rush hour to Aurora is closer to 90 minutes driving. Even commuting by Metra will not be that great. Depending on which train you take, it will be 45-60 minutes just on the train itself and there are really only 3-4 outbound trains that are useful for commuting, and probably the number useful for your return trip, not counting walking or taking transit to the train - realistically, you'd have to plan for 75-90 minutes, twice a day. And a monthly pass for Union Station to 59 is $178 this year and will likely be higher next year. And that pass will not get you onto the CTA trains, so if you got a monthly CTA pass, too, you're up to $264/month just for public transit passes. I'm a huge public transit advocate, but there's no way I'd want to be paying that much every month for transit. And if all you can afford in rent is in the range of $750, I'm guessing that having fixed transportation costs of 1/3 of that isn't very appealing. Plus, the area within a 10 minute walk of Union Station is really not that exciting. Parts of the West Loop are nice, and UIC is nice, and the South Loop are nice, and all are fairly close - but all would add another 15 minutes, not counting variability in the schedule, to your commute.

Basically, I think you'd hate life to try and live in the city and commute to Aurora daily. Probably your best bet is to live someplace like Lisle or Downers Grove. You'd have a 30 minute commute driving in the morning, and be about 30-50 minutes from most of the interesting parts of the city for when you want to take advantage of that. If you find a place near a Metra station you might even still be able to commute via Metra for a lot less money (fewer zones to travel through saves you money) and could take it in/out of the city for those times you don't want to have to be a driver back (like, say, St. Patrick's Day drunkfests). If you do that, do check the station schedules to make sure the trains you'd want would stop during the hours you'd want them, though - some stations are rush-hour only, and some just have infrequent service.
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Old 05-15-2012, 01:34 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,751,831 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emathias View Post
First, it's not 2 hours by train.
Sorry, let me rehash that.

It's about an hour by train non-express. but you have to factor in other traveling time like if you lived near the UC.. It might be as much as 30 minutes to get to Union Station by public transit from the UC with some walking time added in. So maybe 1 hour 30 minutes to get to the Aurora station..then factor in the amount of time it could take you to get to work in Aurora..

SO maybe 90-105 minutes TOTAL time..and very possibly 2 hours if you work far away from the train station.
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Old 05-15-2012, 04:07 PM
 
1,210 posts, read 3,048,020 times
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Long commute. I don't think I would do it. And I did a commute to Oakbrook for a year.
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Old 05-16-2012, 08:39 AM
 
674 posts, read 1,157,961 times
Reputation: 569
Quote:
Originally Posted by marothisu View Post
I just want to make sure....you do know Aurora is like 40 miles away and the commute is probably 45+minutes from the United Center in the car in light traffic (because you have to get from the UC to the freeway first of all..after that you can go a lot faster..in light traffic), and almost 2 hours by train right? A lot of people in that situation end up not living in Chicago because they don't want to commute so much..so just wanted to make sure you're aware of that.
45 minutes + ?

More like 1 hour mininum.
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Old 05-16-2012, 09:16 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,921,999 times
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If the spot is "walkable from Rt 59 station" and in Aurora that means it is in the big "business park" west of 59 -- probably the easternmost spot of employment within Aurora. While I generally recommend that folks live close to where they work the circumstance here (kid right out of college, job right near the BNSF tracks...) this is about the ideal situation for such a commute. I would recommend finding an apartment as close to Union Station as possible, so that the morning routine to work and back to home is as hassle free as possible. I suspect that if something close to walk to Union Station can be found (I would try to stay east of the Kennedy and north of Congress...) it will be sorta premium priced but if that is split with a roommate the price could still be under $800...

The other downside to living really close to Union Station is that the more youth oriented nightspots are generally a further north, so it would be hard to get out on a regular basis and NOT have a "late night" of getting back to the Union Station area. I suppose for someone right out of college this trade-off might be do-able but I would worry that the rest of the suburban workforce may be out of step with the sort of bleary-eyed nature this might impart to the new hire. Some firms specifically locate their offices in quieter areas because they want employees to be free of distractions. As long as the OP realizes that 8 hours of work followed by about an hour of commute time leaves a narrow window for partying they ought to be OK...
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