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Old 05-02-2013, 09:13 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,764,559 times
Reputation: 7419

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Quote:
Originally Posted by kcramp View Post
If I go the train option, I would park a Camry at the station and essentially only drive it to and from work and the station (8.3 miles). I was looking at printers row, but it's hard to find someone who wants a roommate! I have no problems living alone, but it would be nice to have a wingman.
Well, that is one option...but you have to check whether Joliet will let you do that (some cities might, some might not). If you can, then go for it. Although realize that when it gets cold out, that it's very possible you might get to your car and it doesn't start or very easily. If you think that won't be a problem...honestly that is the option I would choose as a person who still goes out and drinks usually every weekend.

I understand about the roommate thing, but yeah not a given. If you really needed to you could live alone. Having a roommate is also not an automatic that they will be the same as you into the same things. I know a few people who got random roommates and never, ever went out to bars/clubs/lounges with them.

Quote:
I would buy a car if I choose wicker/wrigley...
I don't 100% understand the need to get one from Wicker Park. You can still get to the metra station from WP pretty easily IMO..with some public transit. I do semi understand it though if you don't want to deal with that and just drive it. Wrigleyville, yes I agree on that one BUT the commute from there on the freeway can suck if you leave too late - and on the commute home for sure.

I don't know how familiar you are with Chicago, but Chicago is very very walkable in many areas and very public transit oriented. You don't necessarily HAVE to live near your place of work or near your commute train if you do that. You could live a little bit away from, say, the commuter train station if you want to. Printers Row/South Loop though is a good balance for being near the station you need while having an area with a little bit of life, but also the fact that it's near the red line so you can easily get to the north side neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, River North, Gold Coast, Lakeview/Wrigleyville and also a few stops from a transfer point so you can get to the neighborhoods like Wicker Park, Logan Square, Ukrainian Village on the Blue Line.
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Old 05-02-2013, 09:21 PM
 
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I would get a car, because to my knowledge the only Metra line that goes to Joliet is the Rock Island Line, which starts at LaSalle St. right in what I think is Printer's Row...

I think it would destroy my commute to have to public trans to LaSalle metra, then metra to joliet, then car to work..

I do not know what public transport is..the red/blue lines are buses, correct?
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Old 05-02-2013, 09:28 PM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH
1,973 posts, read 5,189,961 times
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Yeah, that will be a rough commute for sure. I would look into the West Loop or South Loop if you're going to live in the city (and as a young transplant I very much advise you do). Other areas that are desirable will make your commute completely insane.

The West Loop has more nightlife than the South Loop but to me it feels more disconnected from other areas of the city. The nightlife there is also probably more mature than you're looking for as well. The South Loop is kind of lame in the nightlife department, but it will be easy to get to other parts of the city from there and it will give you better access to the lakefront. The actual Loop area is pretty much all office buildings and is dead outside of office hours.

Nightlife is found in other areas besides Wicker Park and Wrigleyville for sure. Chicago has way more party options than San Diego (I lived in SD prior to here). I think the area you hang out in to socialize will probably depend on what you're looking for, as different nightlife areas cater to a different scenes.
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Old 05-02-2013, 09:53 PM
 
17,183 posts, read 22,767,204 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kcramp View Post
I would get a car, because to my knowledge the only Metra line that goes to Joliet is the Rock Island Line, which starts at LaSalle St. right in what I think is Printer's Row...

I think it would destroy my commute to have to public trans to LaSalle metra, then metra to joliet, then car to work..

I do not know what public transport is..the red/blue lines are buses, correct?
No, the red line and blue line are elevated trains.
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Old 05-02-2013, 10:56 PM
 
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So my plan right now is to not buy a car, find an apt in the far east end of West Loop, or the far southwest end of South Loop, and walk to the LaSalle Metra Station..

I did not think that parking in Joliet would be a problem, especially as it is a 96 camry with 180000 miles. I am more worried about it not starting / the lack of a taxi.

However, it would really be cool if I could buy a car and make a 45 minute commute. I feel like the hardest part would be getting to the 55. I could possibly own a car and make it from West Loop/South Loop to the 55 and smooth sail from there, as I heard the 55 reverse commute is pretty clear.

Taking a rail to the Metra station would just seemingly add lengths to my time. I think I would rather live next to the Metra and take a rail into town -- How late does the rail run?
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Old 05-02-2013, 11:19 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,764,559 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kcramp View Post
I did not think that parking in Joliet would be a problem, especially as it is a 96 camry with 180000 miles. I am more worried about it not starting / the lack of a taxi.
That's really not the point... how good or bad your car is. They don't give a ****. There are laws about it and if it's not allowed or it requires some sort of cheap ticket, your car will be towed or ticketed. I don't know anything about the laws in Joliet so...something to look into.

Quote:
Taking a rail to the Metra station would just seemingly add lengths to my time. I think I would rather live next to the Metra and take a rail into town -- How late does the rail run?
Well, I agree with this generally. Honestly, Printers Row area is your best bet. While the West Loop is not bad, if you want to go to the north side neighborhoods such as Wrigleyville, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, River North (not that far away), etc...then you will spend more time riding the train to these neighborhoods at night if you live in West Loop. No other way to put it. Wrigleyville is RIGHT on the Red Line for example (Brown, Red, and Purple for the rest of Lakeview...Wrigleyville is contained within Lakeview and there's wayyyy more bars in Lakeview than just Wrigleyville)...the red line is right in SL/Printers Row with a few stops. It's not in the West Loop and you'd have to travel a half mile to get to a red line stop.


With that being said, Chicago has the 2nd largest public transit system in the US behind NYC. There are 8 train lines (Red, Blue, Green, Pink, Orange, Brown, Purple, and Yellow) and over 100 bus routes. The Red and Blue lines are 24 hours, but in the early hours of the morning, the trains come less apart than say at 5pm. Lines like Brown stop running at like 2am or 2:30am. The buses are all on different schedules too. Usually they will run later on the weekends...some less utilized lines might end at say 10pm. Others might end at midnight. A few others might run until 1am.

As you know there is the Metra, which is the commuter rail line. Different lines have different schedules, but most will run until 11pm or around midnight (sometimes maybe 12:15am or something). However, since they're commuter trains, they usually don't come that close together. If you miss one, it's totally possible that you might have to wait 45 minutes to an hour for the next one.
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Old 05-03-2013, 07:18 AM
 
Location: Oak Park, IL
5,523 posts, read 13,888,388 times
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Overnight parking at the suburban Metra stations may be allowed or may not be allowed at the discretion of the municipality. You should do your due diligence and call the city of Joliet and inquire about the legality and cost of parking overnight in the Joliet Metra parking lot.

FYI, I took a peak at the Joliet municipal website and it looks like they do allow overnight parking, fairly cheap too.
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Old 05-03-2013, 09:22 AM
 
11 posts, read 11,938 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oakparkdude View Post
Overnight parking at the suburban Metra stations may be allowed or may not be allowed at the discretion of the municipality. You should do your due diligence and call the city of Joliet and inquire about the legality and cost of parking overnight in the Joliet Metra parking lot.

FYI, I took a peak at the Joliet municipal website and it looks like they do allow overnight parking, fairly cheap too.
I actually called twice yesterday and they did not answer, but I did read that they do allow it (even monthly passes) online. Thanks for the insight.

I talked to a few more of my coworkers and they said the Metra is relatively inconvenient, and it looks like I would be leaving for work at ~5am everyday, and leaving at ~4pm. They said the traffic is not that bad, and the commute would most likely be ~50 mins in the morning, and ~60-70minutes on the way back. Not too shabby... What do you think? It might open up doors for me to move to other places, as the 55 is relatively empty -- I am just worried about the freeways getting to the 55.
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Old 05-03-2013, 09:40 AM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,331 posts, read 23,764,559 times
Reputation: 7419
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcramp View Post
I talked to a few more of my coworkers and they said the Metra is relatively inconvenient, and it looks like I would be leaving for work at ~5am everyday, and leaving at ~4pm. They said the traffic is not that bad, and the commute would most likely be ~50 mins in the morning, and ~60-70minutes on the way back. Not too shabby... What do you think? It might open up doors for me to move to other places, as the 55 is relatively empty -- I am just worried about the freeways getting to the 55.
I would ask them where they live or where they did live with experience like that. Morning it probably is relatively empty if you compare it to the other freeways...not sure about coming back at night.
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Old 05-03-2013, 09:43 AM
 
1,210 posts, read 3,049,066 times
Reputation: 651
It's a bad commute but honestly I would still do it, at least short term. Being a 22 year old in the suburbs isn't going to be interesting to you at all. After a year or two you'll probably get sick of the commute and want to look for something in the city though, or maybe decide you just want to move to the suburbs.

Personally, I think the train to Joliet is the easiest thing to do. Time-wise it might not be any different than driving, but sitting on the train and reading the news for an hour or so isn't nearly as bad as sitting in a beat up car on the highway praying traffic will start moving.
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