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Presumably someone who works in Uptown and lives in Naperville, but how the hell would I know?
That was the estimate being discussed-- the one that was one hour at noon and estimated to be two hours during rush hour. You'd have to ask the people who started the discussion why they chose it. I was just repeating it for consistency sake. It wouldn't be an accurate comparison otherwise.
The estimate was for someone who wanted to live in "the city" and work in Naperville. People are crying that it takes two hours. So the correct path is city>Naperville. I purposefully picked Uptown for the hypothetical because that is the most ridiculous choice one could make! But even now, at close to 5pm, the commute would not be 2 hours.
If the hypothetical commuter chose a logical neighbor like Wicker Park: the commute right now (4:48pm on a Thursday) would be 1hr 20mins. Still about the same amount of time it takes to get from the Loop to parts of Uptown/Edgewater/Rogers Park where crazy people who "haaavvvee to live in the city" sacrifice to rent.
Last edited by holl1ngsworth; 07-24-2014 at 04:29 PM..
Still about the same amount of time it takes to get from the Loop to parts of Uptown/Edgewater/Rogers Park where crazy people who "haaavvvee to live in the city" sacrifice to rent.
My commute from Uptown to the Loop was 35 minutes via public transit (sometimes faster), and 15 minutes via car. Sometimes 45 mintues if Lake Shore Drive traffic held up the express buses.
My commute from Uptown to the Loop was 35 minutes via public transit (sometimes faster), and 15 minutes via car. Sometimes 45 mintues if Lake Shore Drive traffic held up the express buses.
Ehhhh, when I lived in Lincoln Park the journey would usually be about 30-35 minutes. But if you say so.
Certainly when you live in the city, it's all about your proximity to public transit -- on both ends of the commute. And truthfully, there are a lot of people that live between Uptown and Rogers Park or even up on the Northwest side that have a 10-15 minute walk/bus ride to the CTA train, a 30-35 minute train ride to Loop, and another 10-15 minute walk to their office. I work with such people.
And I can't stand when these people spew hyperbole about how hard it is to get to the Loop from the suburbs. Two hours from Naperville?? I sure hope it's hyperbole. I drove to the Loop every day for the first 8 months I lived in Wheaton and it never took me more than an hour and a half. The mean was about 55 minutes, in traffic. I have a wacky schedule now so I've started ultilizing Metra and it's wonderful. Still takes about 55 minutes each way, but it's great to relax, get work done or read. Beats the heck outta the CTA trains, that's for sure. It's silly to think that I can get 25 miles to Wheaton in the same time it takes some folks to get 10 miles up to Edgewater.
Even if you want to say the commute from most suburbs to the Loop takes longer than it would from most city neighborhoods (though its not always the case) -- the quality of the commute that you get from suburbs sure makes up for any additional time.
My experience was similar (not in Naperville, but a different, probably even more boring, 'burb). It seemed the social scene for young adults consisted of two groups: 1) Townies who grew up there and still hung out with their childhood friends (with no apparent desire to ever expand their social circles beyond that), and 2) Young yuppie families whose social lives revolved around their kids' activities. Not being a part of either of those groups made it nearly impossible to find a social niche for me.
I made more friends within weeks in the city than I made in years in the burbs. Best decision I ever made.
Thanks for your insight, this makes me want to move into the city even more.
I have been pricing condos and apartments in the city. Yes, it will be more expensive to live in the city but it will be worth it to have a good social life. I might even get a studio condo or studio apartment in the loop or north side. River North looks good, so does Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville and Lakeview.
A guy I used to work with told me that his social life improved 100% when he moved from Schaumburg to the city. I have had other single people tell me the same thing that basically, "the suburbs are death to your social life."
Last edited by Jamesbond; 07-26-2014 at 09:49 AM..
Thanks for your insight, this makes me want to move into the city even more.
I have been pricing condos and apartments in the city. Yes, it will be more expensive to live in the city but it will be worth it to have a good social life. I might even get a studio condo or studio apartment in the loop or north side. River North looks good, so does Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville and Lakeview.
A guy I used to work with told me that his social life improved 100% when he moved from Schaumburg to the city. He is the one who told me, "the suburbs are death to your social life."
There is a third social group in Naperville: young, single professionals who work along the tech corridor. And there are a lot of them. You included. Mod cut.
Naperville has all the nightlife and social opportunities of a big city -- because it is a big city. Naperville's population roughly equates to that of cosmopolitan world cities like Salzburg, Austria or Oxford, England. Closer to home, it's about the size of Tempe, AZ or Syracuse, NY. It's somewhere between a third and a half the size of Miami's city limits for goodness sake. Yes, of course, it's skewed towards families, but if you haven't found social opportunities yet, you haven't tried hard enough.
Quit complaining and get out there!
Last edited by PJSaturn; 07-26-2014 at 12:21 PM..
Reason: Rude.
A guy I used to work with told me that his social life improved 100% when he moved from Schaumburg to the city. I have had other single people tell me the same thing that basically, "the suburbs are death to your social life."
Have to agree with this. It's not friendly for young transplants at all.
Schaumburg is kind of the poster child for what is "wrong" with suburbs and places like Naperville are the polar opposit
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamesbond
Thanks for your insight, this makes me want to move into the city even more.
I have been pricing condos and apartments in the city. Yes, it will be more expensive to live in the city but it will be worth it to have a good social life. I might even get a studio condo or studio apartment in the loop or north side. River North looks good, so does Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville and Lakeview.
A guy I used to work with told me that his social life improved 100% when he moved from Schaumburg to the city. I have had other single people tell me the same thing that basically, "the suburbs are death to your social life."
If you want to actually head out to Schaumburg you will see is absolutely NO "core" of anykind. The giant regional mall is a big reason, the fact that it is at the intersection of two major expressways is another, the lack of traditonal rail oriented development is yet a third, the relative mix of once mighty old-school employers like Motorola and no real culture to foster start-ups is a fourth , the lack of stellar schools is a fifth -- I could go but instead I will show how Naperville is different in every way.
#1 Naperville has long history of preferring moderate sized local businesses to the kind of chain stores that malls attract. There are dozens of interesting little shops that foster the involvement of owners in selecting merchandise. Even for things like fashion or home accessories that means the shop owners themselves travel widely. Similarly instead lots of big faceless chain owned resturants the core of town has a history of locally owned eateries and nightspots. These locals can whip a new dish or test a new drink without going through their corporate overloads and this encourages folks to come back often to try something new.
#2 While Naperville does have convenient access from at least three exits on I88 most traffic in town is generated locally. It is a "self contained destination" as planners call towns that are not just "crossroads on the way to someplace else" this means LOTS of people that work there like to take advantage of the opportuntity to shop locally, eat at local resturant and grab a locally brewed beer at a cozy local tap. To be sure it is easy enough to get to other towns in DuPage if required for work, or even into Chicago, but there is so much to do locally you don't need to go elsewhere ...
#3 What Naperville does have at is core is a very important rail link with the BNSF that proves massively convience to hordes of commuters with employment in the Loop. In a very swift ride one can transition for Chicago to Naperville without headaches of traffic tie ups. The tradition of rail roads being a draw for those who work in the Loop attracts a certain kind of worker that is accustomed to the pace of city life, the potential for visting or working in other metropolitan centers and the income to enjoy a certain lifestyle. So too have suburban employers seen the value in running shuttles to their campus from the rail hub. This is also done in Silicon Valley and the DC "beltway" where young people increasing want the option of heading into or out of the city as work requires.
#4 The kind of employers in Naperville are largely the kind of technology and financial firms that have to innovate to stay ahead of competition. There is not much of a legacy of the boring old "lifetime" employment one has selling police radios or military good that is all that is left of Motorola. Firms in Naperville increasingly are like the start-ups that once came up here from Champaign in the first days of the internet when Navigator was spawned. These are exciting dynamic businesses that pay their employees for moving the firm forward not just collecting dividends from an ancient business.
#5 Increasingly smart people understand that the value of a smart workforce is not a luxury for the few but a necessity. Naperville has long been among the highest performing large school districts in Illinois. With about 150000 residents and two desirable school districts the odds of kids being on track to go to some of the best college in the world and get employed at top global employers is an advantage that very few other areas can boast.
I'd urge anyone to not just take my word for these things or even the endorsements of hundreds of others here but just get on the BNSF, head into Naperville on a Friday or Saturday. Walk to the resturants, shops, nightspots. Hear a little live music. Stroll along the Riverwalk. See the young people at comedy clubs. Don't listen to those that generalize based on their own sad childhoods in towns that have nothing in common with the unique pluses of Naperville...
If you want to actually head out to Schaumburg you will see is absolutely NO "core" of anykind. The giant regional mall is a big reason, the fact that it is at the intersection of two major expressways is another, the lack of traditonal rail oriented development is yet a third, the relative mix of once mighty old-school employers like Motorola and no real culture to foster start-ups is a fourth , the lack of stellar schools is a fifth -- I could go but instead I will show how Naperville is different in every way.
#1 Naperville has long history of preferring moderate sized local businesses to the kind of chain stores that malls attract. There are dozens of interesting little shops that foster the involvement of owners in selecting merchandise. Even for things like fashion or home accessories that means the shop owners themselves travel widely. Similarly instead lots of big faceless chain owned resturants the core of town has a history of locally owned eateries and nightspots. These locals can whip a new dish or test a new drink without going through their corporate overloads and this encourages folks to come back often to try something new.
#2 While Naperville does have convenient access from at least three exits on I88 most traffic in town is generated locally. It is a "self contained destination" as planners call towns that are not just "crossroads on the way to someplace else" this means LOTS of people that work there like to take advantage of the opportuntity to shop locally, eat at local resturant and grab a locally brewed beer at a cozy local tap. To be sure it is easy enough to get to other towns in DuPage if required for work, or even into Chicago, but there is so much to do locally you don't need to go elsewhere ...
#3 What Naperville does have at is core is a very important rail link with the BNSF that proves massively convience to hordes of commuters with employment in the Loop. In a very swift ride one can transition for Chicago to Naperville without headaches of traffic tie ups. The tradition of rail roads being a draw for those who work in the Loop attracts a certain kind of worker that is accustomed to the pace of city life, the potential for visting or working in other metropolitan centers and the income to enjoy a certain lifestyle. So too have suburban employers seen the value in running shuttles to their campus from the rail hub. This is also done in Silicon Valley and the DC "beltway" where young people increasing want the option of heading into or out of the city as work requires.
#4 The kind of employers in Naperville are largely the kind of technology and financial firms that have to innovate to stay ahead of competition. There is not much of a legacy of the boring old "lifetime" employment one has selling police radios or military good that is all that is left of Motorola. Firms in Naperville increasingly are like the start-ups that once came up here from Champaign in the first days of the internet when Navigator was spawned. These are exciting dynamic businesses that pay their employees for moving the firm forward not just collecting dividends from an ancient business.
#5 Increasingly smart people understand that the value of a smart workforce is not a luxury for the few but a necessity. Naperville has long been among the highest performing large school districts in Illinois. With about 150000 residents and two desirable school districts the odds of kids being on track to go to some of the best college in the world and get employed at top global employers is an advantage that very few other areas can boast.
I'd urge anyone to not just take my word for these things or even the endorsements of hundreds of others here but just get on the BNSF, head into Naperville on a Friday or Saturday. Walk to the resturants, shops, nightspots. Hear a little live music. Stroll along the Riverwalk. See the young people at comedy clubs. Don't listen to those that generalize based on their own sad childhoods in towns that have nothing in common with the unique pluses of Naperville...
Fantastic analysis. Thanks for taking the time to write this. I took the shorter, ruder approach and was reprimanded.
I'd add that the model Naperville pioneered is now being adapted by a number of other suburbs served by Chicago's various rail lines. It works, and it offers young people that work in Chicago's employment "corridors" a fun, low-cost living alternative that also happens to have great proximity to their jobs.
Last edited by holl1ngsworth; 07-26-2014 at 02:54 PM..
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So the correct path is city>Naperville. I purposefully picked Uptown for the hypothetical because that is the most ridiculous choice one could make! But even now, at close to 5pm, the commute would not be 2 hours.
Schaumburg is kind of the poster child for what is "wrong" with suburbs and places like Naperville are the polar opposit
