Best way to commute from Wriggleyville to Naperville (Chicago, Oak Park: neighborhood, university)

[Link N. Parker]

I did this commute for a while, about 10 years ago. Dont do it!!

You will be DRAINED by the time you get to work, and then you are DRAINED again when you get home. So drained that you wont have the energy to actually do anything or enjoy the city.

Like others have said, live somewhere closer, or simply find a better job. Wrigley is really overrated anyway; there are lots of bars there but IMO it gets really tiring putting up with drunks every night, and dont get me started on the Cubs traffic.

My opinion, is that the best "city living" experience is one where you live AND work in the city. My advice would be to move here, but then look for a job in the city if possible.

[jman07]

It's not bad if you do it right. I commute to Lombard everyday. In the morning, you need to leave by 6. If I were you I would go to the gym before work to leave earlier. Xsport has gyms everywhere. The commute home will suck, but you will get used to it. A lot of people do the reverse commute.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

I did this commute for a while, about 10 years ago. Dont do it!!

You will be DRAINED by the time you get to work, and then you are DRAINED again when you get home. So drained that you wont have the energy to actually do anything or enjoy the city.

Like others have said, live somewhere closer, or simply find a better job. Wrigley is really overrated anyway; there are lots of bars there but IMO it gets really tiring putting up with drunks every night, and dont get me started on the Cubs traffic.

My opinion, is that the best "city living" experience is one where you live AND work in the city. My advice would be to move here, but then look for a job in the city if possible.

I will also add that working in the Loop and living in a pleasant train centric suburb with nice dining options and casual night spots with more true neighbors and less "drunken college losers" is also a great option for folks at a stage of their life to recognize the difference...

I have also worked in the 'burbs and had co-workers that needed a real "heart to heart" about making decisions about what was important to them -- choose between coming into the office like a zombie or find a more balanced way to enjoy nightlife and still perform in the office. Not a smart way to start their professional career. There are some offices in the burbs where a "high energy" core of youthful workers do head to local night spots but with increased risks of traffic incidents and such it is easier to find a place where you can literally walk home from the bars. For most folks it probably makes sense to try to overcome that phase of one's life as quickly as possible.

I am fortunate to also know more than a few folks that do enjoy playing live music in clubs / night spots and an increasing number of them are happily finding gigs in areas closer to where they work in the burbs. While the number of such venues is still a fraction of those in the booming areas of Chicago's most traveled nightlife corridors the value of such spots cannot be underestimated.

[nearnorth]

You want to live in West Loop or University Village / Little Italy for that commute; or possibly Ukrainian Village or Pilsen. These are all walkable/dense/urban type neighborhoods with young people living in them, bars, etc., though not to the extent of Wrigleyville (one g, not two), and would be a shorter commute for you, especially during rush hour.

You do not want to commute to Naperville from Wrigley. I have a good friend who does it from West Loop, and it's tough enough on her from there. From Wrigley you'd be driving through half of the city (some of the busiest/densest parts of the city, at that) before you even got to the place where she starts her difficult commute.

I completely understand people being willing to tolerate a tough commute in order to have the privilege of living in the city rather than the burbs. Many of my friends do it, and I used to do it myself. I sure wouldn't do it from that neighborhood to that burb, though.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by nearnorth

I completely understand people being willing to tolerate a tough commute in order to have the privilege of living in the city rather than the burbs. Many of my friends do it, and I used to do it myself. I sure wouldn't do it from that neighborhood to that burb, though.

I don't, it's stupid. Either live and work in the city, or live and work in Naperville. I've known lot's of people who have tried these reverse commutes from the city, and they all hate it. I think a lot of transplants just don't realize how big Chicagoland really is, and how difficult it is to traverse the metro area during rush periods.

We see these threads all of the time. If you're single and in your 20's and want to live in the city, don't take a job in the far western suburbs. Just don't.

[chet everett]

The tough thing is not just the "scale" of the commute to a farther suburb like Naperville from near to the lake parts of Chicago like Wrigleyville, it that you are traversing multiple traffic choke points none of which have any real alternatives.

The Kennedy, Chicago main expressway linking the Loop to O'Hare is among the nation's most traveled / congested /high volume freeways. That links to the Eisenhower via a notorious junction after traversing many north side neighborhoods as well a the various on ramps to the Loop. Heading west on the Ike traffic builds and then a lane is LOST as "finger" to those in Oak Park and western suburbs who objected to the width of the expressway. Continuing west the Ike junction with 294 is the start of another bottleneck that continue through the start of I-88. Further west the junction of 355 add traffic to the mess and then the lack of sufficient N-S streets though Naperville means that most regional traffic clogs Rt 59...

Capacity constraints and desires for "new houses" and shinier office has pulled folks out even further so lots of people that may have once had offices in Oak Brook have seen shifts to towns further out and that really hurts overall travel times.

[Chicago60614]

Well from Wrigleyville you would probably be better just jumping on Lakeshore at Irving or Belmont depending on where you live and then going lower Wacker to I-290. I wouldn't ever mess with the Kennedy. Lakeshore and Wacker actually move you really good - the problems will be once you're on 290 it becomes a nightmare around 1st Ave/Harlem, etc. Then I-88 can easily get messy.

As everyone else said - don't do it.

[marothisu]

I agree with Chet. There's multiple bottlenecks and even when you aren't on bottlenecks in some parts, the slowness of the traffic goes on for a long time. Wrigleyville to Naperville via car everyday would seriously suck. Pick something along or close/close-ish to I-290 in Chicago if you want to live in the city (i.e. University Village, Ukrainian/East Village) or pick a suburb close to Chicago with a semblance of nightlife like Oak Park or Forest Park that can be easy to get into the city from as well.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I don't, it's stupid. Either live and work in the city, or live and work in Naperville. I've known lot's of people who have tried these reverse commutes from the city, and they all hate it. I think a lot of transplants just don't realize how big Chicagoland really is, and how difficult it is to traverse the metro area during rush periods.

We see these threads all of the time. If you're single and in your 20's and want to live in the city, don't take a job in the far western suburbs. Just don't.

Yeah, I had a friend from Iowa who lived in my condo along the north lakefront for 7 months while I was living with my BF down the road in Lakeview. He loved living in the city, and just moved out to Route 59 in Naperville a few months ago cause that's where he is opening his business. Even after he moved out he kept trying to convince himself and us that he was just going to be "across town" type of thing. He would say we should come out and see him to grill dinner, or he'd pop into the city and still hang out with us all the time. I cried BS on it and tried to make sure he understood that all of us friends of his - who don't own cars by the way - will probably NOT be schlepping out to Naperville for dinner on some random Wednesday evening.

After a few weeks and him trying to come into the city as if that were a natural little jaunt to make he finally started understanding that he lived a LONG ways away from the north lakefront area. Every time he asked us to come have dinner with him we just stared like "......huh?". I'd get the "OMG THIS TRAFFIC SUCKS!!!!" texts and just nod my head....mmmhmmm.

[stephei2000]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Yeah, I had a friend from Iowa who lived in my condo along the north lakefront for 7 months while I was living with my BF down the road in Lakeview. He loved living in the city, and just moved out to Route 59 in Naperville a few months ago cause that's where he is opening his business. Even after he moved out he kept trying to convince himself and us that he was just going to be "across town" type of thing. He would say we should come out and see him to grill dinner, or he'd pop into the city and still hang out with us all the time. I cried BS on it and tried to make sure he understood that all of us friends of his - who don't own cars by the way - will probably NOT be schlepping out to Naperville for dinner on some random Wednesday evening.

After a few weeks and him trying to come into the city as if that were a natural little jaunt to make he finally started understanding that he lived a LONG ways away from the north lakefront area. Every time he asked us to come have dinner with him we just stared like "......huh?". I'd get the "OMG THIS TRAFFIC SUCKS!!!!" texts and just nod my head....mmmhmmm.

This is why it is important I feel to explore the Chicagoland area outside of your typical neighborhood circle so in case of a new job prospect, you can accurately gage if you can take that job outside of the Loop or surrounding downtown area.


I am having a similar issue with a possible reverse commute to Deerfield and would have to go on the Edens but live on the North Lakefront. In my mind already I feel that this might not be doable because I have traveled all over the Chicago area extensively, but I will see when I interview to test it out.

I would be curious if anyone has a similar commute and is it bad during rush hour.