Relocating from Upstate NY- Commute times to Chicago (Schererville, Munster: real estate, houses)

[goduke7]

My family is relocating from UPSTATE NY in the next 90 days. My job is primarily work from home, with a trip to Chicago or flight 2-4 times per month, nothing extreme. My wife is looking at jobs primarily in DT Chicago. Its tough to say EXACTLY where she will be working, but we are assuming somewhere downtown.

We are looking at moving to somewhere in NWI, price range $260k and under. Looks like there are some great homes in Crown Point.

Does anyone have any insight into how long the commutes are from Schererville, Crown Point, St John and Dyer. I know they will change based on proximity to expressway. Just looking for generalizations. It looks like Crown Point is 50 miles from Chicago. Does traffic flow on the toll road, or is it gridlock and stopping and taking the SS line is beneficial? We just had a baby girl, so she doesn't want a 5 hour commute each day, but the houses in Munster really don't have much of a yard.

All help is appreciated. We are not familiar with the area at all.

[svillechris]

Originally Posted by goduke7

My family is relocating from UPSTATE NY in the next 90 days. My job is primarily work from home, with a trip to Chicago or flight 2-4 times per month, nothing extreme. My wife is looking at jobs primarily in DT Chicago. Its tough to say EXACTLY where she will be working, but we are assuming somewhere downtown.

We are looking at moving to somewhere in NWI, price range $260k and under. Looks like there are some great homes in Crown Point.

Does anyone have any insight into how long the commutes are from Schererville, Crown Point, St John and Dyer. I know they will change based on proximity to expressway. Just looking for generalizations. It looks like Crown Point is 50 miles from Chicago. Does traffic flow on the toll road, or is it gridlock and stopping and taking the SS line is beneficial? We just had a baby girl, so she doesn't want a 5 hour commute each day, but the houses in Munster really don't have much of a yard.

All help is appreciated. We are not familiar with the area at all.

You're right there are a lot of different variables that would go into determining travel times. The main one is if driving, or taking the South Shore. Also really depends on where in the city you work if you take the train (walk from the train can be long). Also depends on whether you're taking the toll road or the Dan Ryan expressway up. So I'll try to stick with generalizations, all times during rush hours:

Crown Point Via toll road - hour and 10
Crown Point via Dan Ryan - hour and 25

Schererville via toll road - hour
Via Dan Ryan - hour 15

Dyer via 394 and Dan Ryan - 55 mins

St John via 394 and Dan Ryan - hour

Also FYI with the EZ Pass, the toll road to Chicago is about $4 each way.

In just about every scenario, taking the South Shore would add 5-15 mins each way because the train stations are a pretty good drive north from all of these towns. People generally take the train to save money, not time. Gas, tolls and parking really add up.

[domergurl]

There are great homes in Crown Point, but the commute can be hectic. At least taking the South Shore will afford you some time not sitting in traffic and you can read, sleep, etc. If we moved back to the region, we would look at Munster or Chesterton, probably leaning toward Chesterton since the Duneland station is close and the EC station can get sketchy, especially at night.

Schools in both are good ... Munster is better, but chesterton is very good too.

[svillechris]

Originally Posted by domergurl

There are great homes in Crown Point, but the commute can be hectic. At least taking the South Shore will afford you some time not sitting in traffic and you can read, sleep, etc. If we moved back to the region, we would look at Munster or Chesterton, probably leaning toward Chesterton since the Duneland station is close and the EC station can get sketchy, especially at night.

Schools in both are good ... Munster is better, but chesterton is very good too.

Yeah Chesterton is a nice town, but I would probably only recommend that if the person would always be driving into Chicago. The train ride from Dune Park to Chicago is an hour 20, so adding on the drive to the station and walking to your place of work, door to door would be over an hour and a half. Driving the toll road would be a shade over an hour but like I said before, gas parking and tolls really add up quick and daily commuting costs would probably exceed $25. If your employer had parking for free, then it may be worth it.

[smobud]

If you were commuting I would go with Chesterton all the way around. The toll road, 80/94, and the South Shore are right there. <mod edit, no advertising real estate agents>