How Do Most Oak Park Area Residents Get to Work?

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Permalink Reply by Scott Hand on November 11, 2009 at 7:38am

Blue line in (Harlem to Chicago)
Blue line - > Green line home (Chicago to Clark/Lake to Harlem)
for some reason it's faster this way

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Permalink Reply by Russ M on November 11, 2009 at 9:10am

Hop on the bike to get to Ridgeland. Green line to Clark/Lake stop. Walk about four blocks to the office. Couldn't really ask for a better commute imho.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Richardson on November 11, 2009 at 10:06am

On most days, I make the long walk from my bedroom to the dining table where my office is set up.

There is rarely any traffic.

If that just seems like too much effort, sometimes I'll just work from my phone in bed. Either way, work doesn't really begin until the coffee is made.

If I have to go up the eighth blackbird studio, I either take the Green line to Clark/Lake and then the Brown line up to Damen or drive side streets (Central/Addison/Western). At odd hours, when I'm confident that traffic won't be horrific, I'll take the Ike to 90/94. It's actually very swift if no one is in my way.

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Permalink Reply by Amanda on November 11, 2009 at 10:33am

My husband and I work at home. It's the best. When he commuted, he would drive or carpool to Northbrook. Prior to that, he worked downtown and took the el almost exclusively.

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Permalink Reply by Abbi T on November 11, 2009 at 11:02am

I walk about two blocks to the Oak Park Blue line stop , take that to Chicago and either transfer to the red line at jackson or get off at washington and catch a bus on state up to Ontario and michigan. takes about 45 minutes. driving is about 20 but we only have one car!

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Eikmeier on November 11, 2009 at 11:37am

I walk out of my bedroom, take ten steps down the hall and turn into my 2nd bedroom, which is my office. I work from home. I really think working from home is one of the best things we can do for the environment as no transportation is necessary, we can avoid having to construct ugly office buildings (and the expressways necessary to get people to and from them) and we also avoid the additional utilities (air, heat, electricity) that it takes to keep the office buildings running. Another bonus: the time saved on the commute can be channeled back into one's community. I think many people are realizing that "work relationships" aren't quite as valuable in the long-term as relationships that can be developed right in one's own community and home. Get to know your neighbors! Volunteer! Reconnect with the friends and family right in your own space! Corporate America will not be a loyal, long-term friend. Okay, I'll get off of my soapbox now :)

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Permalink Reply by Hank Marquardt on November 11, 2009 at 11:52am

Well ... I'm a 290 user ...

On a great day, hop on at Austin west to Roosevelt to 83 S, exit 31st, surface streets to office.
On a good day, hop on at Harlem ... rest same
On a bad day, Madison to 18th Street, down to 290, rest same
On a sucky day, Roosevelt or 22nd ... make a judgement call to either continue all the way west or jog south to 31st to do same

Returning home is more consistent because 290 is *almost always* bad from 2:30p on ...

31st East to Wolf
Wolf North to 290
If 290 open to 25th, I'll stay on as it's a reliable 20 minutes in, if it's clogged to Mannheim I jump off at Mannheim up to Madison and slog my way in.

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Permalink Reply by Russ M on November 11, 2009 at 11:56am

I do think telecommuting should be utilized more. Unfortunately, office politics and the need to suck up to bosses really limits that for most professionals. Too many corporate types feel if you aren't in the office, you aren't being productive. I would say 50% of corporate jobs probably could be done from home if we didn't waste so much time in face to face meetings.

Ryan Eikmeier said:

I walk out of my bedroom, take ten steps down the hall and turn into my 2nd bedroom, which is my office. I work from home. I really think working from home is one of the best things we can do for the environment as no transportation is necessary, we can avoid having to construct ugly office buildings (and the expressways necessary to get people to and from them) and we also avoid the additional utilities (air, heat, electricity) that it takes to keep the office buildings running. Another bonus: the time saved on the commute can be channeled back into one's community. I think many people are realizing that "work relationships" aren't quite as valuable in the long-term as relationships that can be developed right in one's own community and home. Get to know your neighbors! Volunteer! Reconnect with the friends and family right in your own space! Corporate America will not be a loyal, long-term friend. Okay, I'll get off of my soapbox now :)

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Permalink Reply by Becca on November 11, 2009 at 12:19pm

Okay, all you telecommuters. Settle down. You can stop gloating now. :)

I will say that if I didn't have a 30-45 minute commute both ways, my friends and family wouldn't hear from me as often. The drive home gives me time to catch up with people.

I guess there's also a second part to my question. How do you wish you got to work every day? Would you like to bike if the west side of the city wasn't so scary? Would you ride the train if it wasn't for that pesky "last mile" issue? For me, riding the train would be swell. I'd do it in a heartbeat if I could get to my office easily.

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Permalink Reply by Russ M on November 11, 2009 at 1:41pm

I wouldn't mind the option of being able to bike to work. It is just not a pleasant drive going through the west side of Chicago though, so I can't imagine biking it.

Becca said:

Okay, all you telecommuters. Settle down. You can stop gloating now. :)

I will say that if I didn't have a 30-45 minute commute both ways, my friends and family wouldn't hear from me as often. The drive home gives me time to catch up with people.

I guess there's also a second part to my question. How do you wish you got to work every day? Would you like to bike if the west side of the city wasn't so scary? Would you ride the train if it wasn't for that pesky "last mile" issue? For me, riding the train would be swell. I'd do it in a heartbeat if I could get to my office easily.

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Permalink Reply by Heather McCowen on November 11, 2009 at 1:56pm

I walk 3 blocks to the Green line to my office in the South Loop. I WISH I could ride my bike but I won't ride it through the west side. Neither Roosevelt Road nor Madison is an option. But I wish I could!

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Permalink Reply by Dave! on November 11, 2009 at 3:36pm

You people suck. :) I am *so* jealous of the "work at home" crowd!!

I drive: Austin to Ike to 55 to LSD to 58th. It's a total pain to drive, but it's even worse to try to get to Hyde Park on PT. There are just no *efficient* ways to do it from OP that I've figured out.

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