glg

Really? I'm not there quite as frequently (I usually get frustrated at that store because it won't have what I needed and I end up having to go to Elston), but I have never once seen an attendant there. The notes on spothero about validated parking for HD/Guitar Center are odd because I've never once seen the gates in use, they've always been up.

My recommendation would be to park at Rosemont or Cumberland Blue Line as you originally planned, this will cut your city driving down. Both stops are easily accessible from the highway. Rosemont has a lot, Cumberland has a garage. Take the Blue Line to Belmont. When you get to the Belmont stop, you can either Uber or take the bus to Boystown. If it's not too late when you're inbound, the bus will be fine (and cheap, the transfer from the L will be 25 cents). At the end of the night, Uber back to the Belmont Blue Line.

Howard has a garage attached to the station, so safety isn't a big issue. However, it's far from the expressway, it's a slog to get there from Schaumburg (I used to live in Evanston just north of there and worked in Schaumburg and it was just ... ugh).

If you're not used to city driving, I wouldn't recommend driving to Boystown or Home Depot, the parking is a nightmare. That Home Depot garage I'm just not sure on, as I said in my other post, I've never seen it attended. It's like they originally intended to charge for it with free parking for customers, but they gave up on it. The arms are always up. So, I'd question if the spothero listing is dated and was never removed. ie, you may be risking your car getting towed if you park there.