The post you responded to said they weren't doing Evanston...

Reread his post...Evanston is no longer under consideration.

Driving from the city to either Skokie or Lincolnwood around 5pm will be a nightmare, and that's just in the Summer. I would totally consider L to/from Skokie: Skokie Swift and Purple Line Express should not take longer than 40 min or so.

Thanks for the input. This seems like an unwinnable situation for me (still trying to convince mrs. mlbcard to find a job in the city). I figure with the metra and the shuttle from union station to NMH, it'll take about an hour each way. Is that on par with driving to sauganash, lincolnwood or skokie, or a little longer?

Probably a wash most days, less than an hour in the morning, but well more at night. There will be some days (usually weather related) where it will be simply appalling how bad the traffic can be.

Why is the Mrs tied to northbrook? available transfer at current company?

No, but her dream job is there with a position available.

Come visit, rent a car, and try the commute a couple times when you'd be driving to see what you think.

In snow/ice it is really really bad, IMO. Accidents to get around, delays, stress...

Then try the Metra/shuttle.

Have you considered Glenview? Pretty close to Northbrook, and there are nice housing developments close to Metra and Tri-State (I-294), although the actual train ride is closer to 45 min, as compared to 25 min from Evanston.

I used to do consulting for NMH about 20 years ago and I am very familiar with the commute. There are 2 different bus options from the train stations to NMH. One is the NMH shuttle. The other is the 120/121 busses run by the CTA. The NMH shuttle will take you directly to the Med Center campus and the CTA drops you off about 2 or 3 blocks south of the campus. In either case you have to allow 20 or 30 minutes to get from the train stations to your office.

If you choose to live in the Sauganash area, there is a train stop in Edgebrook (Devon and Central). That would take you about an hour to get to NMH.

If you choose Skokie, you can take the CTA from Skokie to Howard Street and then take the CTA to Chicago & State. That is about a 5 block walk to NMH. From Skokie you can also take the train from Morton Grove to Union Station as well (the same line that goes to Edgebrook, just the next stop north).

Personally, I would also look at other suburbs along the other commuter rail lines. There are a lot of very nice communities having excellent school systems that are a suprisingly short communute on the train from downtown.

In any event, I would avoid driving at all costs.

Can you let me know which other suburbs you're thinking of? Thanks.

I wonder why the op has rejected living closer to NMH? There are neighborhoods as nice as Skokie, Evanston and Lincolnwood and the commute would be measured in minutes.

I understand - I'd like to know why.

For dual commutes to NMH and Northbrook, Evanston isn't bad. Multiple train options to the city and a not-horrible drive to Northbrook.

Of course, Glenview, Skokie, Wilmette, etc are probably easier to get to Northbrook and not too much longer by train. I'd say Glenview and Wilmette are nicer by a long shot than Skokie, but Evanston is nicer than any of them. It has a nice faux-city feel.

Basically any place near one of the Metra stations on the Union Pacific North line, Milwaukee District North line, North Central Service, or the Union Pacific Northwest line.

http://metrarail.com/content/metra/e...ystem_map.html

I live near the Mount Prospect station on the UP NW line and I can get downtown in less than 40 minutes on one of the express trains. I don't know if the NW line would be good for your wife's commute to Northbrook. I can get to the Lake-Cook Rd exit on I-294 in 20-25 minutes in rush hour traffic.

Just a note of caution that North Central does not operate on weekends.

My rationale remains that it's not smart to commit both people to a commute. Let one person live close to work and the other commute by train. The person who lives close can be home in minutes and then tend to things like after-work errands, getting dinner started, walking the dog, whatever, while the person with the long commute can get home later but not have to worry about chores.