Commute Times in Chicago

Chris Winters, who runs the Map Collection room at Regenstein, put together an interesting map.  It shows the average work commute time for folks working outside the home in the various Chicago census tracts, according to 2000 census data.  I don't know about you, but I've always found that commute time has a great impact on quality of life, so much so that I try to live ten minutes away.  Under 20 minutes is okay, but the south side, except for Hyde Park, probably averages twice that.

Of course, one of the problems is that there are few large employers on the south side-- the University and Midway Airport are probably the largest single-site employers.  CTA L lines are rarely a choice for getting from a south side residence to either the Univ or Midway.

Comments

[Eric]

Wow, the west side is a bit of a mess too. What is most striking to me is how the commute times drop once you get out to the exurbs. I guess there really are jobs out there. ( http://www.newgeography.com/content/0065-commuting-patterns-multi-centered-urban-settings-the-case-southern-california )