Rays Fan's First Trip to Wrigley. Help!

[Outshined_One]

Wow, thank you for the advice! Yeah, I'm thinking that driving the entire way is a bit silly. This is the sentiment I'm getting from a family friend in New Lenox. Anyhow, I'm only there for a day; my return flight is Sunday. I'm really looking forward to seeing Wrigley for the first time, though.

 

Ahhhhhhh, tough luck. If you have some time for lunch on Sunday or want to fill up pre-concert on Saturday, I'd recommend an Italian beef sandwich from Al's (dry, sweet peppers) and a small lemon Italian lemonade from Mario's at the very least. I used to go to high school about a block from there and would eat around there all the time.

[1908]

they should have built New Comiskey in the SW suburbs

No, they should've built it in the South Loop.

[Roast]

they should have built New Comiskey in the SW suburbs

No, they should've built it in the South Loop.

Where exactly would you propose building it there? There's not a whole lot of open space there. It'd be pretty cool to have there - I just don't know where they'd put it.

 

 

EDIT:There there there there.

[Derwood]

I don't have stats to back it up, but I would guess that there are more game-attending Sox fans in the suburbs than there are in the city. If they had built the stadium just outside of the city, the season ticket sales would have been much higher. Their relatively low attendance has more to do with suburbanites not wanting to drive into that part of town than anything else

[Roast]

I don't have stats to back it up, but I would guess that there are more game-attending Sox fans in the suburbs than there are in the city. If they had built the stadium just outside of the city, the season ticket sales would have been much higher. Their relatively low attendance has more to do with suburbanites not wanting to drive into that part of town than anything else

Maybe, but currently the red line (and i'm sure there's a bus that runs there too) is the only public transportation option to get to the cell. If you move it up to the south loop then you've got trains coming from every part of the city. That also puts you a lot closer to metra and south shore trains. It's possible that whatever they may lose by people not wanting to drive to the city, they could gain in how easy it would be to get to the ballpark via public transportation.

[jersey cubs fan]

they should have built New Comiskey in the SW suburbs

No, they should've built it in the South Loop.

Where exactly would you propose building it there? There's not a whole lot of open space there. It'd be pretty cool to have there - I just don't know where they'd put it.

 

 

EDIT:There there there there.

 

There was a heck of a lot of space around the time they built new Comiskey. A tremendous amount of building in that area started in the mid 90's or later.

[Derwood]

Some would argue that they should have swapped the locations of the Comiskey and Soldier Field

[jersey cubs fan]

Some would argue that they should have swapped the locations of the Comiskey and Soldier Field

 

why?

[Derwood]

Some would argue that they should have swapped the locations of the Comiskey and Soldier Field

 

why?

 

because the Bears will draw fans wherever they play (even Champaign) while the lack of attendance to Sox games is credited (partially) to the location. the theory is that if the Sox had a lakefront ballpark that more tourist/casual fans would attend games. 8 Bears games on the south side vs. 8 on the lakefront would make zero difference in attendance

[UF Rays Fan]

Wow, thanks for all the advice guys.

 

I think I've decided to take the train from our hotel to the game, so I would need to go from the Racine stop on the blue line to Addison to the Red Line, right?

 

Looking at the transit map here, I cannot immediately figure out where I could switch trains from the blue line to the red line. Thoughts on where I could do that?

 

Again, forgive my ignorance of public transit. We have virtually none here in the area and the only time I have ever ridden a subway was in New York City, where I accidentally found myself in Brooklyn when I was trying to go north in Manhattan. I'm an idiot.

[UK1679666180]

You're correct as far as taking the Blue to Red.

 

You would make your transfer at State and Jackson.

[UF Rays Fan]

Awesome, thanks. I actually figured it out like 30 seconds after posting my query. :lol:

 

Would I be correct in assuming I would avoid buttloads of crowds if I left before the end of the game, say in the 8th (assuming it's not a very close game, of course)?

[UK1679666180]

Awesome, thanks. I actually figured it out like 30 seconds after posting my query. :lol:

 

Would I be correct in assuming I would avoid buttloads of crowds if I left before the end of the game, say in the 8th (assuming it's not a very close game, of course)?

 

It really doesn't matter when there's 41K and more people are using public transportation now than ever. You're likely going to be very crowded on the L. Having said that, I haven't taken the Red Line on the day of the game in several years.

[jersey cubs fan]

Some would argue that they should have swapped the locations of the Comiskey and Soldier Field

 

why?

 

because the Bears will draw fans wherever they play (even Champaign) while the lack of attendance to Sox games is credited (partially) to the location. the theory is that if the Sox had a lakefront ballpark that more tourist/casual fans would attend games. 8 Bears games on the south side vs. 8 on the lakefront would make zero difference in attendance

 

But why should the Bears have just given up the prime location?

[SouthSideRyan]

Awesome, thanks. I actually figured it out like 30 seconds after posting my query. :lol:

 

Would I be correct in assuming I would avoid buttloads of crowds if I left before the end of the game, say in the 8th (assuming it's not a very close game, of course)?

 

It really doesn't matter when there's 41K and more people are using public transportation now than ever. You're likely going to be very crowded on the L. Having said that, I haven't taken the Red Line on the day of the game in several years.

 

It's really not that bad after a game. With so many people going to the bars, it's not a huge hassle getting on the train. You do have to be prepared to be in a crammed train, but that goes for pretty much whenever.

[UMFan83]

Awesome, thanks. I actually figured it out like 30 seconds after posting my query. :lol:

 

Would I be correct in assuming I would avoid buttloads of crowds if I left before the end of the game, say in the 8th (assuming it's not a very close game, of course)?

 

Sure. Or you could walk a few extra blocks and get on the Sheridan stop instead of Addison. This way you get on before the mess that is the Addison stop and you'll get a seat :)

[circlechange]

I am a strong advocate of public transportation (as well as preserving all the street parking that I can around my apartment :) ) so I hesitate to say this, but if you drive and arrive early enough on Saturday and leave before the game is over you won't have too many headaches with the Cubs traffic. That would mean getting there by 10 probably (I'm assuming that it IS a 12:05 start) and you'd probably be better off parking west of Wrigley, anywhere from Racine and beyond. Parking restrictions in those areas should only be for night parking, but check the signs just to be sure. Now, driving on Saturday in and around Chicago is still a pain, so I'm not saying you'll have no traffic, but in those conditions you won't be stuck in the Cubs traffic.

 

Also, I'm not positive for how long this will go on, but for what seems like the entire summer so far the CTA has been re-routing the red line over the elevated tracks around downtown. This basically would mean that you couldn't transfer through the tunnel at the Jackson stop. I haven't yet made it as far south as Jackson when I've had to do this so I'm not sure how the transfers work, maybe someone else on here knows? Anyway, just a heads up in case that is still in effect when you're coming.

 

4) Driving to Toyota Park from your hotel is a bit...exciting... I would recommend getting on 290 East, taking it to 90/94 East, and getting on 55 South from there rather than drive down Ashland to get to 55 South. It's a bit longer and the traffic is a bit more intense, but you avoid potentially making new friends with the local criminal community in the Pilsen neighborhood (which, in fairness, is starting to go on the upswing).

Would this really be an issue on a Saturday afternoon, though? I can never remember which streets allow access to 55 so the expressway route may be easiest anyway but I don't think the neighborhood is that bad.

 

Enjoy the game and concert.