Wrigley Field (Parking, Directions, etc...)

[billyhallfan]

My Dad and I are going to make the trip to Chicago to watch the Brewers and Cubs on June 29th, I've heard that the best way to get to the park is to ride a light rail and park somwhere else. Where? Can someone give me some advice, not in a bad part of town either?

 

Thanks, I know these are answered all the time, sorry!

[bball123h2]

I always drive in and park in one of the surrounding neighborhoods for free (long walk, but worth it to me). Also, to leave the game (assuming you drive), take Irving Park Rd., which is north of Addison. Traffic on Addison is always horrendous, while traffic has been ok on Irving Park every time I've used it.

[berniebrewer4life]

If you are coming from the Milwaukee area, i recommend taking the Skokie Line(yellow). That leads right into the red line, which stops right next to wrigley. Real cheap($5 parking, $2 dollars each way for the El).

[Athens Badger]

We paid like 20 bucks to park by the Taco Bell right across from the main entrance at Wrigley. A bit costly, but we were a very short walk to and from the park. I think the conveniece was worth the price.

[gypcasino]

No, it's not in a bad part of town. And yeah, if you're willing to spend the money I'd say the best way is to drive there and park as close as you can.

[billyhallfan]

bernie--is there a site I can go to to look up info? Also, those don't go through bad parts of town do they?

 

Thanks.

[bball123h2]

Wrigleyville seems, at least to me, like the East side of Milwaukee. I've never felt threatened walking back to my car, nor has anything happened to my car.

[gypcasino]

You'll be fine on public transportation. I went to California with my dad and the Blue Line stopped in Watts and Compton and I never felt unsafe.

[berniebrewer4life]

BHF,

 

www.transitchicago.com/ma.../rail.html

 

That's a map of all the stops. It doesn't really go thru any bad parts of town, you only need to transfer once. Besides, during a cubs game, it will be filled with fans anyways.

[billyhallfan]

bernie,

 

is there any advantage to taking the yellow line first, it looks to me that one might as well just get on the red line to befin with, is that possible?

[OutoftheBallpark]

Skokie swift/yellow line is a great option, as berniebrewer4life said. (take the Dempster Exit off of 94, 5001 Dempster St., Skokie, IL) And it's just about 30 minutes on the train to the field. But just remember that it ONLY operates on weekdays. Otherwise... the Howard stop of the Red line(1649 W Howard St) has a park and ride for $2 as well... but it's a bit shady and further East, so you're in the car a bit longer to get to it.

 

And honestly... there really aren't any scary neighborhoods in the immediate Wrigley area... so as another guy mentioned... get off at Irving Park road... and start looking for a spot around Ashland... or Greenview (turn left/north and don't try to park once you get past Clark though). Then you have a 20 minute walk to the park... which is fun and free. (there are night game parking restrictions in the neighborhoods... but that doesn't apply for these day games.)

 

And lastly... while this doesn't help you for Friday's game, the Cubs operate a shuttle and parking service at the DeVry University campus located off Addison St. and Western Avenue for all WEEKEND and NIGHT games. For $6.00 you can park your vehicle and everyone can ride the free shuttle to and from the ballpark. The first shuttle leaves two and one half hour prior to the game. The shuttle runs for one hour after all Night Games and for two hours after all Weekend Day Games.

chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/...ctions.jsp

 

Oh yeah... and there's a GREAT free website with even MORE Wrigley info www.outoftheballpark.com Wait... that's my username here. What a coincidence, eh? Okay... so I'm shilling. But check out the Valuable discounts section... there's some nice coupons for restaurants and shops in the area if you feel like checking things out. Even a few 20% off your restaurant tab before the game deals.

[Badger OKC]

When I went to a Brewers/Cubs game years ago, my friends and I went to the ESPNZone (Wabash and Ohio I think) and then took the Red line out to the Wrigley.

[homer]

You could also park near the Brown Line and take that to Belmont and transfer to the Red (or just get off at Belmont and walk - it's like 1/2 a mile to the park) Any Brown line stop south/east of Kedzie is in a really nice neighborhood ( I think the governor lives near the Francisco stop). I live really close to the Western stop and you should be able to find street parking on game day no problem. Just exit I94 at Peterson, go east to western and hang a right. The stop is actually above Western Ave about 1.5 miles south of Peterson.

[billyhallfan]

ok, so...

 

 

My Dad and I are going this friday, instead of taking the yellow line, he wants to just get on the red line, is that easy, the way I see it, and please someone tell me if I'm wrong, we would take 94 to Howard and then get off park and ride from Howard to Addison, is that correct? Also is the train station/park and ride easy to get to/see off of Howard, we have never been to that part of Chicago before...

 

Thanks for all the help, I am really excited, even though we have horrible seats.

[Jimbo]

I had to use the train station at Howard last year. It's a long drive in from 94. I think Howard bends a bit just before the station. Need to keep your eyes open. It's located next to a small shopping center. There's a multi-level parking ramp. Go there. $2 I think, pay as you exit. Then you walk up the stairs to the train entrance. Feed cash or credit in the machine to produce your ticket.

[billyhallfan]

so off of I-94, which way do I need to go on Howard.

 

 

I could really use some help guys, my dad and I are clueless.

[1992casey]

It looks like you're headed for 1649 W. Howard Street. Plugging in Kenosha as an arbitrary starting point, here are mapquest directions. Step 8 is about the point where you should be concerned.

 

Here's Wikipedia's Red Line page.

[billyhallfan]

why is that a thing to be concerned about, a lot of traffic?

 

Thanks a lot Casey, I really appreciatte it.

[1992casey]

When I said 'being concerned', I meant it's the spot where you should start paying attention so you're ready for your exit.

 

I'm glad mapquest popped up a route using Dempster as the exit. You'll be exiting the Edens before reaching the Kennedy. The Edens is a fairly calm stretch of road; the Kennedy isn't.

 

EDIT: always figure on a lot of traffic! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[valpocrewsader]

Adding to the knowledge base....

 

I went to Wrigley last night for the first time with a friend who was also going for the first time. Those who talk about simply parking in the surrounding neighborhoods have my attention because every single neighborhood we drove through west of the field was "Permit Only" on both sides of the streets. (With hardly any open spots anyways.)

 

We ended up finding free parking a block south of Addison on Paulina St (two blocks west of Ashland). There's a school there on the east side of the street with about 20 or so angled parking spots in front. Over half the spots were open 15 minutes before game time. Only signage there said that there was no parking during the school day and that you had to back your car in (it's reverse-angle parking). The walk is one mile and straight down Addison. There were other people walking further.

 

Map of Route

 

In the future, I would probably just go directly to this spot and park immediately rather than trying to find anything closer. (Either that, or pay to park. We considered this yesterday, but a lot of the "parking lot" options seemed shady.)

[funkyplaidcoat]

I usually walk from my house and there's always plenty of parking in my neighborhood. Just look for the Popeyes on Addison and start looking for parking.

 

Also: I've been meaning to fly a brewers flag on my porch after games to make that drive home even longer for cubs fans...does anybody have an extra brewers flag they could sell me...i'll meet ya at the game tomorrow and we'll pick fights. PM me.

[billyhallfan]

thanks for all the help guys, let's just say that is one of the wordt experiences of a baseball stadium that I have ever been too.

 

But getting there was fine.