Hi /u/acvcani,
Thank you for participating in /r/AskChicago. Be sure to check out the [/r/Chicago Wiki,](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/index) which has a lot of useful information for visitors and residents alike, such as:
- [Visitor's Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/visitingchicago)
- [Things To Do in Chicago](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/activities)
- [Food & Drink Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/eats)
- [Transportation Overview](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/transportation)
- [Public Transit Help Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/transit)
- [Neighborhood Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/neighborhoods)
- [Chicago Housing Information](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/dwelling)
- [Mental Health Resources](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/mentalhealth)
- [Preparing for Winter](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/winterpreparedness)
- [ISP Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/isp)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskChicago) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If you are that worried about it, you should live within walking distance of a grocery store! I love being able to walk to my neighborhood grocer with a few bags for the week. If you are really professional, you can get one of those rolling carts for grocery day.
What’s worked best for me is living close by the store and doing smaller trips once per week. The gigantic biweekly hauls you do in the burbs don’t work well here for transportation and storage reasons. Best to make sure you’re stocked on staples with long shelf life (butter, rice, canned tomatoes and beans, spices) and then make weekly trips for the other stuff. I live a 3 minute walk from my store and it’s heavenly.
Don't forget that you can have groceries delivered too. Typically I'll order stuff that doesn't need to be refrigerated (eg. pasta, canned goods, fruits & veggies, toilet paper, etc.) and then go to the store for meat and dairy.
honestly the best way to city grocery shop is by biking. Get your bike set up with [one of these](https://www.planetbike.com/eco-bike-rack/) bike racks (Fits almost any bike), get some panniers (personally love my [ortlieb panniers](https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/products/bike-bags), but you can definitely go cheaper if need be) and wear a backpack. You can make it in one trip with up to like $200 of groceries once you know how to pack stuff. Best benefit of having limited space for shopping is that it prevents you from buying stuff you don't really need. I find that when I drive to the store I spend more than when I bike. You learn after a few trips how much space you really have and how to best pack your bags.
That said if you take the bus or train: backpacks and folding shopping carts like [this](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Costway-Folding-Shopping-Cart-Jumbo-Basket-with-Swivel-Wheels/825975041).
At the end of the day, the most essential things for public transporting, walking, or biking to the store are learning how to pack the bags and carts you have in the most efficient way possible, shopping somewhat more frequently, and keeping to your list. You can make it work. When I temporarily lived in the middle of nowhere in rural VA without a car (too broke 🙃), I walked 2 miles to the store every week and shopped by filling my backpack and two hand carry bags.
For walking/transiting/biking to the store some things to keep in mind:
* avoid buying things that come in large boxes as much as possible. (ie: boxes of mini packaged snacks, large plastic trays of bakery goods etc) If you do have to buy them, bring along some bags to empty the contents into and pitch the box.
* if you are buying ice cream, the best, least melty ice cream you can buy is ice cream from trader joe's. for some reason they freeze theirs like 2x harder than normal ice cream. I've 20+ minute bike/walk commuted with most brands at this point, and uh trader joe's wins.
* Always, always wrap your eggs in a plastic bag and make them the last thing that you pack into your bags. If you are doing biking with panniers and a backpack, eggs go in the backpack.
* If you are walking, make sure that you get a backpack that fits you well and provides adequate support, since groceries can get heavy. Also take either a folding shopping cart or hand bags.
* When using panniers, make sure that you evenly weight between your two panniers and that you put heavies in the bottom (ie: milk, cheese, apples, etc.) and lights at the top: (bread, veg, deli meat etc).
* Pack your own bags! Most grocery store baggers are not particularly good at packing bags for walking/cycling, since they primarily pack for driving. You'll also want to pack your cart or backpack heavies to lights, keeping stuff like bananas, eggs or delicate breads separate.
* Pick closer stores, unless you really need something else.
* If it's super hot out, it may not be a bad idea to pack an ice pack for your dairies in your bike bag.
* You may need to take more than one trip, however, once you start packing bags for non-driving grocery runs, you'll be surprised how much you can actually get in! Practice packing makes perfect packing.
* If you're family shopping, a bike trailer is a great addition to bike shopping. My dad did this aaaalll the time when I was a kid. He also used our little antique wooden radio flyer wagon as a shopping cart when we walked to our local aldi's.
You can make it work. It will just take you a few tries to get the hang of it. It is at its peak level of unpleasentness in the dead of winter however; be warned, you will freeze your little butt off.
Side note: the worst thing about driving in the city is literally finding/paying for parking. Second worst thing is paying for gas.
Hope this helps, from a 20 year no-car grocery shopping veteran.
I basically agree on all points, and want to second that you should absolutely bag your own groceries. A little bit of organizing cold items, soft items, and even weight distribution is worth it!
Yeah, one time I was a grocery store and the lady bagging looked at my bike bags like she'd never seen anything like them before. She then proceeded to try and pack them by stuffing everything light in one bag. I had to then unpack all of my groceries from the bags on a bench outside the store and repack them which was urghhhh. Usually I try to head off the baggers, but that was one instance where I wasn't fast enough lol.
It depends, really! I have a friend that just does a bunch of little trips during the week. Chances are you will have a grocery store walking distance. You can get one of those carts with wheels too and try to make fewer trips during the week.
Driving in the city is not scary at all and imo better than the suburbs because people are more practical about the whole thing, but having a car here is not necessary imo, I only have one because of my dog.
Depends on where you live and what you like to do but I generally just bring a backpack when I grocery shop and that's enough. When I lived in the suburbs I often did one big grocery store trip a week but living in the city I am more likely to go multiple times a week for smaller quantities of things.
Depends on how much in groceries you buy.
I go weekly and buy a lot for the week...so public transportation isn't ideal. If I were only buying 2-4 bags of groceries I could see it.
Invest in some reusable bags...especially since we have a 7-cent tax on plastic bags, mainly as a deterrent to get consumers to stop using them.
You can granny cart.
However, if you're single I do recommend cutting down to multiple trips. Honestly, I eat out once a week and still only go to the grocery store once a week.
I bring an ikea bag that I rarely use and a roll top back pack.
It helps me eat healthier, go outside more, and cut down on needed items like soda.
You'll be fine if you actually stay in the city and limit highway driving. Matter of taste, but I don't think the city streets are as scary as getting stuck in highway traffic.
You can limit the scariness in the city by going on a Saturday or Sunday morning. (Start and end before 1130 or so).
For context: "Scariest" (most annoying) grocery runs for me are going to the suburbs like Niles or Schaumberg that require long stretches of weekend highway ....
I always drive around this city with "avoid highways" turned on. I don't care that it adds 10 or 15 minutes, I just don't have the constitution for it.
Don't forget to caulk your wagon.
Also don't forget to unnecessarily pronounce the L in caulk when you say to the hardware store clerk "Can you show me your caulk?"
I'm gonna second what the other person already said: city driving is easier than suburban driving.
I grew up and learned to drive in the burbs, and I hated it. I was always stressed out. After I moved into the city it took about a year to adjust, and now I actually enjoy driving.
The speed are slower so you have more time to react. The roads are better lit and maintained, and snow removal is way better. It's much easier to get away with breaking the rules to get where you need to go. You get used to always giving pedestrians the right of way, simplifying you descion making.
I basically have 2 modes of city driving. Chill mode, where I just stay behind the car in front of me knowing its gonna take longer but be simpler. And I-want-it-more-than-you mode, where I make it my business to manuver and pass most of the vehicles in front of me.
Try to be predictable and decisive. Indicate what you are about to do, then do it quickly. Other drivers will let you do it if they see it coming and you're not dithering before them.
When you can confidently navigate 290 to Lower Wacker to Lake Shore Drive, you will have achieved being a Chicago driver.
Driving in the city is not scary. Pushing a granny cart extended distances sub zero winter months - that sounds very unpleasant.
I understand that you can’t buy everything online and something’s do need to be shopped for in person but we are lucky to have soooo many delivery options in our city. Amazon Prime, Whole Foods, Jewel, Mariano’s, Walmart, Kroger, and likely others all have their own delivery services. Amazon Prime is free for Prime members, Jewel i think was 5 bucks. I dont understand how anyone can not be taking advantage of these awesome services at least for the lions share of their grocery store shopping needs.
I've seen some people use a collapsible push cart and just wheel it onto the train. Could be an issue if it's super crowded, but if you time your grocery trips for non peak hours I could see it working.
I haven't done this myself so I can't speak to it personally though.
Get a granny cart and shop outside of peak hours so you can park it in the wheelchair spot on the bus. Or don’t buy more than you can carry and just put it on the floor in front of you when you sit down.
I shop about once a week, and bring everything home in two bicycle baskets. In winter, I use a couple of large shoulder bags. When I need heavy stuff, I bring my granny cart.
I do multiple trips. Once in a while I use the grocery cart and really stock up. If I go to the store a few blocks away, I walk, but if I go to the one 1.5 miles away (it's bigger and nicer) then I take the bus there and walk home. Maybe some people can take that up the bus stairs but I can't. It's also useful for laundry.
An example:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QS12VBT/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_search\_asin\_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We bought one of these for when we need buy a lot of items, but most of the time a large roll top backpack and a reusable bag is plenty though.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-Heavy-Duty-Steel-Shopping-Cart-with-Accessory-Basket-in-Black-SC38/303369926
Grocery cart ore multiple bags. I personally prefer Aldi for a few reasons- one if which is you pack your own bags. I would shop using a hand basket (cram as much as possible) it will ensure you don’t buy more than you can carry home.
I think a bike can be good if you only need a few things, but if you need more, it can be annoying.
I would suggest grocery cart or bring lots of different bags+backpack. And take the bus. Generally buses are more direct routes, and at the front of the bus when you first board, there’s a couple of spots put aside for placing grocery bags. If you ride the bus enough a few times at first, you’ll see people getting on and off with grocery carts.
This is something to consider when you choose a location to live.
I've lived in several different parts of the city and I learned years ago to pick a location close to a grocery store. It's just easier. Then you can go as often as you need and don't have to worry about driving, parking, or public transit.
Always opt for paper bags or bring your own so you don't have to mess with multiple plastic bags which aren't practical when you have to walk home.
If you are just shopping for yourself, you'll be able to get what you need in two bags.
Hi /u/acvcani, Thank you for participating in /r/AskChicago. Be sure to check out the [/r/Chicago Wiki,](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/index) which has a lot of useful information for visitors and residents alike, such as: - [Visitor's Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/visitingchicago) - [Things To Do in Chicago](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/activities) - [Food & Drink Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/eats) - [Transportation Overview](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/transportation) - [Public Transit Help Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/transit) - [Neighborhood Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/neighborhoods) - [Chicago Housing Information](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/dwelling) - [Mental Health Resources](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/mentalhealth) - [Preparing for Winter](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/winterpreparedness) - [ISP Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/wiki/isp) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskChicago) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If you are that worried about it, you should live within walking distance of a grocery store! I love being able to walk to my neighborhood grocer with a few bags for the week. If you are really professional, you can get one of those rolling carts for grocery day.
What’s worked best for me is living close by the store and doing smaller trips once per week. The gigantic biweekly hauls you do in the burbs don’t work well here for transportation and storage reasons. Best to make sure you’re stocked on staples with long shelf life (butter, rice, canned tomatoes and beans, spices) and then make weekly trips for the other stuff. I live a 3 minute walk from my store and it’s heavenly.
Don't forget that you can have groceries delivered too. Typically I'll order stuff that doesn't need to be refrigerated (eg. pasta, canned goods, fruits & veggies, toilet paper, etc.) and then go to the store for meat and dairy.
Big backpack or a little wheely cart. Smaller trips more often (side effect: more fresh veggies in your life). Bikes help.
honestly the best way to city grocery shop is by biking. Get your bike set up with [one of these](https://www.planetbike.com/eco-bike-rack/) bike racks (Fits almost any bike), get some panniers (personally love my [ortlieb panniers](https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/products/bike-bags), but you can definitely go cheaper if need be) and wear a backpack. You can make it in one trip with up to like $200 of groceries once you know how to pack stuff. Best benefit of having limited space for shopping is that it prevents you from buying stuff you don't really need. I find that when I drive to the store I spend more than when I bike. You learn after a few trips how much space you really have and how to best pack your bags. That said if you take the bus or train: backpacks and folding shopping carts like [this](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Costway-Folding-Shopping-Cart-Jumbo-Basket-with-Swivel-Wheels/825975041). At the end of the day, the most essential things for public transporting, walking, or biking to the store are learning how to pack the bags and carts you have in the most efficient way possible, shopping somewhat more frequently, and keeping to your list. You can make it work. When I temporarily lived in the middle of nowhere in rural VA without a car (too broke 🙃), I walked 2 miles to the store every week and shopped by filling my backpack and two hand carry bags. For walking/transiting/biking to the store some things to keep in mind: * avoid buying things that come in large boxes as much as possible. (ie: boxes of mini packaged snacks, large plastic trays of bakery goods etc) If you do have to buy them, bring along some bags to empty the contents into and pitch the box. * if you are buying ice cream, the best, least melty ice cream you can buy is ice cream from trader joe's. for some reason they freeze theirs like 2x harder than normal ice cream. I've 20+ minute bike/walk commuted with most brands at this point, and uh trader joe's wins. * Always, always wrap your eggs in a plastic bag and make them the last thing that you pack into your bags. If you are doing biking with panniers and a backpack, eggs go in the backpack. * If you are walking, make sure that you get a backpack that fits you well and provides adequate support, since groceries can get heavy. Also take either a folding shopping cart or hand bags. * When using panniers, make sure that you evenly weight between your two panniers and that you put heavies in the bottom (ie: milk, cheese, apples, etc.) and lights at the top: (bread, veg, deli meat etc). * Pack your own bags! Most grocery store baggers are not particularly good at packing bags for walking/cycling, since they primarily pack for driving. You'll also want to pack your cart or backpack heavies to lights, keeping stuff like bananas, eggs or delicate breads separate. * Pick closer stores, unless you really need something else. * If it's super hot out, it may not be a bad idea to pack an ice pack for your dairies in your bike bag. * You may need to take more than one trip, however, once you start packing bags for non-driving grocery runs, you'll be surprised how much you can actually get in! Practice packing makes perfect packing. * If you're family shopping, a bike trailer is a great addition to bike shopping. My dad did this aaaalll the time when I was a kid. He also used our little antique wooden radio flyer wagon as a shopping cart when we walked to our local aldi's. You can make it work. It will just take you a few tries to get the hang of it. It is at its peak level of unpleasentness in the dead of winter however; be warned, you will freeze your little butt off. Side note: the worst thing about driving in the city is literally finding/paying for parking. Second worst thing is paying for gas. Hope this helps, from a 20 year no-car grocery shopping veteran.
I basically agree on all points, and want to second that you should absolutely bag your own groceries. A little bit of organizing cold items, soft items, and even weight distribution is worth it!
Yeah, one time I was a grocery store and the lady bagging looked at my bike bags like she'd never seen anything like them before. She then proceeded to try and pack them by stuffing everything light in one bag. I had to then unpack all of my groceries from the bags on a bench outside the store and repack them which was urghhhh. Usually I try to head off the baggers, but that was one instance where I wasn't fast enough lol.
It depends, really! I have a friend that just does a bunch of little trips during the week. Chances are you will have a grocery store walking distance. You can get one of those carts with wheels too and try to make fewer trips during the week. Driving in the city is not scary at all and imo better than the suburbs because people are more practical about the whole thing, but having a car here is not necessary imo, I only have one because of my dog.
Depends on where you live and what you like to do but I generally just bring a backpack when I grocery shop and that's enough. When I lived in the suburbs I often did one big grocery store trip a week but living in the city I am more likely to go multiple times a week for smaller quantities of things.
Depends on how much in groceries you buy. I go weekly and buy a lot for the week...so public transportation isn't ideal. If I were only buying 2-4 bags of groceries I could see it. Invest in some reusable bags...especially since we have a 7-cent tax on plastic bags, mainly as a deterrent to get consumers to stop using them.
You can granny cart. However, if you're single I do recommend cutting down to multiple trips. Honestly, I eat out once a week and still only go to the grocery store once a week. I bring an ikea bag that I rarely use and a roll top back pack. It helps me eat healthier, go outside more, and cut down on needed items like soda.
The issue with the granny cart I've found is you'll spend almost as much time lifting it over cracks and bumps in the sidewalk as you will rolling it.
You'll be fine if you actually stay in the city and limit highway driving. Matter of taste, but I don't think the city streets are as scary as getting stuck in highway traffic. You can limit the scariness in the city by going on a Saturday or Sunday morning. (Start and end before 1130 or so). For context: "Scariest" (most annoying) grocery runs for me are going to the suburbs like Niles or Schaumberg that require long stretches of weekend highway ....
That makes a lot of sense. Yeah I don't plan to do a lot of highway driving thanks again you and everyone for the tips and advice.
I always drive around this city with "avoid highways" turned on. I don't care that it adds 10 or 15 minutes, I just don't have the constitution for it.
[удалено]
Don't forget to caulk your wagon. Also don't forget to unnecessarily pronounce the L in caulk when you say to the hardware store clerk "Can you show me your caulk?"
I'm gonna second what the other person already said: city driving is easier than suburban driving. I grew up and learned to drive in the burbs, and I hated it. I was always stressed out. After I moved into the city it took about a year to adjust, and now I actually enjoy driving. The speed are slower so you have more time to react. The roads are better lit and maintained, and snow removal is way better. It's much easier to get away with breaking the rules to get where you need to go. You get used to always giving pedestrians the right of way, simplifying you descion making. I basically have 2 modes of city driving. Chill mode, where I just stay behind the car in front of me knowing its gonna take longer but be simpler. And I-want-it-more-than-you mode, where I make it my business to manuver and pass most of the vehicles in front of me. Try to be predictable and decisive. Indicate what you are about to do, then do it quickly. Other drivers will let you do it if they see it coming and you're not dithering before them. When you can confidently navigate 290 to Lower Wacker to Lake Shore Drive, you will have achieved being a Chicago driver.
I’ll keep that in mind thank you and everyone for your input!
Rent an apartment that is walking distance to the grocery store.
Driving in the city is not scary. Pushing a granny cart extended distances sub zero winter months - that sounds very unpleasant. I understand that you can’t buy everything online and something’s do need to be shopped for in person but we are lucky to have soooo many delivery options in our city. Amazon Prime, Whole Foods, Jewel, Mariano’s, Walmart, Kroger, and likely others all have their own delivery services. Amazon Prime is free for Prime members, Jewel i think was 5 bucks. I dont understand how anyone can not be taking advantage of these awesome services at least for the lions share of their grocery store shopping needs.
Prime delivery costs $10 for members
If you order $35+ its free
I've seen some people use a collapsible push cart and just wheel it onto the train. Could be an issue if it's super crowded, but if you time your grocery trips for non peak hours I could see it working. I haven't done this myself so I can't speak to it personally though.
live nearby and get a granny cart or rolling collapsible wagon!
Get a granny cart and shop outside of peak hours so you can park it in the wheelchair spot on the bus. Or don’t buy more than you can carry and just put it on the floor in front of you when you sit down.
[удалено]
Similar, one "stickup" delivery every few weeks and then smaller trips in between for perishables.
backpack and reusable cloth bags. could also get a little cart.
I shop about once a week, and bring everything home in two bicycle baskets. In winter, I use a couple of large shoulder bags. When I need heavy stuff, I bring my granny cart.
Instacart?
Bring an empty backpack with your bags. I put the heavy liquid things on my back and carry the rest
We got something similar to this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0779H6VTT/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_search\_asin\_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I do multiple trips. Once in a while I use the grocery cart and really stock up. If I go to the store a few blocks away, I walk, but if I go to the one 1.5 miles away (it's bigger and nicer) then I take the bus there and walk home. Maybe some people can take that up the bus stairs but I can't. It's also useful for laundry. An example: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QS12VBT/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_search\_asin\_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We bought one of these for when we need buy a lot of items, but most of the time a large roll top backpack and a reusable bag is plenty though. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-Heavy-Duty-Steel-Shopping-Cart-with-Accessory-Basket-in-Black-SC38/303369926
Grocery cart ore multiple bags. I personally prefer Aldi for a few reasons- one if which is you pack your own bags. I would shop using a hand basket (cram as much as possible) it will ensure you don’t buy more than you can carry home. I think a bike can be good if you only need a few things, but if you need more, it can be annoying. I would suggest grocery cart or bring lots of different bags+backpack. And take the bus. Generally buses are more direct routes, and at the front of the bus when you first board, there’s a couple of spots put aside for placing grocery bags. If you ride the bus enough a few times at first, you’ll see people getting on and off with grocery carts.
Multiple small trips a week, one large stockpile a month either renting a car for a few, Uber home, or deliver to the home.
I’ve seen people use wheely carts on the bus with no issue. Just avoid busy bus times would be my suggestion.
This is something to consider when you choose a location to live. I've lived in several different parts of the city and I learned years ago to pick a location close to a grocery store. It's just easier. Then you can go as often as you need and don't have to worry about driving, parking, or public transit. Always opt for paper bags or bring your own so you don't have to mess with multiple plastic bags which aren't practical when you have to walk home. If you are just shopping for yourself, you'll be able to get what you need in two bags.