Yes, it is certainly possible to live in the middle-although probably not very practical for library research needs, etc. Chesterton, IN would be your best bet for the South Shore (Dune Park station to Hyde Park, Chicago) in that you avoid the train slow down in Michigan City. The drive to South Bend would probably be around 1 hour 15 minutes-very easy traffic going east. I would hope that maybe one of you would have a class free Monday or Friday on your schedule and could instead do an occasional 3 day weekend at U of C or Notre Dame.