I lived in downtown Chicago for a bit, and did indeed consider buying a folding kayak to commute to work, since I worked in the Merchandise Mart where there was river access across the street.
I've owned/own folding kayaks. The problem is that they're really not all that quick to tear down or (especially) build up. IMO definitely not the sort of thing you want to do day-to-day. (The other issue is that these companies go out of business and it's hard to make significant repairs without parts.)
I lived in downtown Chicago for a bit, and did indeed consider buying a folding kayak to commute to work, since I worked in the Merchandise Mart where there was river access across the street.