Chicago Light - Rail

So I spent a week in New York City shortly after I turned twenty one. I think I stayed in Manhattan, but I'm not sure and can not be bothered to figure it out. I left with the impression that there are entirely too many people living in a relatively small area. The one thing that really impressed me about New York was the subway.

In New York you can take trains anywhere. The trains cross each other there like the streets do here and the vast majority of the system is underground. At one point it felt like I had gone six or seven stories underground, that if I were to wander of some side tunnel I would soon come across a subterranean lake and that monster lizard from Journey to the Center of the Earth. Every single thing I did in new York we were able to get to by way of the subway. It was amazing.

Then there is the sad excuse we have for public transportation we call the "EL.". Look at that map. Look at it! If you want to take a train south you have three options orange, green and red. From looking at the map a person who doesn't live in Chicago might think that these three options cover a lot of territory and any possible need. This is wrong. Those white spaces between the lines cover a great many neighborhoods. The orange line stops at midway airport. Need to go South or North anywhere along the line and you have to get a bus. Lets not talk about the bus. Need to get on this train after midnight? No can do. Late night service not provided. The drunks need to take a taxi home.

I've never been on the green line. I've never had the need. I suppose one could use it to get to the Museum of Science and industry, but first one would either have to take the Metra downtown and catch a green line back or hop the bus east and hit the red line south. Again I'd rather not discuss the evil that is the bus.

Then we have the red line. Down town it is subterranean and terrible. The individual stops are dark, and claustrophobic. The walls just look dirty even when they are clean. The walls opposite the platform have posters advertising alcohol and the smiling faces of local news personalities (I wonder how many are driven to jump in front of a drain by those evil perky smiles). When the train finally comes above ground south of the loop it is only to ride down the center of the Dan Ryan Expressway. The Dan Ryan is like a canal we decided we didn't want to build so put asphalt on it instead. There are four lanes of traffic in either direction and express lanes, and still it doesn't adequately cover the needs of Chicago Rush hour traffic. People drive on it like maniacs then when they get in accidents everyone stops to rubberneck bring forward progress to a halt. The Red Line zips down the middle of this with only a small barrier of cement and cyclone fencing to prevent any stray car from flying up onto the tracks. Walking down to any station on the path is a terror. Strong winds blow down this unnatural tunnel with traffic all around. Want a cheap adrenaline rush? Stand on one of these platforms on a windy night. You couldn't pay me enough.

It is probably the same on the North side, but being a south sider I naturally don't care about their problems.

In summary we need more trains, perhaps doing something novel like going east and west. If one were to flood the Dan Ryan a pretty big ship would be able to navigate it (after blowing up all the overpasses). South Siders fear and distrust North siders. It is genetic. And they are probably Cubs fans.

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