Slog - Comments on My Ride to O'Hare http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare Traffic crawling along. Thank God--or thank Chicago's taxpayers and competent-if-corrupt leaders--for extending the El's Blue Line to O'Hare fifteen or twenty years ago. A cab to O'Hare is $40ish bucks. The El is $2. So why would anyone cab it? Oh, and it's going to be 80 fucking degrees here today--in Chicago, in late October. Something's not right. And, yes, I realize that I'm making climate change worse by flying from Chicago to Boston and not biking or skating. I did stay in Chicago for two extra days this week to avoid flying all the way back to Seattle... Copyright 2008 Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:47:55 -0800 Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:56:03 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by cressona Dear Dan (in case you're checking your comments in transit),
So we know where The Stranger is on Prop. 1. But where are you on Prop. 1?

Signed,
Seeking signs of Stranger sanity

]]> cressona http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827740 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827740 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:49:36 -0800 Comment by June Bee Hey Dan,
Did you see the Fullerton stop? The one where you can switch red, green, purple, maybe brown? They're replacing the track entirely!! Great 5 min layover there- lumpy construction guys measuring styrofoam for nailing to the 2x6 bracings in order to ease I assume tension pressure against the rebar. fascinating

]]> June Bee http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827741 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827741 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:50:28 -0800 Comment by Michigan Matt The train also goes to Midway Airport there in Chicago which is equally fantastic. It's a much more awesome trip into the city that way than by cab--at least I think so. And the train in DC takes you right to Washington National's door. Sigh. I love trains.

]]> Michigan Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827742 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827742 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:50:55 -0800 Comment by Michigan Matt It IS late October. The only seasonal cues we've had in the midwest, it seems, are the shorter days and changing leaves. My job's mostly an outdoor job, and it's been crazy warm. Yesterday I wore short sleeves. Today it's going to be in the mid-70s. Wacky!

]]> Michigan Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827743 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827743 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:55:08 -0800 Comment by James "Wacky"?... If I were in the midwest right now, I'd call that freaky.

]]> James http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827748 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827748 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:12:55 -0800 Comment by eloise I've been saying for ages that Chicago is going to become the new resort hotspot as the global climate changes... Buy your villa on lake michigan before everyone else figures that out!

]]> eloise http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827751 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827751 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:16:53 -0800 Comment by James Eloise at #6:

But, isn't Lake Michigan drying up?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/weather/chi-mxaweatherbottom100207oct02,0,5981251.story

]]> James http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827753 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827753 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:21:28 -0800 Comment by Michigan Matt @6 "Wacky" makes it sound less scary. Freaky would induce panic. Our winters have been pretty warm (no long underwear!) these past few years for at least half the winter and then normal the other half. And the USDA plant hardiness zones keep changing, too. Plants overwinter here now that NEVER used to make it through our winters.

And here we thought it was only our economic status that was making Michigan part of the American South!

]]> Michigan Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827755 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827755 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:26:35 -0800 Comment by Michigan Matt And by @6 I meant @5. I need more sleep. . .

]]> Michigan Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827756 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827756 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:31:38 -0800 Comment by kinaidos My one beef with the Red Line to O'Hare is that it has no accomodations for luggage. In Paris the Metro to DeGaulle has luggage racks (if they haven't blocked them off to prevent terrorists from putting bombs there yet).
My favorite mass-transit ride from an airport is in Mexico City, where it's a blast trying to squeeze into a packed metro-car with a bunch of luggage. But there I realize that the main reason the metro stops at the airport is to provide airport workers with a way to get there and back.

]]> kinaidos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827759 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827759 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:37:15 -0800 Comment by Peter Drudge is STILL online in 2007? Why?

And did anyone actually think the security screening at airports was successfully stopping any would-be terrorists?

]]> Peter http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827760 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827760 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:37:25 -0800 Comment by mary-kate No no no! The Blue Line is a god-awful mess since nearly the entire track is considered a "slow zone." I've been to Chicago twice in the past month. The first time I flew into O'Hare and it took us almost 2 hours (!) to get to Lakeview via the el (blue to brown). Last weekend I got smarter, flew into Midway, and cut my travel time in half (orange to brown). That said, on both return trips I had to take the horror that is Metro bus 174, so maybe the blue line wasn't so bad after all.

]]> mary-kate http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827765 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827765 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:54:05 -0800 Comment by Dan Savage Hey, Mary-Kate: Did you take the Blue Line all the way into downtown and then transfer to the Red or Brown line? That's a mistake--too much backtracking. Instead take the Blue Line to Sheridan or Addison and then grab a bus or a cab heading East to Lakeview.

]]> Dan Savage http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827768 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827768 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:59:38 -0800 Comment by Wowza @10 - You're taking the Red Line to O'Hare? Boy. I'd love to take a look at that "map" you're using...

]]> Wowza http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827791 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827791 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:25:39 -0800 Comment by maxsolomon meanwhile, amtrak passengers are being bussed between seattle & portland because a freight train derailed on the only rail line linking metropolitan regions of 2 million & 3 million people.

in front of the anderson island ferry dock, which is also blocked.

]]> maxsolomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827795 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827795 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:27:50 -0800 Comment by N in Seattle Even dead-as-a-doornail cities like St. Louis, Cleveland, and Baltimore have rail lines that run directly between the airport and downtown. Easy, convenient, inexpensive.

Meanwhile, in Seattle...

]]> N in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827800 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827800 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:34:25 -0800 Comment by SouthSeattle I had an overnight layover in Chicago with my wife and kids, and we had a blast. Took the train downtown, did touristy stuff, and then had a nice ride back to the airport hotel. It was brilliant. We wanted to move to Chicago after that.

Of course, in Seattle we live near the new light rail that's almost finished, and we are very excited about that, too. It's so close! I'll take it to work, to the airport. Very exciting.

Go Prop 1!

]]> SouthSeattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827810 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827810 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:42:15 -0800 Comment by UC The El is great. And the #6 bus is my best friend.

]]> UC http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827811 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827811 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:44:04 -0800 Comment by Touring And they try to make Global Warming as being bad. Send some of the 80 degree October weather here. Frigin' idiots they are - warm good - cold bad - Got it?

]]> Touring http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827821 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827821 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:52:02 -0800 Comment by eloise @7 Hmm, my bad, I guess all those summer floods in the chicago area threw me off... but just give the polar ice caps a little more time and our water levels will be up and at 'em!

]]> eloise http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827825 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827825 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:55:51 -0800 Comment by C The train from Amsterdam Centraal to Schipol is lovely as well. MMMmmmm. Highed up train riding to the airport.

]]> C http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827844 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827844 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:09:13 -0800 Comment by mary-kate Hey Dan, on our return trip we took the Belmont bus to the blue line and it really didn't save us much time. The problematic stretch of the blue line is between the last 4-5 stops before O'Hare -- which are really far apart.

]]> mary-kate http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827845 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827845 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:09:23 -0800 Comment by Julie I'm with mary-kate @12 and 22. The Blue Line sucks ever since they have implemented the "slow zones" (primarily between Addison and O'Hare). The rails are in terrible shape, so the speed that the trains can travel at is significantly reduced. They are working on fixing the rails, but in the meantime, the slow zones turn what should be a 20-25 minute ride into 45-50 minutes.

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827869 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827869 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:32:47 -0800 Comment by chi type http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/552829,CST-NWS-ntsb12.article

"Competent" may be stretching it a little but, yeah, something is better than nothing.

]]> chi type http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827876 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827876 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:36:18 -0800 Comment by Julie You know the irony for me about this whole 80 degrees in October thing? I am sitting here in my office building freezing my ass off because the air conditioning is set to Arctic, so I can't even enjoy it (obviously, the irony is doubled due to the energy required to keep my office at 62 degrees).

And, Dan, I hope your flight is leaving soon, since we're supposed to have wicked storms this afternoon.

]]> Julie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827889 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827889 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 10:46:46 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle It got up to 90 in DC while I was riding the Metro there a couple of weekends ago. Nice October weather.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827926 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827926 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 11:25:21 -0800 Comment by Callie Hey Maxsolomon @15 - where did you read that? Can you link to the story? I had a New Yorker friend leave from Seattle to Portland via Amtrak yesterday morning.

]]> Callie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827974 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c827974 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:01:10 -0800 Comment by sofita It's great to hear praise for the CTA, BUT, it is going through a crisis. A bad one. No money, fare increases, service decreases, insufficient state funding...

The CTA could work great, but it's still a long way away from that.

http://transitchicago.com/news/whatsnew2.wu?action=displaynewspostingdetail&articleid=106396

]]> sofita http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c828249 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/my_ride_to_ohare#c828249 At Large Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:56:03 -0800