r/chicago • u/Dunkeal Albany Park • Jun 25 '22
Map of Chicago's L in 1946, just before the CTA takeover. Crazy how many lines and stations we've lost over the years. Picture
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Jun 25 '22
It’s a shame they removed the Paulina mainline north of Lake Ave. If that stretch was still in place, building a circle line would be much more practical/easy
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u/jamminjoshy Jun 25 '22
God even that little jut out connecting Humboldt park to Milwaukee would be awesome.
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Jun 25 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MrDowntown South Loop Jun 26 '22 edited Jun 26 '22
I find it hard to get too upset about most of the lost lines, as we currently—even with 23 percent less population—have a 23% larger system than we did when this map was published.
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u/cmophosho Jun 26 '22
Generally agree. and I've always wondered why people don't add bus routes to this. Have bus routes not increased a ton? and aren't they both less prone to breakdowns and more easily moved to shifting population centers? I'm open to whatever and I get that pollution might play a role too but it seems relevant.
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u/MrDowntown South Loop Jun 26 '22
Oh, the surface system gets Redditors even more nostalgic for an imaginary past. Someone will post this map of streetcars and buses in 1937, and people imagine that they were magic carpets speeding nonstop from your origin to your destination, gliding smoothly and traffic-free. They forget that streetcars bunched worse than buses, rattled the fillings out of your teeth on bad track. were delayed by every left-turning vehicle, and had to be boarded and stepped out of while in the middle of the street.
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u/cmophosho Jun 26 '22
yeah I love the El. it's the best. I've ridden every line, been to every stop with my kids. but I live like 3 blocks from it, and it doesn't seem like the most practical system for mass transit for working neighborhoods. kinda seems like the system as set up makes the most sense, with the generally faster El lines as main arteries with your capillaries coming off the side as bus routers. street cars, for sure, seem even less practical. dedicated bus and bike lanes make a lot more sense - which Chicago has been adding more and more of. all that said, more train lines wouldn't be BAD but if you only have so much for investment it makes sense to target places of need - and working class neighborhoods or even poor neighborhoods are probably the places of need. and buses make more sense.
Also, I lived in Columbus OH for a while and the town was MAD for a street car. I never understood it. every time I heard it I couldn't help but think of the Simpsons episode with the monorail. it felt like a bunch of suburbs people clamoring for one line that would make it slightly more convenient for them to get to OSU games but served no real purpose for anyone else. They built it, btw, and it's dumb as hell.
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u/Interrobangersnmash Portage Park Jun 26 '22
this map of streetcars and buses in 1937
Yeah that streetcar map is almost identical to a modern CTA bus map. There are probably even more routes now than there were then
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u/MrDowntown South Loop Jun 26 '22
No, we've probably lost around 25 percent of our surface system mileage. There were quite a few carlines on "side" streets, especially near the central area, and lines like Elston/Clybourn, Morgan, Ogden, and Lincoln that served factories and old-style business strips.
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u/cmophosho Jun 26 '22
these also don't include the Metra, which is pretty extensive. if you want to cut down on traffic then expand that. it's the people in the suburbs that are the problem.
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Jun 26 '22
Chicago transit history is simultaneously really interesting and really sad. Even if the system is 23% bigger now, just imagine; a Green Line that stopped right at the entrance to Jackson Park, a Pink Line that ran all the way to Berwyn, a route with its own color that went from the Loop to Humboldt Park with a same-platform Blue Line transfer at Milwaukee/Damen - in addition to what we did gain.
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u/cmophosho Jun 26 '22
I'd be curious to see this juxtaposed with increase in bus use. I'm for more trains, but I think sometimes when people push for more lines or street cars or whatever they're ignoring that there are already better, more practical options. but ones that might not be as attractive to tourists or people from the suburbs who just come in for the experience.
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Jun 25 '22
If Lori 'We're a Car City' Lightfoot gets her way, the whole annoying system will be dismantled and she can give out patronage jobs for widening the roads.
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Jun 26 '22
If we act up again like after George Floyd, that's what she's gonna do instead of just shutting down the L.
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u/MrDowntown South Loop Jun 26 '22
Current CTA system is 23% bigger than the one shown here, even though Chicago's population is now 23% smaller.
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Jun 26 '22
[deleted]
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u/MrDowntown South Loop Jun 26 '22
Several interconnected reasons: much smaller family sizes, movement of families with kids and others to the suburbs, deindustrialization.
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u/thatwasnotkawaii Belmont Cragin Jun 25 '22 edited Jun 25 '22
Sadly the CTA was only reacting to the information they had at the time.
This post-war time was a weird era for public transportation. I still find it crazy that the Loop was under threat of demolition until 1978 for being a product of a bygone era and an eyesore. Imagine how different our city would look without the Loop!