CTA – Loyola

One of the more cleaner redline stops in Chicago; also safe, from what I’ve seen so far; hell, alot better than CTA Wilson in Uptown, but CTA Wilson is a totally different review, with not as many positives. I counted a total of four Chicago Police SUV’s between CTA Loyola, and «The New 400 Theaters». Maybe there’s something i know nothing about. It can’t be that bad. I guess i just missed happy hour, when the goons come out to show they @$$es. I love that this stop has a Dunkin Donuts, and also a place to lock your bike up. :)

The female CTA employee that works there is rude. I asked her to help her tap my little brother in and she wouldn’t help us. All she said was, «Just tap your card and go,» then she walked away from us and back into her booth. Pissed me off, so we just scanned our cards and went. Then to me she said, «I told you to scan your card and walk in with him.» Well lady, why didn’t you say so earlier. I didn’t know who you were talking to. Geez.

Like the improvements and the new smoother turn or ‘angle for the dangle’
the neighborhood gots lot more going on as well.

You know the Loyola CTA station bums you out the same way the CTA frustrates you. Both are conveniences you learn to despise for their sheer fabric of your life. Damp, awkward, tight stairs and doors. A part of my world I have to travel through. Sometimes there are buckets at the bottom of the exit stairs. How many times have I seen someone waiting for the southbound train on the northbound platform? The McDonalds and Harris Bank moved out because this place is renovating. I got a survey the other day. Surrounded by gravel parking lots owned by Loyola.

There is plenty of room to wait at this station since each direction of train stops at different places. It is an older station with its share of leaks, but I don’t mind. This is my most frequently used station so it’s like a second home to me. I feel plenty safe when I am here early in the morning or late at night, but I could understand how some people wouldn’t feel as safe due to the lighting, age, and history of some bad events here. The station would benefit from better, newer lighting and recently had additional cameras installed.

For the record… people get robbed here — I’m just saying.

Loyola Red Line station — I love that you have a heating area when it’s cold. I love that you are near the University. I love that you have a Dunkin Donuts. I love that you have a Mickey D’s express (well, that’s gone now). I love that there is a CVS right nearby. You’re just so darn convenient. I love that the bus line that stops right in front will take me right to my door! YOU ROCK!
Public transportation is cheaper, more green and relatively more efficient than automobile transport. It is also inconvenient at times and the clientele can be challenging.
But, you know what? I’ll take it ANY day over sitting on LA’s freeways or taking the buses and few trains there. Ya’ll are spoiled. There, I said it. Yeah, you Chicagoans … oughta try living in LA and getting around without a car. Yea, it can be done to a certain degree. But who the hell would want to? You think these trains are bad? At least you have them. I live in an area of the city where every day, I have so many options on how to get where I’m going, it’s like a game to figure out which is best. Often, I can just catch the first bus available out of 3 and get to my destination just that quick. Or I can take the train, the bus. The train or the bus.
I got so I hardly went anywhere in LA because of the traffic. I pretty much started staying in my neighborhood. Guess what that is? Isolating. Boring. But every time I got into my car to go somewhere, I’d get so aggravated, it just wasn’t worth it.
Red Line, I love how you connect with other El trains. You’re so well designed!
I just gotta say — I also love that you connect with the Blue Line, because the fact that I can get to O’Hare Airport for so little is just —- the most awesome thing ever!