11-14-06

When JR and I were looking for our new apartment, one of our top priorities was proximity to the el. Since we both take the el on a daily basis, we didn't want to put ourselves in a situation similar to our first year in Chicago, when we had to walk 15 minutes to get to the station.

That's why we were so delighted when we found a great apartment that was just a 1/2 block from an el station. Close enough to hop right on, far enough not to hear the noise of the trains.

The city is in the process of renovating all of the brown line stations. As ridership on the brown line increases, the CTA would like to upgrade from six-car trains to eight-car trains, but many of the platforms are too short to accommodate this. Additionally, the stations are not handicap accessible and many are older and in slight disrepair.

We always knew there was the potential we would be impacted by this project, but at the time we were making our decision to move, there were not concrete details about the renovation of the station nearest to us.

Well, there are concrete details available not. And they are not good. Not good at all. Our station closes on December 2nd and will remain closed for...wait for it...12 months! So what will be do in the meantime? Well, we will most likely walk 10 minutes to the next closest stop, or else take the bus east and get on at the red line Addison stop. Regardless, this news is rather unfortunate :(