Passenger Trains > Chicago's 'L' System Is Mostly Located "Next to the Alleys"

Starting in 1892, Chicago’s ‘L’ system steel elevated railroads were mostly finished by 1910. Unlike Eastern cities, Chicago had room to spare. Every block had an alley in the middle. Except the Lake St. ‘L’ and the downtown ‘L’s with over the street ROW, the rest of the ‘L’ system  built their tracks at the next to the alley position, on purchased land at the rear of lots. This picture shows the ‘L’ alley placement, the old Jackson Park  branch at 59th St. junction. A southbound Green line train rumbles across the Englewood tracks as it heads to Cottage Grove terminal. The Jackson Park branch was built in 1893. The steel is marking its 130 year anniversary and is still going strong.
David Harrison 

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Yes, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has memories of rumbling past uncovered bedroom windows on the Howard Line, especially on warm summer evenings, and seeing things that I wasn't really meant to see. Trouble was, you were moving fast enough that, by the time your eyes and your brain had a chance to react to the scene, you had already passed! lol

SensiblySarcastic Wrote:
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> Yes, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has
> memories of rumbling past uncovered bedroom
> windows on the Howard Line, especially on warm
> summer evenings, and seeing things that I wasn't
> really meant to see.

You most definitely were not the only person to have had that experience. And not just on the Howard Line.

Nice image and commentary. The "El Alley" is something often forgotten, even by Chicagoans. Nice job and image to remind us all, even former residents like me, of its role. Cool seeing that junction from the perspective. And I must say, I have some respect for you venturing to that location for the image. Sadly, not one of Chicago's safest neighborhoods.

MC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/25 14:38 by ironmtn.

Neat shot! I've been doing a lot of research on the 'L' and live closest to the Green Line not far from that photo. It is incredible to think that the structure dates to 1893 and originally was under steam power! I've noticed to that the South Side 'L' seems to sit lower than the other lines and gives an even more of a neighborhood feel.

I just got off the Green Line from 47th a bit ago and I think anyone who hasn't been around for awhile doesn't know how much potential it has (if other disasterous national catastrophe is ignored.) The Red Line's only advantage on the South Side is that it is quick because the stops are far apart, but the detriment is that they are nearly all in a highway with nothing walkable on either side, so they rely heavily on bus connections.

Meanwhile, the Green Line runs entirely through neighborhoods and has high walkability along the entire route, from Oak Park all the way to Ashland or Cottage Grove. It still is a pretty speedy 15-20 minutes to the Loop from the south side, and all my recent weekly riding has shown >10 min headways regardless of the time of day, which is the kind of consistency that makes it an easy choice.

Two areas along the Green Line are also changing in way that benefits from it's walkability and accessibility. The West Loop is booming and has a new Damen station that was much needed. Farther South, there has been a lot of housing added in Bronzeville in recent years, most notably two high rise buildings directly next to the 43rd stop. Those buildings mimic what has been happeneing for years along the trendy Blue Line, but are just a beginning at 43rd. More surely could come, like resturants, stores, and at that location even a long-hoped-for restoration of "The Forum" theater.

Thank you for this information. It's great to hear that the line is doing well, and has a high level of service. 10 minute headways with walkability will make a rider out of almost anybody. That's extremely convenient by any measure, particularly in a very large city like Chicago. I was not under the impression that the line was doing that well, and had that level of service amid various CTA cutbacks. That's wonderful news.

And it's also great to hear that there is development going on along the Green Line. I was aware of some of that from various news reports here and there, but it's good to have the confirmation from someone local who knows the line well. The development in the historic Bronzeville area is particularly notable.

As a former Chicagoan who used public transit heavily during the years I lived there, and who still visits the city regularly from my retirement home a few hours away in Michigan (I was there just last weekend once again, and came into the city on the South Shore Line), it has always been one of the city's most notable characteristics in the way it has renewed itself and its neighborhoods time and again. Like many cities, it has more than its share of problems, and some of them are very demanding. But the Chicago spirit of renewal and revitalization has always been a key theme of the city's history. Glad that it remains so along the Green Line today.

MC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/09/25 21:27 by ironmtn.

Hot off the press, here is what 43rd now looks like as of an hour ago. As far as I can tell, aside from downtown-ish (Morgan to Roosevelt) this is the most housing units concentrated next to a stop on the entire Green Line. The building on the left is so new it doesn't show in satellite images and it may not yet be occupied. If you lived here, you'd be in the loop in 15 minutes via the Green Line, which is faster than many of the most popular, dense stops on the north side (Damen, California, Logan on the Blue Line, anything on the Brown Line after Belmont, anything on the Red Line north of Belmont.)

Another really big difference from the overcrowded, trendiest Blue Line stops is that the lake is quite accesible from here - a long but doable walk down 43rd, which ends in a pedestrian bridge that takes you right to the lake, or a bike or bus ride. Up in Logan Square, the lake is far away, and if you cut across to the North Side beaches, those are the most crowded and hectic. The beach at 41st is a dream compared to that, which a much more relaxed atmposphere. The lake front on the south side also has remarkable areas of restored prairie than bring a level of nature and peacefulness that isn't anywhere on the lake front on the North Side.

This is all a slow moving process. But compared to the misery of many newer south/mountain/west transit systems, built in a nightmare of car centric idiocy, this has a ton of potential.

As one little comparison:

Chicago to downtown, airport, etc.

1. Leave my house to get to the Green Line a mile away*

- Catch a bus that now comes every ten minutes.
- Miss the bus? Walk it. It's point to point. The station entrace is right on the sidewalk. The streets are pedestrian friendly.
- Don't want to walk? Get a Diivy, which has docks at both ends.
- Get to the Green Line, train is >10 minutes, and off I go.

(*Note - this is all on the dangerous South Side!)

Denver to downtown, airport, etc.

2. Leave a relatives house to get to the E line.

- But wait, the E line only comes every 30 minutes even during rush hour somehow. So specifically leave exactly timed to that.
- Take the bus to get there. Oh wait. It only comes once an hour. The bus will never line up with the train.
- Maybe a bike/scooter rental for that one mile. Nope, not around, or the only one is parked at someones random house.
- Ok, walk - The sidewalk is up and down, falling apart. No one walks. Roads are 3 lanes wide for utterly no reason. Good luck crossing an intersection.
- Ok, I walked, time to get to the station with a high rise housing unit at it. The entire station is designed as a park and ride. Walk around the entire housing unit just to get to a backwards staircase, making the walk as long and time consuming as possible.

Every single time I take that Denver option I have to walk the mile, because every other option is hopeless. Then, I want to physically harm the traffic engineers who designed things so dangerously and miserably for pedestrians, which is why no one is walking.

(Go read the book Killed by a Traffic Engineer.)
 

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It is a shame the Green Line now ends at Ashland and 63rd instead of continuing to the lake.

DutchDragon Wrote:
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> It is a shame the Green Line now ends at Ashland and 63rd instead of continuing to the lake.

Cottage Grove and 63rd? I agree. Short term thinking that would take a lot of money to reverse. Yes, they are saving money on not maintain the structure, but they lost the connection to MED and the lakefront.
(Ashland is the west branch of the green line.)

This is just a guess, but I think those "alleyways" stem from the horse and buggy days, when the horses and deliveries were made in those back alleys. Parts of Sacramento have a similar street configuration. 

Bob Phelps
Micanopy, FL

RNP47 Wrote:
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> This is just a guess, but I think those
> "alleyways" stem from the horse and buggy days,
> when the horses and deliveries were made in those
> back alleys.

Chicago was wisely designed with alleys for that and garbage collection. You don't find garbage on the sidewalk as it is in Manhattan, for example.

TAW

ironmtn Wrote:
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> SensiblySarcastic Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yes, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has
> > memories of rumbling past uncovered bedroom
> > windows on the Howard Line, especially on warm
> > summer evenings, and seeing things that I
> wasn't
> > really meant to see.
>
> You most definitely were not the only person to
> have had that experience. And not just on the
> Howard Line.
>
> Nice image and commentary. The "El Alley" is
> something often forgotten, even by Chicagoans.
> Nice job and image to remind us all, even former
> residents like me, of its role. Cool seeing that
> junction from the perspective. And I must say, I
> have some respect for you venturing to that
> location for the image. Sadly, not one of
> Chicago's safest neighborhoods.
>
> MC

Maybe he lives there!   Beautiful camera work BTW.   Especially the 43rd street station.   That is stunning.    Bronzeville has been getting a lot of development lately but even me a local I was surprised.   I might have to take a ride down that way.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/25 12:43 by Jonny_Chi.

Jonny_Chi Wrote:
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>
> Maybe he lives there!   Beautiful camera work
> BTW.   Especially the 43rd street station. 
>  That is stunning.    Bronzeville has been
> getting a lot of development lately but even me a
> local I was surprised.   I might have to take a
> ride down that way.  

I knew from the beginning that he was a Chicagoan, and have known that from previous posts. And I knew from previous posts that he was a South Sider as well. As to living close to those locations on the Green Line, that I did not know, but I concluded with the discussion and images that was the case. He has posted here on TO for quite some time, and I have always appreciated his posts. As a knowledgeable and thoughtful person, and with a good eye photographically, someone I'd like to meet sometime.

My comment about forgetting about the "L Alley" wasn't directed to the OP, but to folks in general. I've been surprised many times as I've lived around the country how much people can forget (or don't know) about their home towns. And in the case of Chicago and the El, even if you ride a lot you can forget some of the details about the system. The trip to and from work or school every day, or while running errands, or to travel to an event, often doesn't place you in the mental framework of noticing some of the more interesting details of the system.

And yes, excellent camera work. I've come back a few times and looked at these images. They're a fresh take on a part of the system that still serves its communities to an impressive degree amid all of the stresses that the CTA is under. I still can't get over the 10-minute headways. That's just great. About as good as what is now the Red Line ever was years ago when I regularly rode it before various service modifications and cutbacks .

MC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/25 16:42 by ironmtn.