One of the most remarkable things you'll see on the CTA is outbound blue line at 4am--it's packed from just before jefferson park, that's the airport work rush hour. I like that. Yuppies definitely take the el, though, I disagree--the different social groups all take it in different hours and in opposite directions. Ever see who goes *toward* downtown at 8 and 9pm? Janitors! Thousands of them! In the opposite direction are yuppies heading home from cocktails and dinner after work. It's fascinating to watch all the movement.

Today I was without a ride home from work. I could have taken the bus (not quite an hour to go 3 miles) or walk (about an hour). The bus would have saved me a whole 10-15 minutes. Fucking ricockulous. I walked. Why does the bus have to stop every 2 blocks anyways?

first post on here, so don't behead me just yet... ...torture me a bit first.

Before we go crazy about how horrible buses are in the US, we should be glad this doesn't happen here:
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6214299.stm
Buses stop frequently to pick up old ladies and lazy people, and also because people may have already walked a long way to get to the stop itself. Not everyone works or lives on the same street as their stop. And I much prefer being in a bus than outside when it's below freezing and raining...and the crazy/beggars/poor/other cute and cuddly folk also ride the subway in nyc; in fact, some of them live in it. Don't get me wrong, the subway is much more efficient than a bus, but buses are necessary to fill in the gaps in the system. One can't work without the other, so I don't understand why this thread is pitting them as diametrically opposed solutions.

more bus links:

[url]http://www.capmetro.org/news/news_detail.asp?ID=19[url]

[url]http://urbanhabitat.org/node/344[url]
-Curitiba is like the Portland of Latin America...

rode a bicycle to the office today...and wiped out for the first time since oslo nearly three years ago. no injuries but i did get some nice stains on my pants & jacket. bikes suck.

oops...
www.capmetro.org/news/news_detail.asp?ID=19
urbanhabitat.org/node/344

this one always comforts me on my commute:


"down in the tube station at midnight" by Paul Weller/The Jam

The distant echo -
of faraway voices boarding faraway trains
To take them home to
the ones that they love and who love them forever
The glazed, dirty steps - repeat my own and reflect my thoughts
Cold and uninviting, partially naked
Except for toffee wrapers and this morning's papers
Mr. Jones got run down
Headlines of death and sorrow - they tell of tomorrow
Madmen on the rampage
And I'm down in the tube station at midnight
I fumble for change - and pull out the Queen
Smiling, beguiling
I put in the money and pull out a plum
Behind me
Whispers in the shadows - gruff blazing voices
Hating, waiting
"Hey boy" they shout - "have you got any money?"
And I said - "I've a little money and a take away curry,
I'm on my way home to my wife.
She'll be lining up the cutlery,
You know she's expecting me
Polishing the glasses and pulling out the cork"
And I'm down in the tube station at midnight

I first felt a fist, and then a kick
I could now smell their breath
They smelt of pubs and Wormwood Scrubs
And too many right wing meetings
My life swam around me
It took a look and drowned me in its own existence
The smell of brown leather
It blended in with the weather
It filled my eyes, ears, nose and mouth
It blocked all my senses
Couldn't see, hear, speak any longer
And I'm down in the tube station at midnight
I said I was down in the tube station at midnight

The last thing that I saw
As I lay there on the floor
Was "Jesus Saves" painted by an atheist nutter
And a British Rail poster read "Have an Awayday - a cheap holiday -
Do it today!"
I glanced back on my life
And thought about my wife
'cause they took the keys and she'll think its me
And I'm down in the tube station at midnight
The wine will be flat and the curry's gone cold
I'm down in the tube station at midnight
Don't want to go down in a tube station at midnight

puddles, if you weren't wearing pants they wouldn't be stained now, would they?

goin underground

now that i consider it, that's probably the biggest reason i dislike bicycles so much. unfortunately i have a hard time riding them withoout pants and that's probably why i only ride it to the office about once every week or two. at least the pants saved me a scrapped knee. i really do prefer just walking everywhere.

I just stumbled upon this old thread, and given the direction of the comments and the topics brought up here, I thought this crowd might like to know about our new blog, Living in Los Angeles Without A Car. I promise this will be my last shameless plug....I figured people who posted to this thread probably didn't see the other topic I started.

Thanks and have a great day!

stop complaining and wake up 20 min early is the solution
and enjoy the rest, staring at people, and reading time

are you don schrader?

Don Schrader sits at his desk by the window in his one-room apartment in the University Area. While known for his nudism, in colder months he wears jeans and a jacket that he fashioned himself from a vest and colorful sweaters he scavenged at flea markets. "I wear designer clothes; I'm the designer," he says. "The final designer; not the original designer."