About New York.
There is very little, but without a doubt what I miss the most is the subway. Weird right? You regularly see rats and the smells leave something to be desired and people are pushy...but I just love the trains.
It was so freeing not having a car, never having to worry about parking, or gas, or getting you picture taken by the monitoring cameras and receiving a ticket in the mail months after the offense. None of that. Plus everyone was on the same playing field, because (with the exception of a select few) everyone takes the train.
When I take public transportation I feel like I am a good person. I am not contributing to excess emissions, I am lowering my carbon footprint, I get to log in valuable people watching hours. But here in Chicago the train and bus system leave something to be desired.
Yes it is absolutely possible to get by without a car here and I know plenty that do, but having a car just makes life easier. The difference is there literally isn't anyplace you can't get to on the island of Manhattan by train. In chi-town there are entire neighborhoods that aren't accessible via train. If you live in Andersonville and your friend lives in Wicker Park you can't hope on the El unless you want to travel all the way into the loop and back out again. It just wasn't created with the same accessibility that the NY Subways have.
On top of that Chicago trains are smaller, slower and come less frequently than the subway trains. It's a bummer and as a proud "Chicagoan" I hate to give one point over to the Yankees, but I have to admit: New York, you've got us on this one.
That's ok though, I happen to think that we have better pizza AND hot dogs. How bout them apples?
CTA needs a design uplift - that is for sure! However, I am very grateful to be on the fancy shiny Brown Line, even if it has been chugging along at a less than desirable place of late. I am most nervous about having to move to a city next year with little to no public transit. :( Long live the train!
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