Life Among the Elevated

“I've lost all self-control
Been living like a mole
Now going down, excavation
I and I in the sky
You make me feel like I can fly
So high, el-e-va-tion.” 

--U2

It is not a secret that I am a big fan of public transport and I have a particular fondness for rail-based forms that were built in the early to mid-20th Century, with their industrial vibe replete with massive steel beams and rivets. A fine example of this is the Chicago system, which I recently had a chance to ride. Much of the system is underground and works well. The trains are frequent and the system is easy to navigate, and it is inexpensive to use. But for visitors, the most fun is the elevated trains or “the El.” If you have never experienced an El, imagine a street car that flies through the air. 

My three favorite things to do in a city are to gawk at the buildings, watch people, and ride the subway. The Windy City combines the best aspects of each of these with the El, which soars through downtown and out to the suburbs in all directions. Riding through downtown the train doesn’t run in a straight line but seems to weave through the city, first turning down one street and then another. The architecture of Chicago is magnificent, with beautiful examples from every decade dating back to the time of the Great Chicago Fire (1871) forward. The El gives you a view like no other. The train runs so close to the buildings that you can often see folks as they go about their lives in offices and apartments. It’s not exactly an eagle’s eye view but more like a pigeon’s. It is a city after all. This old-fashioned violation of other people’s privacy feels charming and innocuous compared to the more menacing, high-tech Facebook kind.

I am not opposed to all forces of modernization though. In fact, I heartily approve of new fare systems in place in New York and DC which have eliminated the need to carry and refill a fare card. Chicago has also kept pace with the times. You are still required to obtain a Ventra card from a vending machine with a one-time purchase of $10, the value of which is then stored on the card. However, once you have purchased the card, you can register it on the Ventra website, set it to auto-refill, and then add the card to your Apple Watch or iPhone or other smart phone. After that, you need hardly think about fares again. Just tap your phone or watch at the turnstile and enter. In my experience, it worked perfectly and is almost as easy to use as the beloved NYC Transit tokens which were discontinued in 2003.  

I had a few hours free in the morning before I had to check out of my hotel and head to the airport. I walked the two blocks to the El and ascended via escalator (yes, it was working, take note DC Metro!), tapped my watch at the gate, and grabbed the Pink Line train that was already on the platform. I rode for about half an hour through downtown Chicago, marveling at the sites while my fellow passengers stared down at their phones. I guess the even the miracle of soaring through a city like a bird gets old if you do it every day.  

On the other side of downtown the train headed toward the ‘burbs. Now we were looking down at the streets of working class neighborhoods and the rooftops of the industrial buildings. Finally, I got off the train and got another one headed in the opposite direction. At the edge of downtown, I got off the train and walked back to my hotel, crossing the Chicago River and catching site of the iconic Marina City Building, twin towers known as the ‘corncobs.’ (I frequently ‘shop’ for an apartment there on Zillow.) The wedge-shaped apartments are about the coolest thing ever, albeit somewhat impractical. 

I got back to my hotel just in time for my noon checkout. I grabbed my travel backpack (I recommend it highly if you are in the market for such a thing) and headed back to the station. I walked a few extra blocks to avoid having to change trains and got a Blue Line underground train straight to O’Hare Airport, which deposits you right inside the airport. Minutes later (thanks to TSA Pre) I was at the gate. The train was so fast that I arrived two hours before my flight and was able to grab an earlier flight home which was just boarding. The cost for my great downtown tour was $2.50. The app shows that for some reason my ride to the airport was free (take that Uber)!

Back in DC, I began the journey home on DC’s disastrous Metro system.  The new 7000 series train cars have been derailing and Metro hasn’t been able to figure out why. While they investigate, the trains from National Airport to downtown are running only every 30 minutes. Then from downtown to the end of the Red Line where I live normally takes about 40 minutes. However, the last two stations on the line have been out of service for repairs for months. To get to Shady Grove, one must exit the train at Twinbrook and get a shuttle bus to the end of the line. The shuttles run often but it is still irritating. My wife was kind enough to pick me up from where the train service ended. 

As always after visiting other cities with transit systems that are often much older, I am left to wonder why DC’s system so unreliable and so expensive. (A ride can cost $5 or more depending on the distance and the time of day.) It is, however, fitting that our broken, expensive, and inefficient transit system that crawls slowly underground serves as a great metaphor for so much that goes on in our nation’s capital. Further, the comparison provides a vivid reminder that we can choose to live like moles or we can choose an elevated life and soar - if not with eagles, at least with the pigeons.