Sunday, January 11, 2009

Getting There: Diary Of Commuting in Chicago

The loop, the grocery store, the bookstore, Mr. Beef, a Wrigleyville bar, Millennium Park, and maybe class occasionally. These are all places where an average student at DePaul may need to go. For me the choice is usually not where to go, but how to get there.
As students at DePaul we have the unique "privilege" of learning in a gigantic metropolis.
According to Google Maps, DePaul campuses’ are 3.4 miles apart, Book Store ( LPC) to Book Store (Loop). That is approximately a 12 minute car ride (plus potentially $20 for parking). If you prefer commuting green, expect around a 1 hour and 8 minute walk, plus hopefully some time to “freshen up” before sitting in a room next to someone for up to 3 hours. And then we get to the good ol’ CTA. It isn’t true for all, but the commute to an accommodating EL or Bus route is usually the longest part of the whole trip. As an added bonus I almost always pull up to stops, just in time to see the back end of a bus motoring away from me.
You see commuting in the city is a separate education we should all value. Getting from place to place can truly be a great adventure. Rain, sleet, snow, ice, are our obstacles. Overcoming them, could quite possibly be more rewarding life-wise then what we find out within certain hallowed walls as Blue Demons. Throughout this term I will be exploring the challenges of commuting around the city, and hopefully providing tips and insight on getting around quickly.
Check back soon.
Don’t worry about being late, because if anyone understands it’s me. In Chicago El’s skip tracks, bike tires find nails, and cabbies go the wrong way on Halsted. We will all learn to manage together.

1 comment:

  1. This blog is a good idea. I remember when I first moved to Chicago for school, I felt comfortable on the train but I was terrified of buses. Now, I probably spend at least 2 hours on any given day on a bus or a train. And the new CTA bus tracker is my best friend in the world now! Again, cool blog.

    It would be interesting if for one of your blogs you found out what people do on their commute. One time my friend Pat was complaining about his commute on the 74 bus (he lives like half an hour west of DePaul) and I told him he should write haikus for all the intersections to kill time on his way home. He e-mailed them to me later that night and they were really cool! I wonder if other DePaul students have interesting things they do to make the commute less mundane.

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