And then some logos never go out of style:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1310/...26d736a445.jpg
Flickr

But reality changes. I think it's a bit misleading to call CTA "metropolitan rail" when the majority of the Chicagoland population lives outside the CTA service area.

It also sounds a little too similar to Metra, so there's a chance that tourists might confuse the two.

The design is pretty good on the logo, but it needs a little updating.

Berwyn
 

With both Cicero and Berwyn being some of Chicago's most-dense suburbs, why isn't there more call for re-extended what is now the Pink Line to just past Harlem or so? It appears that ROW still exists that entire way. For about 3 miles of route, I would think that basic cement-post elevated rail could be built for $300 million, maybe another $150 million to elevate the current surface portion, and for about 6 new or rebuilt stations, maybe $35 million each, so maybe $200 million additional for those. So for maybe $650 million (which I think is probably on the high end of the range), you'd add at least three stations, improve service to downtown, and add a fairly dense community to rail transit. It seems like the case for Berwyn would be at least as strong as the case for extending the Red Line past 95th, and less expensive. If Berwyn and Cicero wanted to, they could then do some TOD around the stations, improving their tax base and improving CTA ridership.

I think from Harlem to Clark/Lake would probably be in the 30-minute range, which means new stops there would be able to get downtown faster than any of the new stops proposed for a Red Line extension - some would be after than existing 95th street service. Additionally, more rail feeder would add a little more weight to the long-proposed Mid-City Transitway along Cicero Ave, to.

When's the last time this was under serious consideration?

Not sure, but yea, it seems like it would make a ton of sense. Berwyn has been fairly aggressively marketing itself towards city dwellers (see yesterday's piece in the Trib about Berwyn courting gay and lesbian couples from Chicago). Extending the L out there would be a great reassurance to city people considering a move out there. Unfortunately, the Pink Line doesn't have great ridership. Perhaps it's not being considered because of it's proximity to the Blue Line.

Perhaps, but it's not really that close - 1.5 miles away, hardly easy walking distance for regular use. Also, a Pink Line extension would run right along a major commercial street - less than 1/2 block from it - much of which has a lot of open parking that, with the right developer, could be consolidated into a garage, with housing and additional retail added. In that sense, there is far more possibility of using development to increase Pink Line ridership with a Pink Line extension than there is with the existing Blue Line (at least based on how things appear to me). It woudl end up being right in between BNSF stations and the Blue Line, spaced in such a way that it could bolster the idea of living car-free (or reduced-car) in Berwyn, all the more urban.

Hasn't been brought up in a serious way in recent history --- Berwyn and North Riverside would have to make a big push politically. From a transit planning standpoint, the main strike against is that the overall travel market already has ample capacity --- people in that area who want to take transit downtown can already drive to the Blue Line and take advantage of more-than-ample capacity. Continuing that theory, a hypothetical justification for say, the Red & Orange extensions is that they would serve travel markets that now basically require a bus-to-train trip to get downtown but for the few early birds who can snag limited parking capacity near the terminal stations.

Not just the Blue Line; Metra BNSF provides excellent service to downtown. I don't know that Berwynites have a great desire to go elsewhere along the Pink Line.

North/ Clybourn station, brought to you by Apple Inc.
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/5...46b6e19dbb.jpg
Zol87/ flickr

^ Thanks for the pic.

Once the banks open up lending, the area around that station is poised for a madhouse of development. Can't wait...

While looking great, I can't help but think how rad those stainless letters would look in Futura instead of Helvetica.
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Look on the bright side; at least they didn't use Myriad.

I've mentioned my frustration with the commonplace use of Helvetica and associated clone fonts before. In this case, though, it makes sense as a way to harmonize between the Art Moderne of the original station architecture (associated with Futura) and modern CTA graphics, rendered in Helvetica. The signage takes a modern font and renders it in a way that befits the historic building as well as integrates the station's graphics with those of the rest of the L system.

There is a ton of development about to happen in that triangle lot off clyborn. A pretty tall residential tower is planned up against that mixed income housing.

Wait are you talking about te new city project? Is that about to start??

^ Yes, I believe he is.

I have heard no word that that project is about to get under way..

I'm thinking more along the lines of a coordinated, long-term planning effort to actually increase transit-friendly development near all rail stations, a scenario where the investment inthe Pink Line rehab would have been (could still be) supported by TOD infill near all the stations.

Would any parts of Chicago facilitate tram or light rail construction, or are buses better served as a complement to the L?

My school is doing some concept design stuff with that site, so I had to do some research. I spoke with the developer last monday and he sounded like plans were pretty much ready to go. No dates exactly but my professor told us it should begin before the semester is over, ie before December. But no promises.

What pisses me off is that the city prohibited extending that north/south street that goes through the mixed income housing. That complex is so isolated, they can't even walk to the park they can see out their windows (By that blue elementary school).

Schiller? The renderings for New City show a long, thin apartment block along the south side that has a street-sized break that lines up with Schiller...

Maybe this is just the architect (OKW) covering all the bases, in case the city ever comes to its senses and allows the street to connect?

I don't think anything that is not grade separated will work any better than a bus/designated busway would in Chicago. The city streets get far too gridlocked to allow much in the way of at-grade rail. It is much cheaper just to build express bus lanes and integrate them with are already huge bus system.

^ Well, I hope you're right.

I can only imagine what the New City development will do for that area. Terms like "leaps and bounds" come to mind. I would love to see North/Clybourn continue its transformation from its early days as strip center hell into a full-blown urban, bustling retail/entertainment district served by a subway stop.