Friday, May 23, 2008

Mind The Gap And Your Head At Argyle L Station

A reader tells us:
"Good old Argyle El Station. It sure has seen better days. That roof looks like it's about to collapse, and whenever it rains, the attendants put buckets to catch all the leaks."

19 comments:

  1. Too bad, and I realize the CTA is strapped for cash, but the best solution here seems to be to not stand in this particular area of the Argyle Station when it's raining. Problem solved.

    Might the originator of this entry consider giving the CTA a fair chance to respond before posting this pic?

    In fact, has a copy of the photo been sent to the CTA? Only seems fair (and proactive) that they do or did.

    If high gas prices send more people back to public transportation (it hasn't in significant numbers so far) perhaps such neglect can become a thing of the past. High gas prices might even help the Uptown area improve because of its location--although I realize Ald. Shiller's reasoning for giving low income people a place to live that puts them closer to job opportunities.

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  2. yeah, I'm sure the CTA would get right on that! you are naive.

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  3. The CTA knows exactly what this station and every other station looks like. Inspections happen and people work there everyday. It has been deemed acceptable given the resources they feel they have to deal with the problems. Of course, those resources would go a lot further if they rented out their properties, sold WY at the prevailing value and didn't miss other such opportunities that others might be able to recount better than me.

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  4. wow, that's bad.

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  5. You can always post this in the photo pool at the cta tattler blog (linked to this blog), and inform Kevin (the tattler's author) about it. He seems to have regular contact with Ron Huberman himself.

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  6. My favorite CTA mismanagement story is that of the Majestic Store for Men, the little pie-slice-shaped store at Leland and Broadway. It's next to the actually-majestic, rehabbed Uptown Broadway Building.

    The guy who bought the UBB tried to buy the Majestic Store at the same time. The CTA refused to sell.

    So, instead of having a gorgeous, rehabbed, millions-invested-in-it extension of a beautiful, landmarked building, we have a weird little pie-shaped shop. That I can live with. Majestic Store is a quirky little piece of Uptown's personality.

    But I just learned at a block club meeting that the CTA receives the not-so-majestic sum of $300-a-month rent for that property. And apparently it's in terrible condition. The smell of mold and decay is supposed to be overwhelming.

    So, the cash-strapped CTA, with its quarterly "doomsday scenarios," preferred to keep the property in crappy condition and receive monthly rent that probably doesn't even cover the taxes... instead of selling it at a tidy profit and having the gorgeous building next door absorb it and make it into something beautiful.

    CTA, you are so financially stupid. And we all pay for it.

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  7. In the CTA's defense, they are in the process of replacing the canopy which, while not undoing the existing damage, will likely prevent more water from getting into the station itself. There's no point repairing the ceiling if water is still coming in from above.

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  8. No one answered my question: Has the CTA been alerted?

    Or is this some weenie with a digital camera getting on his high horse and raising holy hell?

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  9. Maybe the CTA employees who put buckets under the hole to catch the rain qualify as "notified"?

    Asshat.

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  10. 9:45 your attitude isn't appreciated. have YOU notified the CTA? If not, stop the name calling. This is not the forum for that type of childish behavior.

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  11. The CTA may not be able to sell these properties under the actual tracks because the tracks (CTA property) are on top of the buildings - probably why they own/built the buildings in the first place. However, there is no reason why they couldn't easily fix them up and rake in some decent rent money. Huberman mentioned as much at the Truman parking meeting earlier this year, but that is the last I've heard of that.

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  12. Perhaps the Argyle Station is next, as it appears that the new Lawrence Station canopy is just about finished.

    YAY! No more need for an umbrella while using the stairs!

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  13. There have been recent improvements at the Berwyn stop, though it's still in a pathetic state of decay. Argyle, Berywn, Bryn Mawr, Thorndale and so forth all look like this. The CTA's typical fix is buckets and pouring bleach all over the stairs so that it can mix with the stench of urine.

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  14. "9:45 your attitude isn't appreciated. have YOU notified the CTA? If not, stop the name calling. This is not the forum for that type of childish behavior."

    If you ask me, it's pretty childish to post such a pic just to get commenters ranting about how much the CTA sucks, et cetera. Personally, posting such a pic here would be my last, versus first, resort.

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  15. The new canopies have done nothing to stop the seepage of water at the Bryn Mawr and Berwyn stations. The problem is the water seeps in from the embankment itself. What a waste of money!!

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  16. "9:45 your attitude isn't appreciated. have YOU notified the CTA? If not, stop the name calling. This is not the forum for that type of childish behavior."

    If you ask me, it's pretty childish to post such a pic just to get commenters ranting about how much the CTA sucks, et cetera. Personally, posting such a pic here would be my last, versus first, resort.

    you weren't asksed.

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  17. Gosh ranter, in the time it's taken you to demand multiple times that someone else phone in this complaint, you could have done it yourself. What's stopping you?

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  18. 9:45
    Just a thought;
    By the very visible extent to which the pictured decay has been allowed to get, the CTA knows!
    Like Shiller, they simply do not care.
    This is the result of neglect and the resulting decay did not just appear overnight.
    Argyle and the stops from Sheridan north have been the shit holes they are well before I moved here and that was in '81.
    I say Bravo to the person who took the picture and the time to post it.

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  19. I second that... Bravo to the person who took the pic for caring enough about the community to do it.

    THANK YOU!

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