Monday, August 30, 2010

Hey, It's Not So Bad...




At least two Uptowners are defending the state of the Wilson CTA station, which was crowned "crustiest station" for the second year in a row. Is the Wilson station getting a bad rap?


Read more at "Going Public."

11 comments:

  1. I agree with Mitch. Why walk to Sheridan if you can walk to Lawrence?

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  2. Sure, Mitch may be correct in questioning why someone would walk to Sheridan if they could walk to Lawrence, but you have to be kidding if you think the Wilson El stop isn't trashy.

    In my experience–which I think is valid–the Wilson El stop is a dangerous, smelly, crusty, broken-down, dilapidated El stop. If Mitch and the other person who responded to the article disagree, I'd like to invite them to use the station at night; preferably at 12 or 1 AM. Then we'll see what they think about it.

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  3. The Sheridan stop is a pit. My most vivid memory of that stop occurred a few years back. I was headed up the stair to the platform when a woman and her young daughter were headed down the stairs. As I passed, she warned me in an angry voice to beware of the large human poop at the top of the stairs. Man, she wasn't kidding--it was right at the top of stairs and it was monstrous. Disgusting.

    I think what pushes the Wilson stop to the top of the list is the lost potential of its historic architecture. If PROPERLY rehabbed (not the mini band-aid treatment it is currently getting), it could be absolutely beautiful and an amazing gateway to our community.

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  4. If you live south of Wilson, why would you walk north past it to get to Lawrence? In such a case Sheridan is closer.

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  5. I don't think Mitch goes there too often... Just standing at the corner to cross the street two days ago, I witnessed two public urinations and three crack deals, and that was only in about 60 seconds. You'd have to be blind not to see this stuff.

    Yes the Wilson station IS THAT BAD.

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  6. I did vote for the Wilson station as being the crustiest station. It is really in bad shape. I think the streets around it are much worse then the station itself. Maybe they need a crustiest street award too. Until the surrounding streets are cleaned up from all the thugs that hang around there it will always be a garbage dump.

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  7. I agree with WiseGuy...it's not so much the station itself as everything that surrounds it, including the crackheads, whores, and gangbangers. The main north entrance is in terrible shape, but if you use the south entrance you miss a lot of that. I always find it's the "characters" I'm forced to interact with that make Wilson the worst.

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  8. I didn't vote, but had I, I definitely would have voted for Wilson as the crustiest. I lived right near there for one year, and in addition to the station itself being disgusting, I never once waited on the platform or exited the station without looking over my shoulder, witnessing a drug deal or being sexually harassed. It's just a bad intersection overall.

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  9. On a positive note: While driving past the Wilson stop with friends yesterday, someone said "I didn't know there was a train stop here . Look at that cool architecture!"

    She was refering to the cornice above the former Popeye's . She was right . Wilson now has the countenance of dilapidated el stop getting a facelift, instead of a dilapidated building continuing to crumble.

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  10. I think people who voted for Wilson really need to explore the El more--

    I used to work off the Kedzie Green Line stop, and it was far worse. Garbage everywhere, smell of urine, loitering, etc.

    I think a fair amount of the stops of the west branch of the Green Line and south past 63rd on both the Green Line and Red Line are quite a bit worse than the Wilson Red Line.

    People just vote for Wilson because it's surrounded by a lot of nicer stops, and they don't get out of the Loop and the North Side.

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  11. I dont live or work in the loop or on the north side, and I would have voted for the Wilson stop had I voted. But I think that's because I have spent so much time at the Wilson stop when I used to live near there and when I think "crustiest," I am thinking about things like violence and drug deals, not just a station's actual gross factor. Ever since my boyfriend saw a woman get shot at the Wilson stop, it has topped my list of crappy stops. However, I don't know whether the crustiest award takes those things into consideration or whether it is mostly about a station's dirtiness. I think a lot of opinions about this are probably based on personal experiences and how familiar you are with certain areas.

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