Vacation packages and tour guides often boast of giving visitors the “real Chicago” or the “complete Chicago experience.” But for the enterprising traveler, a more accurate picture of Chicago — from the opulence of Michigan Avenue to the grittier sections of the West and South sides — can be seen with a pair of walking shoes and the $1.50 fare for the El’s green line.
The line winds around the downtown Loop out to Oak Park on the west and to Hyde Park and Englewood to the south. It recently has been the subject of a Chicago Transit Authority campaign to boost ridership.
“The ‘Go Green’ campaign was launched to attract former and new customers as well as to inform customers that the green line isn’t just a way of getting to and from work,” said Anne McCarthy, a CTA spokeswoman. “There are many interesting destinations along the two branches of the green line.”
While the effectiveness of the “Go Green” effort is uncertain, CTA has used the campaign to point out some historical and cultural attractions in parts of town that visitors tend to shy away from.
A number of revamped stations, most notably at Conservatory/Central Park Drive, represent an attempt to improve the once-defunct green line.
Starting inside the Loop at the State/Lake stop red line, any of the familiar downtown destinations are within reach. The Chicago Theater, Oriental Theater, and the Ford Center for the Performing Arts all are within a block.
Going west toward Oak Park, the line passes through one of the more blighted areas of Chicago. Past the Clinton stop much of the terrain is dotted with run-down factories and warehouses.
Past this section of the city, though, are two locations of particular interest. The first, the Garfield Park Conservatory (at the Conservatory/Central Park stop), is literally an island in the midst of the surrounding urban decay.
The conservatory was once the world’s largest, and to this day it and Garfield Park are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Plants from every environment are featured at the Conservatory, including more than 100 palm trees in a tropical atmosphere.
Further west on the green line, one of the most popular attractions is the village of Oak Park (at the Oak Park stop) — home of architect Frank Lloyd Wright and the birthplace of Ernest Hemingway. Wright designed more than 40 homes in Oak Park and surrounding villages. The Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District is about a 15-minute walk from the green line station.
Leaving downtown on the southern branch of the green line, most of Chicago’s lakeside attractions are close to green line stations.
At Adams/Wabash, the Art Institute of Chicago and Symphony Center; at Roosevelt, CTA bus run 12 takes passengers to Soldier Field, the Field Museum, the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium.
The Prairie Avenue Historic District, once the neighborhood of Chicago’s elite at the turn of the century, is also near the Roosevelt stop.
Going farther south, the line approaches the University of Chicago and Hyde Park at the Garfield/55th station. Take CTA bus run 55 to the Museum of Science and Industry or get off earlier to view the DuSable Museum, chronicling Chicago’s black history.
Wright’s famous Robie House is accessible by getting off the bus at Woodlawn Avenue and walking south.
The Osaka Garden, near the Museum of Science and Industry in Jackson Park, is a Japanese-style garden situated on an island in the park. The garden was a gift to the city from Japan to commemorate the 1893 World’s Fair.
While the CTA green line might have had a troubled past, frequent passengers believe this up-and-coming line could soon turn around.
“It’s much safer to ride the green line than before,” said Sergio Ragala of Oak Park. “The police are patrolling it more, and there’s a different feel to it.”
Last year Ragala was part of a focus group on public transportation, in which he worked to improve the green line’s service.
“It’s fast and it’s accessible to downtown,” he said of the green line. “I think, ‘green trees, green parks, green line.'”
