Midway travel question

JHS
Wed, 07 Sep 2016 19:58:50 +0000

If you call the neighborhood “Englewood,” it’s one of the most notorious in Chicago in terms of crime. If you call it “New City,” it’s a couple of levels down from there. Guess what the official border between the neighborhood called Englewood and New City is? That’s right: Garfield Ave. / 55th St. Technically, I guess, if you were shot while riding the bus from Midway to Hyde Park, that would be an Englewood crime, while if it happened on the way from Hyde Park to Midway, it would be in the New City stats. Luckily, as far as I can tell, that theoretical categorization issue has never, ever arisen, because people don’t get shot on the CTA 55 bus, no matter which side of the street the bus is on.

Adding: The 59 bus, whose route is more clearly through Englewood, is by my lights a more pleasant ride. But I have only taken it a couple of times, when I was staying at International House (and that ain’t happening anymore), and it doesn’t run at all on Sunday, so it’s no good for a return trip on a weekend visit.