And it’s going to be vandalized, covered in graffiti, and dirty by the end of the year bc the CTA doesn’t believe in sanitation and upkeep of facilities.
I visited it today, it was impressive. My one complaint is the lack of ventilation/AC in the bridge, it was hot up there today. Otherwise it was very beautiful
Super sick looking station. I wish they had called it Damen/Lake though since having four stations here with the same name can get a bit confusing. Still really great that they opened this
Thanks for the walkthrough and explanation of the history and architecture of the station. I love the aesthetic and how much of a vibe the station brings.
Really great video! Now if the CTA could get a Green Line station on Western and Pink Line stations on Madison and Illinois Medical District connecting with the Blue Line station with the same name. That would be really nice. 😊
What's nuts is that there was a branch of the blue line that used to go up a ramp at IMD, then turn south to run on what is now the pink line. Why get rid of that?
Was so happy to visit it yesterday! Beautiful, yes there are some issues but it’s great to see the cta doing things that will benefit the city in the short and long run
thank you stormy for this wonderful and informative youtube video. I appreciate your effort in getting this out the literal day the station opened, and the videography was really nice
What a great year to not own a car in Chitown. New bike lane on Clark street, new Metra station, and new CTA station. Chicago is the worst city for one thing and that’s driving
Havent been in chicago for a while but nice to see this station has been built ☺️ I was in hs when they broke ground. Going into my junior year of college in august 👍🏽
The growth of housing and jobs in the area justifies the stop. Now we need some zoning tweaks right at that intersection to create cafe/retail uses to have some community life there. Staying overly strict with the PMD would be a mistake. Right along Damien and Lake for a block or two in all directions should be zoned for mixed use at least at the ground level for the lots facing those major streets.
That's beautiful! I'm glad for you all in Chicago that get this. Supporting transit from here in Los Angeles, where we're still slowly improving public transportation.
Gonna be nice to have this for Hawks/Bulls games, I work in Fulton Market and use the Morgan stop frequent. This will def increase my use of the Green Line
Things already broken at Damen on day 1 when I was there later in the dayt: - Vending machine - Bus departure screens Not too bad! It's an awesome station even if some decisions made in the design are a little questionable.
Yeah I like this I might go check it out tomorrow. They should build another station on the green line at Western avenue and lake street. That would connect another major bus route with the green line. Let's lobby for that one.
I'm very impressed!! I think that's how public transit stations should look very modern. But it's been going in that direction for the past three decades here in the US looking very ultra, modern, and connected to the community
I watched them build that over the last half a year. Looks great! I’ll definitely hop off at Damn which is not my stop, but just to get a feel of this new masterpiece
Washington Wabash was a rebuild and modernization in design but also for accessibility. But there has always been a Washington and Wabash stop of the GL.
WoW, Chicago!! You’ve impressed me with this new station!! Only thing you need to do is to modernize most of the stations here, and THEN I will be impressed!!
This is a step in the right direction! Don’t build parking lots or highways around your train stations! Make the station a destination in of itself and make it connected to the surrounding neighborhoods.
A new station is coming to pink line at the United Center in a few years as well. Now if only they would expand the green and orange line further west and the green line further south too
How many escalators are their in the station and how many elevators. How much did the station cost seems like it less could have been spent by reducing the use of glass, the buses could have had better interaction with the station.
Every dollar in the CTA budget that goes to making flashy station redesigns would be spent better in hiring more conductors, operations, or anything to make transit times quicker and more appealing than driving. This station ignores everything wrong with CTA right now
I do have two complaints though! #1 the 'bike lanes' at this intersection are a joke, they should be protected bike lanes. 2# there should be additional entrances across the street so folks going to the west bund platform don't have to cross the street, go up to the bridge then crossover. Other than those two things,wow is this station pretty!!!!
WOW! i remember this old one. i remember my old depaul station too, and when i drove by it recently it looks so much better. great to see that the CTA is raising the american standard of mass transit. if only metra would take a cue...
Great vid, Stormy! I moved away from Chicago in '06 and then, about the only "new" thing was Grand Ave being re-opened on the Blue (dang - I think that was 25 years ago!!). Lovely building ... but ... the cost! I don't even want to know the number! Just seems ... opulent for an L station. Subway stations are more expensive because hole-in-the-ground but that doesn't mean that L stations need to match the cost! Nice coverage just the same.
That's fair - though there is something to be said for transit stations that are beautiful and, as you said, opulent in their own right. Just gotta strike a balance between cost and design!
very classy stuff. I think this will age really nicely. Lots of nice midcentury and streamline moderne callbacks, as well as potential for ecobrutalism down the line lol
Hey there! Have you heard about the new Metra Southeast Service? It’s a proposal commuter line that will run between Chicago (La Salle Street Station) and Balmoral. Could you tell about the Metra Southeast Service in the video? It’s very exciting about the new Metra Line? That’s very cool.
I can't really blame the station construction for being delayed, what with COVID and all. I'm glad the infrastructure bill came through, and here's hoping it leads to more lovely stations like this one.
Rather than having 2 station houses on either side of the street like Morgan, it looks like one must go up first to the skybridge and cross over to the other side to ultimately go down to street level and exit the station when arriving on the outbound platform.
Plaza definitely needs some seating and trees (or fly awnings or similar until trees can grow). We need places for people to congregate and hang out, to meet up at.
Ok, I know ZERO about Chicago transit, but to me this station seems very overbuilt, especially when that funding could be used somewhere else. It’ll be nice for events like the DNC, but otherwise it looks like it’s built to serve way more people than it will. It’s definitely great to see investment in an underserved community!
So, in this windy city 'one of the most visually compelling stations' could not have a roof over the platforms , so travellers are exposed to wind, rain, sleet and sun ? 🤔 To reach the platforms one has to go stairs high up and then down again ( or take an elevator) ? The illumination at night is at a low lumen ? 👎
FAK THAT GREEN THING! We need HIGHER ADA AND SAFTY STANDARDS.. NOT ART. One GD THING WE NEDDED BUT NOO NO.. NOT COVERED, No Screens to keep me off tracks, NO STOPING BLACK ICE
Where do you see 70s trains? The oldest in use rolling stock is the 2600-series from 81-87 and refurbished between 99-2002 but a lot of the trains are newer
@@carstarsarstenstesenn Blue Line? I haven't been on that in awhile but they for sure had 70s cars running over the past few years. At the time, I believe some of the infrastructure on the line couldn't handle the newer more modern train cars.
@@X2LR8 the last L trains made in the 1970s were the 2400 series which were retired in 2014. The Blue Line today uses the 2600 series (built in the 1980s), the 3200 series (1990s) and the 7000 series (brand new)
You do realize this is eventually gonna hike up taxes in the area right? No one can escape the ripple effects of redevelopment. They’re gonna have to opt for affordable housing if they wanna stick around. The whole area surrounding the Untied Center is getting revamped for a reason. West Side gentrification has begun.
that's nice and all but why is CTA spending so much money on this? its not exactly like they are rolling in the dough. they could have put this station up multiple years ago. all they need is a platform and some stairs.
It's definitely a ton of money, but it's not too bad. For comparison, MBTA's Assembly infill station in 2014 (ground level, not elevated, so easier and before supply chain issues from COVID) was 57 million, and DC's Potomac Yard in 2022 was 370 million (because of its difficult location).
Still, it would be valuable, especially in Chicago, to see cost breakdowns of these major projects. It has been well discussed, afterall, that construction and public works in Illinois often includes a "corruption tax", essentially the kickback political campaigns receive from companies who get these contracts to keep them empowered, and in turn ensure that elected officials keep the contracts rolling their way at ever increasing costs. No one ever seems to seriously cross check the bidders, simply approving of more and more and more while cost of living goes up and up for average citizens due to ever increasing taxes which aren't always used wisely. Now, I'm all for money well spent on public works projects and don't intend to simply shake my fist at, say, property taxes in Chicago. And, likely, much of this project comes out of a different pocket than that particular kitty. (Though, what's the amount of matching grants from the state?) Still, maybe someone could reasonably look at a desired project and ask, "What could we get done for 25 or 30 mil?" Or concern ourselves with HOW we might creatively and constructively get things done at certain cost points instead of unquestioned inflated dollars. I recall when the Oakton station was added to the Skokie Swift. At the time, that ground level station cost 10 million, which was even then a shocking price tag to many, causing serious questioning from fellow local transit advocates, especially. By comparison, it now seems cheap. It's necessary to design and build things to last with quality materials and union labor. But 80 mil is a LOT of annual salaries and materials. I'm guessing others might have built their house or community building for a little less. Such high costs tends to ultimately lead to criticism by those who don't care to spend much money (or, maybe zero) on urbanism and, especially, transit as to if ANY of it is worth the price tag at all. If we want more good and positive projects like this in the future, I think it's incumbent on the advocates to ask questions and watchdog to ensure that we're getting the most of our money, and not overspending; lest we lose both the argument and the infrastructure that it critically needed.
2 місяці тому
It will fucked up in a month....they are screaming about a couple of roofs and starwells....😅😅😅😅😅😅
it's a good thing it's so beautiful
you need something to look at when you're waiting half an hour for a green line train
Yah as you fall off the platform a green strut glass box real awesome
And it’s going to be vandalized, covered in graffiti, and dirty by the end of the year bc the CTA doesn’t believe in sanitation and upkeep of facilities.
@@prazzlerazzle5565 are there any good coffee shops nearby the station?
@@alanzemsky7695Metric, just south of it on Fulton.
Metric!
finally! the green line gets shat on so much by the cta, great to see it get some love.
they really did just remove half the stations in the 90s and then spent the next 30 years like "wait a second..."
I visited it today, it was impressive. My one complaint is the lack of ventilation/AC in the bridge, it was hot up there today. Otherwise it was very beautiful
Agreed. Plus that glass ceiling doesn’t help much against the sun
Looks great, but will be even better once the United Center parking lots are redeveloped!
Yes literally. I'm so hopeful for this area
Really when is that happening....😅😅😅😅😅
They just released a proposal like a week ago, they say construction will start on the first phase spring 2025, let’s see if it happens
Super sick looking station. I wish they had called it Damen/Lake though since having four stations here with the same name can get a bit confusing. Still really great that they opened this
Tell that to Western, Western, Western, Western, and Western 😅😂
@@karatransitfur yeah two of which are on the same line ☠️
@@karatransitfur Who knows, maybe they’ll open a Western/Lake soon enough💀
Don’t forget to mention the two extra western stops that are divided between 4 metro lines
@@karatransitfur i feel seen
Thanks for the walkthrough and explanation of the history and architecture of the station. I love the aesthetic and how much of a vibe the station brings.
Really great video! Now if the CTA could get a Green Line station on Western and Pink Line stations on Madison and Illinois Medical District connecting with the Blue Line station with the same name. That would be really nice. 😊
What's nuts is that there was a branch of the blue line that used to go up a ramp at IMD, then turn south to run on what is now the pink line. Why get rid of that?
I Went To This Station Today
Why are you capitalising like it's a title 😁
Awesome editing skills and very informative and interesting video.
Proud of you Chicago! Love living in the best city in the world
Was so happy to visit it yesterday! Beautiful, yes there are some issues but it’s great to see the cta doing things that will benefit the city in the short and long run
It really is beautiful...I hope more stations get this kind of love
thank you stormy for this wonderful and informative youtube video. I appreciate your effort in getting this out the literal day the station opened, and the videography was really nice
Damn, that's one beautiful station!
Really great video. The US always needs more Hugh quality transit channels! Love hearing your personal thoughts and critiques.
What a great year to not own a car in Chitown. New bike lane on Clark street, new Metra station, and new CTA station. Chicago is the worst city for one thing and that’s driving
Thanks for the walkthrough, and all your content!
Thank *you* for watching! I'm glad you enjoy it 😁
Havent been in chicago for a while but nice to see this station has been built ☺️
I was in hs when they broke ground. Going into my junior year of college in august 👍🏽
ohh my! i did not know this happened! :) looks beautiful!
The growth of housing and jobs in the area justifies the stop. Now we need some zoning tweaks right at that intersection to create cafe/retail uses to have some community life there. Staying overly strict with the PMD would be a mistake. Right along Damien and Lake for a block or two in all directions should be zoned for mixed use at least at the ground level for the lots facing those major streets.
Yes great minds think alike dunkin, book store, food market , etc
certified banger, never thought i'd see a thirst trap for a CTA station
when Ya fall
Safty nawe WATCH with the eyes
Damn if only the trains could match the nice new stations 😭 Rolling stock needs to be upgraded pronto
The trains on the blue line have interior upgrades but the trains are original why would the city change that
That's beautiful! I'm glad for you all in Chicago that get this. Supporting transit from here in Los Angeles, where we're still slowly improving public transportation.
Very impressive! Another win for the city now opening up public transportation so close to United center now too!!
Gonna be nice to have this for Hawks/Bulls games, I work in Fulton Market and use the Morgan stop frequent. This will def increase my use of the Green Line
Things already broken at Damen on day 1 when I was there later in the dayt:
- Vending machine
- Bus departure screens
Not too bad! It's an awesome station even if some decisions made in the design are a little questionable.
Neat video! I wish I was there, but I also wish for the Green Line to not run terrible service.
But still, a nice addition to the Green Line.
Solid as always, they did so much for this station!
Wow, awesome video. Thanks for capturing it!
Yeah I like this I might go check it out tomorrow. They should build another station on the green line at Western avenue and lake street. That would connect another major bus route with the green line. Let's lobby for that one.
2:47 even the cta is brat
I'm very impressed!! I think that's how public transit stations should look very modern. But it's been going in that direction for the past three decades here in the US looking very ultra, modern, and connected to the community
Beautiful modern station. Go CTA!
Exciting new station for the network! Great video as usual! :]
I watched them build that over the last half a year. Looks great! I’ll definitely hop off at Damn which is not my stop, but just to get a feel of this new masterpiece
i love this new station sm
Really hope they manage to keep it maintained well into the future
Thanks for this
Don’t forget Washington/Wabash was one of the new stations on the green laine that opened 7 years ago
Washington Wabash was a rebuild and modernization in design but also for accessibility. But there has always been a Washington and Wabash stop of the GL.
WoW, Chicago!! You’ve impressed me with this new station!! Only thing you need to do is to modernize most of the stations here, and THEN I will be impressed!!
This is a beautiful station.
Well done video!
I wouldn't have chosen wood paneling for the ceiling, but it looks nice all around.
Thanks for the walkthrough; great video!
Damm this look Better than The New Red line at 95th
This is a step in the right direction! Don’t build parking lots or highways around your train stations! Make the station a destination in of itself and make it connected to the surrounding neighborhoods.
Wait is that Dorval Carter?!? In the flesh?!? No flippin way! Glad you got footage, no one would have believed you otherwise!!
@@BellaBellaElla he handed me a pin on the platform!
@@karatransitfur 😮😮😮 congrats! Also, I am so jealous you got to be there for the ribbon cutting, I ha trouble finding out when it was gonna be 😭
I knew there was something happening today I forgot about lol
A new station is coming to pink line at the United Center in a few years as well. Now if only they would expand the green and orange line further west and the green line further south too
And extend the brown line to connect with the blue at Jeff. Park.
My engineering company design the MEP system for the Damen Green Line stop
The Pink line doesn’t have a stop at the United Center?
It does not :(
Another stormy banger
Let's see how long it lasts looking that way. Looking at you, Morgan Station.
Yay!
How many escalators are their in the station and how many elevators. How much did the station cost seems like it less could have been spent by reducing the use of glass, the buses could have had better interaction with the station.
There’s one escalator, and two elevators that I saw!
Every dollar in the CTA budget that goes to making flashy station redesigns would be spent better in hiring more conductors, operations, or anything to make transit times quicker and more appealing than driving. This station ignores everything wrong with CTA right now
$80.2 Million for a train station. The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was 13mil, and adjusted would be $100 Mil. for perspective
Now we just need them to rename Jackson Boulevard to Sparta Street so the CTA guy has to say "this is Sparta".
Chicago gives me hope in America.
I do have two complaints though! #1 the 'bike lanes' at this intersection are a joke, they should be protected bike lanes. 2# there should be additional entrances across the street so folks going to the west bund platform don't have to cross the street, go up to the bridge then crossover. Other than those two things,wow is this station pretty!!!!
WOW!
i remember this old one. i remember my old depaul station too, and when i drove by it recently it looks so much better. great to see that the CTA is raising the american standard of mass transit. if only metra would take a cue...
Hi lol im in this video at 1:54, you can see me going up the escalator looking down. I had the orange juice
Again at 3:20!!
In its grand scale and purpose, it reminds me somewhat of Brent Cross West \m/
Now fix the entire blue line please.
Great vid, Stormy! I moved away from Chicago in '06 and then, about the only "new" thing was Grand Ave being re-opened on the Blue (dang - I think that was 25 years ago!!).
Lovely building ... but ... the cost! I don't even want to know the number! Just seems ... opulent for an L station. Subway stations are more expensive because hole-in-the-ground but that doesn't mean that L stations need to match the cost!
Nice coverage just the same.
That's fair - though there is something to be said for transit stations that are beautiful and, as you said, opulent in their own right. Just gotta strike a balance between cost and design!
very classy stuff. I think this will age really nicely. Lots of nice midcentury and streamline moderne callbacks, as well as potential for ecobrutalism down the line lol
Hey there! Have you heard about the new Metra Southeast Service? It’s a proposal commuter line that will run between Chicago (La Salle Street Station) and Balmoral. Could you tell about the Metra Southeast Service in the video? It’s very exciting about the new Metra Line? That’s very cool.
I’m planning on doing a video about the Southeast Service eventually!
Please keep it clean, I hope it stays this pretty a decade from now
I can't really blame the station construction for being delayed, what with COVID and all. I'm glad the infrastructure bill came through, and here's hoping it leads to more lovely stations like this one.
It'll be the new red line in no time.
Rather than having 2 station houses on either side of the street like Morgan, it looks like one must go up first to the skybridge and cross over to the other side to ultimately go down to street level and exit the station when arriving on the outbound platform.
There are two exits on each platform, so if you're arriving you don't have to cross over!
No benches = less hobos. I think that was the thought. Always can be added
How about Jackson Park
Did Dorval Carter ride the train at least?
As usual as Jerry Reinsdorf's White Sox since 2005.
The bus benches are anti-homeless architecture
👍🎉
It's beautiful but holy fuck is it overbuilt
Terribly extravagant, surely the CTA could have found better use for 80 million dollars than this palace.
6:50 why is the map upside-down!
I think it’s oriented south because looking at the map you’re facing south - I think keeping it north would’ve been better personally!
@@karatransitfur you’re in chicago, the lake is that way lol
Too bad you might get robbed at the Austin stop
Why did cta take dunkin out of their stations that was a smart collab
Now fix Garfield, 63rd, and all the southside stations. Think about how many jobs could create by having projects like this one in the South Side.
80.2 Million dollars 🤡🤡🤡
No outdoor seating really nods to well… you know. BUT it’ll be great for the DNC 🤣
I like it, and also wonder when it would have gotten finished if it weren't for the DNC happening...
This is beautiful? Wait till you see LAx station! 😁
The station is good, but it’s really shitty that the only reason it was built was the dnc
The development around the United Center is going to be major over the next few years.
Cold looking and feel with all of the exposed, raw concrete and empty plaza space.
Plaza definitely needs some seating and trees (or fly awnings or similar until trees can grow). We need places for people to congregate and hang out, to meet up at.
$80 million, for ONE STATION??? And only 4 years delayed....
There was a slight delay for the entire world ya know.
Ok, I know ZERO about Chicago transit, but to me this station seems very overbuilt, especially when that funding could be used somewhere else. It’ll be nice for events like the DNC, but otherwise it looks like it’s built to serve way more people than it will. It’s definitely great to see investment in an underserved community!
It's nice until the idiots mess it up
The elevator will be broken in 6 months
So, in this windy city 'one of the most visually compelling stations' could not have a roof over the platforms , so travellers are exposed to wind, rain, sleet and sun ? 🤔
To reach the platforms one has to go stairs high up and then down again ( or take an elevator) ?
The illumination at night is at a low lumen ?
👎
FAK THAT GREEN THING! We need HIGHER ADA AND SAFTY STANDARDS.. NOT ART. One GD THING WE NEDDED BUT NOO
NO.. NOT COVERED, No Screens to keep me off tracks, NO STOPING BLACK ICE
Nothing more Chicago than a beautiful 2024 station running trains from the 1970s, lol
Where do you see 70s trains? The oldest in use rolling stock is the 2600-series from 81-87 and refurbished between 99-2002 but a lot of the trains are newer
Green line trains exclusively run the 5000 series which were made in the early 2010s
@@carstarsarstenstesenn Blue Line? I haven't been on that in awhile but they for sure had 70s cars running over the past few years. At the time, I believe some of the infrastructure on the line couldn't handle the newer more modern train cars.
I don’t see the former green hornet trains being ran (those were the rolling stock in the 70s).
@@X2LR8 the last L trains made in the 1970s were the 2400 series which were retired in 2014. The Blue Line today uses the 2600 series (built in the 1980s), the 3200 series (1990s) and the 7000 series (brand new)
This rules, I am glad Brandon Johnson is interested in public transit
So sad they are investing in areas people pay little taxes and where people pay so much they do nothing. Worst mayor ever
You do realize this is eventually gonna hike up taxes in the area right? No one can escape the ripple effects of redevelopment. They’re gonna have to opt for affordable housing if they wanna stick around. The whole area surrounding the Untied Center is getting revamped for a reason. West Side gentrification has begun.
that's nice and all but why is CTA spending so much money on this? its not exactly like they are rolling in the dough. they could have put this station up multiple years ago. all they need is a platform and some stairs.
Taylor Michelle Hernandez Lisa Garcia George
Did you say 80 million bucks, though? Why can't we get things done for any sort of reasonable cost in this city? So much more could be accomplished.
that's a drop in the bucket for a city. not too bad
It's definitely a ton of money, but it's not too bad. For comparison, MBTA's Assembly infill station in 2014 (ground level, not elevated, so easier and before supply chain issues from COVID) was 57 million, and DC's Potomac Yard in 2022 was 370 million (because of its difficult location).
That includes alot of road work aswell. Transit rarely gets funding unless there is funding for roads.
Still, it would be valuable, especially in Chicago, to see cost breakdowns of these major projects. It has been well discussed, afterall, that construction and public works in Illinois often includes a "corruption tax", essentially the kickback political campaigns receive from companies who get these contracts to keep them empowered, and in turn ensure that elected officials keep the contracts rolling their way at ever increasing costs. No one ever seems to seriously cross check the bidders, simply approving of more and more and more while cost of living goes up and up for average citizens due to ever increasing taxes which aren't always used wisely. Now, I'm all for money well spent on public works projects and don't intend to simply shake my fist at, say, property taxes in Chicago. And, likely, much of this project comes out of a different pocket than that particular kitty. (Though, what's the amount of matching grants from the state?) Still, maybe someone could reasonably look at a desired project and ask, "What could we get done for 25 or 30 mil?" Or concern ourselves with HOW we might creatively and constructively get things done at certain cost points instead of unquestioned inflated dollars. I recall when the Oakton station was added to the Skokie Swift. At the time, that ground level station cost 10 million, which was even then a shocking price tag to many, causing serious questioning from fellow local transit advocates, especially. By comparison, it now seems cheap. It's necessary to design and build things to last with quality materials and union labor. But 80 mil is a LOT of annual salaries and materials. I'm guessing others might have built their house or community building for a little less. Such high costs tends to ultimately lead to criticism by those who don't care to spend much money (or, maybe zero) on urbanism and, especially, transit as to if ANY of it is worth the price tag at all. If we want more good and positive projects like this in the future, I think it's incumbent on the advocates to ask questions and watchdog to ensure that we're getting the most of our money, and not overspending; lest we lose both the argument and the infrastructure that it critically needed.
It will fucked up in a month....they are screaming about a couple of roofs and starwells....😅😅😅😅😅😅