Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Homelessness

Signs like this are an apparent attempt by the CTA to discourage people from sheltering on trains. Photo: Jeff Zoline

Unlike MTA, CTA won’t close ‘L’ during COVID, but homeless on transit need services

By Imelda March | May 15, 2020 | No Comments

Back in 2006, the Chicago Tribune publication RedEye asked “Just how clean are CTA buses or trains?“ The paper hired a private lab to test the cleanliness of four cars on the Red and Brown line, two buses, and some station surfaces. 14 years later during the COVID1-9 pandemic, the cleanliness of public transportation has […]

Recently spotted on the Red Line. Photo: John Greenfield

Smokin’ on the ‘L’ train: What Explains the Rise in Cigarette and Pot Smoke on the CTA?

By John Greenfield | May 3, 2019 | 10 Comments

The increase correlates with a drop in transit ridership, and an apparent increase in homeless people sheltering on trains.

The Wilson viaduct. Photo: John Greenfield

Let’s Not Use Sidewalk Bike Lanes as Defensive Architecture

By John Greenfield | Aug 11, 2017 | 33 Comments

CDOT is planning to install bike lanes on the sidewalks of Uptown's Lawrence and Wilson viaducts. It appears that this is a strategy to prevent future homeless encampments