On the El
Celebrating its newest local documentary, "Chicago by 'L': Touring the Neighborhoods," WTTW-TV Channel 11 hosted a luncheon/neighborhood tour for press and LaSalle Bank types aboard a specially provided CTA train on August 10. (LaSalle sponsored the show, which airs August 19 at 7 and 9pm, August 23 at 7:30pm and August 25 at 7pm.) And it's amazing not only what a clean train you get when there are VIPs aboard—some of whom actually admitted to having never ridden the CTA before—as well as how fast you can make it around the city when you don't have to stop and pick anyone up. But, the important thing, says Baer, is that the El offers a unique vision of the city. "There are buildings that have been changed at ground level that haven't been changed above, so you can see the original ornaments," Baer says as we tool around the Loop, going from the Brown Line to the Green Line to the Orange Line and then north to the Red Line. Baer regales us with a tale of a National Geographic photographer fascinated by the North Siders who live backed up to the el. "All of these people live on the el and these are expensive places," Baer gestures as we whiz by. "People not from Chicago are baffled by this—why you'd own a $1.3 million condo on the el." "Actually," remarks a tour participant, "seems stupid to me, too."