Well, let's see. The area around the terminal (the town of Cicero) isn't particularly bad. You know, it's no Lincoln Park or anything, but I think it's safe there in the daytime. I probably wouldn't be out taking a stroll at 10 at night, but hey. The L stations are all brand new and well-lit, for what that's worth.
Much of the area surrounding the Cermak branch is residential, and it runs through primarily Hispanic neighborhoods. There are a lot of old houses and buildings along the inner-city portion of the route. When you start getting closer to the terminal, there is more of an economy to speak of - grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, video places, and the like. Pretty typical 'inner-suburban' fare. North Riverside Mall is also relatively close by, although the train doesn't get that far.
Transporation wise, the el runs daily from 4am to 1am with trains running every 15-30 minutes. CTA and Pace have bus routes on most of the major roads. 54/Cermak isn't particularly convenient to any expressways. The Eisenhower is the closest east-west highway. For north-south, the Tri-State is usually too far out of the way to even bother unless you're going northwest, so you might be stuck using Harlem or (ugh:) Cicero.
hey there guy
