CTA – Morse

the platform is nice. It’s unfortunate no handicap ramp was put in during rehab. I live close and use it regularly and haven’t had any trouble. It’s gets a little shady at night sometimes but it’s the city so it’s expected.

There’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The good: The platform is a hell of a lot nicer after the rehab. I like the information boards on the Morse side that tell you when trains are arriving.
The bad: Usually I use the north entrance because it’s closer to where I live. The Ventra machine at the Lunt turnstile doesn’t always work, so you’ll be trying to go through the turnstile and it will lock up on you at times before you can head up the stairs. If exiting the station, there can also be a back up going down the stairs as there is only one turnstile. CTA personnel don’t do much patrolling of the tracks. The incense guy (any CTA user between Wilson and Howard knows who I mean) also sometimes posts up in front of Morse during the summer. The mix of incense aroma and stanky pee smell is nauseating.
The ugly: I see new graffiti every day. As soon as it’s painted over, new markings show up. This gives me the annoyeds.
Overall, it’s convenient, and not as shabby as before.

I live the same distance from Morse and Loyola stations. I find myself using Morse more often just because it is easier to navigate and not a lot of construction shenanigans going on. Plus, I can pop into a bar on the walk home along Glenwood if I feel like it. :-) It’s a very nice station now and I can’t imagine what it was like before the renovation.

Well, they updated the station! It is WAYYYY better than it used to be! It’s clean, bright and has plenty of CTA/​Ventra machines. I get wafted with the smell of urine less often these days, though I did see a giant turd on the platform last week (could be dog, but pretty sure it was human).
Also, fewer sketchy folk hanging around but they are a few still there, especially on the corner of the former MorseL. It seems that the CTA security has done a decent job of shoo’ing them from the front of the station, but they just get as close as possible without being on CTA property.
This whole area has made a huge change for the better in the past few years. Hopefully more folks will come up as the neighborhood continues to improve.

I grew up in rogers park… But this place is still sub par.
Dont get stuck here late at night… Although they have a vegetable store that is like 50 yards away that sells items like avocados for 59 cents or so and watermelon for cheap… Feels like they are bribing us to go there.
It is almost well lit.
Still only occasionally can you smell urine.
I know they did repairs… bla bla
The alderman this was his pet project… well not sure why he thought being alderman if this ward was a good idea… maybe he was a reverse chemist in a past life… he could turn gold into shit :)
If you had that ability than you would not mind all the shadyness of this place.
My aim is not to visit this place that often and take the 147 up north.

I wasn’t gonna review an el stop (because, well, it’s a fucking train station), but since you can review anything in the whole world, I’d like to say that the Morse stop is so much better than it used to be. Eight years ago, you had to run to your destination. Now, it’s been remodeled, there are TONS of bike racks, there’s a mural being painted at the north exit + the entire station is very well lit. The neighborhood is kinda in transition, so there’s new condos + restaurants, but also a small gang presence. But the station itself is safe in general, with the normal exceptions. I’ve come back even near 1am + it was fine. You still have to be smart, though, like in most of the city.

Yes they remodeled it, and yes now they have a flat screen TV that tells you when buses are going to connect with the station (when said screen is working) but it’s still somewhat skeezy. Skeeze factor goes way up after 7 – 8 PM. That said 2 + years of using this station, and I never had or seen an «incident». Not saying they don’t happen, but that it’s rare, statistically speaking.
Another nice feature is the large amount of bike racks on the North/​Lunt side of the station, and these are located where your bike will be kept dry from rain/​snow. I wavered between 2 and 3 stars, this is probably a 2 and half star rating.

I think it’s unfortunate that they renovated this station but still didn’t put in any access to the platform for people who are unable to use stairs. Seemed like the perfect opportunity — bummer.
Overall it’s nothing special here — the same «pre-​fab» station look as all the others. It was clean for a little while but it’s already showing signs of neglect. It’s an improvement from what it used to be but a big miss on not updating to ADA code. Seems like CTA should be subject to following that code, no?

This place needs a cleanup. It smells like urine and mold (not as bad as the Jarvis station, but bad enough) and needs a lot repaired. Come on CTA, you don’t have to make it beautiful, but cleaning it and keeping the lowlife from treating it as an open latrine would be nice.

One of the dirtier stations out there. Like other reviewers have said, I can’t wait until the CTA gets around to revamping the red line, since they did so well with the brown line stops. Wooden platform, sketchy broken-​down turnstile areas, and stairwells that smell more like urine than most others.
That said, extremely convenient to my apartment. They seem to keep the panhandlers relegated to the sidewalk outside. The heat stations on the platform have always worked. A perfectly adequate place to stand and wait for the train, if you aren’t the sensitive type.

Yes, the station is on the old side, but its hardly the gangland deathtrap that its being made out to be. I also live a block away, and can usually hear the train’s on-​board chimes and announcements when my windows are open. I’ve never had any issues walking to or from the stop. I’ve also never seen anyone simply loitering near the stop, which can’t be said of most other stations. If anything, the station is relatively low-​traffic, which cuts down on the «riff raff» that reviewers seem so concerned about.
Four-​stars only because the station is slightly old. It doesn’t _​look_​quite as nice as the newer, recently renovated stations for obvious reasons (its older). But its fully-​functional and completely safe, at least by any rational standard.

Srsly? Wasn’t going to bother reviewing my el stop. I didn’t even know that was possible. But enough people have posted reviews spouting nonsense about the risk of being murdered that I had to.
Yes it smells like pee. It’s worse when it gets really hot and muggy out. I think that there is some kind of inverse ratio to how much your el stop smells like pee to how low the rents are. i have no data to back this up. It just seems to be the case.
That said, I have lived exactly ONE block from this el stop since 1994. And have never been murdered, mugged, robbed, gooned or any of that other bullshit people have mentioned. Oh yeah, and no one has ever tried to sell me drugs either.
So yeah, if you have any balls or street sense at all, you will be fine here. If you a wussy-​pantie-​waist, stay far, far away.

Well, lets see, if you can get past the obvious flaws (such as the zesty aroma of urine), it is a pretty convenient place to have a red line stop. With Morse becoming more and more affluent (with Morseland, The Morse Theater, and several other great places), I feel it will only be a short time before the city renovates this stop. Until then, I’m thankful for the convenience on days when i must head downtown!

15 years ago, this was my station. To this day, it still reeks of piss. Probably the same piss from 1993.

Yes, it does stink at this station, which I used almost every day from late 2001 to early 2004. Now I live somewhat north and use Jarvis (which also smells), but sometimes when I want a bit of a walk, I’ll get off at Morse. The convenient thing about this station is that there is a turnstile to exit AND enter on Lunt, one block south of the main entrance.
If Joe Moore wants a refurbishment project, this is a prime candidate. Besides, despite the CTA’s apparent budget crisis, they are rebuilding half the stations on the line, so why not Morse?

I want this stop to get a refresh so bad I can taste it.
In daylight hours, it’s a great stop. Stumbling home after a long night, not so much. I’m a big fan of taking the bus to work at 4:30am and getting on the Red Line after because in the morning it’s a little sketchy.

This is without question one of the most questionable stations in Chicago. It stinks of urine, is frequented by aggressive panhandlers, and is the headquarters for one of Chicago’s most active open air drug markets.
My advice? Walk to the Loyola stop.

In the cool weather, it’s a quick, brisk walk from my apartment.
Sure it could use better attention from the cleaning crew — That said, I also don’t think it’s their job to pick up after people — but it is their job, sad one that it is. I can’t believe people can be so messy!
It’s totally sad that the two shops that WERE on the Lunt side of the station are closed — it would be nice to have something there… Not sure what, but something!
I feel safe using either entrance of the station. I’ve exited scarier train stops in my travels.

I certainly can’t deny that the station smells bad, but really, what station doesn’t? Riding the el in Chicago, I’m just used to bad smells and holding my breath upon entry or exit.
But I totally agree with Deanna, Morse Avenue is nothing in comparison to many many worse places. I have lived a few blocks away for 2 years now and I’ve never felt unsafe. In fact, I can easily say that Rogers Park is the friendliest neighborhood in Chicago and I’ve lived in many.
And to the person who said it’s the number one stop for murder, Rogers Park ranks 15^th of all wards for crime rates and only 4 wards on the north side are better. (And yes, Humbolt Park/​Logan Square is worse, the 13^th worst!)

I’m really impressed with the recent renovation of the Morse Avenue Station. From the platform you can see the Lake when looking East and past Clark Street when looking West.