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It's pink!
Chicago's the city of broad shoulders. A town full of Ditka-loving Grabowskis. So, of course, when the CTA sought a color for the new `L' line, only one hue would do.

By Virginia Groark
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 31, 2006

In a city known for its deep-dish pizza and Chicago Bear-loving beer guzzlers, associating Chicago with pink is as strange as spotting a flamingo in Grant Park.

But on Thursday, the Chicago Transit Authority shunned conventional wisdom and picked pink to name a branch of a Chicago icon, the "L."

Starting in June, the Blue Line's 54/Cermak branch will take a new route and a new name: the Pink Line.

Yes pink, as in bubble gum, cotton candy and the favorite color of little girls across the country.

The CTA board picked pink from among the top three choices of more than 600 Chicago-area students who entered an agency contest to name the line. While the board chose pink over silver and gold, it wasn't necessarily the favorite of people who ride the line.

"I don't think so," said Joseph Santoyo, 18, as he stood at the entrance of the Cermak branch's California stop on the border of Little Village and Lawndale. "Let's take the Pink Line? No."

"They should rename it somewhere else," he added, saying the neighborhood is too tough to have a Pink Line running through it. "I don't think the neighborhood will like it."

But, noted one 8th grader who nominated pink, the color isn't just for girls any more.

"Pink is a really pretty bright color and when people hear the color pink they probably think it is a girly color," wrote Jeanine Zarate, a student at Graham Elementary School in Chicago. "Today, a lot of people including boys like pink."

Several other pink supporters said the color could help raise awareness of breast cancer, which has long been symbolized by pink.

"Having people think more about breast cancer could not be a bad thing in our society," wrote Mary Elizabeth Buttitta, an 8th grader at Northside Catholic Academy.

Indeed, even male CTA board members embraced the color, though unlike their female counterparts they did not wear pink to the meeting.

Board member Charles Robinson revealed that he lives in a pink house. And board member Alejandro Silva, a Mexican-American, said the color is a popular one in his culture.

Even CTA President Frank Kruesi, whose staff had unofficially dubbed the new route the Silver Line, seemed to get on board.

"I think it's got a lot of charm to it," he said.

"It brings a smile to people's faces," he added. "That's not bad as a start for someone hopping on a train."

Thursday's vote stems from a CTA contest launched in February after the board voted to reroute the Cermak branch for a 180-day trial period as part of its service improvements to the West Side and western suburbs. The board has not chosen the winning essay from among the students who nominated pink. The winner will receive a $1,000 savings bond in the coming weeks.

Starting June 25, Cermak trains will no longer join the Forest Park branch at the Eisenhower Expressway and run through the Loop via the subway. Instead, they will head north along the Paulina Connector and join the Green Line, running east into the Loop on elevated tracks. Some rush-hour trains, however, will continue on the old route.

The plan has drawn criticism from some who argue that it will nearly eliminate direct access to the University of Illinois at Chicago and O'Hare International Airport. But CTA staff members say the plan will increase frequency of service on the Cermak and Forest Park branches. Though Pink Line riders will have to switch trains at the Clark/Lake stop to get to O'Hare, they will get to that Loop station 10 minutes faster than they did on the old route, CTA officials said.

To launch the new route, the CTA wanted a new color. CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown suggested the agency hold a contest for kindergarten through 8th-grade students throughout the Chicago area. Contestants were told to submit a 200-word essay nominating a color and their reason for choosing it.

The entries poured in, generating a few smiles and chuckles at CTA headquarters.

Pink received the most nominations, but some students favored hues that aren't even found in a 64-pack of Crayola crayons.

The suggestions included everything from electric lime and Chicago sunset to twinkle, a sparkly silver. Indeed, if some had their way, the line would have been renamed buttercup, shamrock, teal wheel, or, as one suggested, reddish afternoon.

Such selections were more creative than the seven colors now used in the "L" system, efforts to give the CTA a little razzle-dazzle, one 8th grader wrote.

"What's wrong with the colors orange, brown, blue, green, purple and red?" wrote one 6th grader, a pink supporter, ticking off six of the seven colors on the system (the seventh is yellow). "Well, I know. Where's the pizzazz? ... It's all about pizzazz."

Just how much pizzazz the CTA will add is unclear. The shade of pink, be it baby or hot, has not been chosen and could depend on what the agency's printing company is able to produce, the CTA staff said.

Leatrice Eiseman, author of "More Alive with Color (Capital Books, 2006), said the CTA should choose hot pink, because it's more vibrant and attention-getting than the color's softer, more complacent shades.

"That's going to make all the difference in the world," she said.

Indeed, the vibrancy of such shades of pink has made the color appealing to both men and women, Eiseman said. Designs on some snowboards and skateboards now include pink. Pink also is the name of a men's clothing store chain that started in the United Kingdom, selling pink shirts, among other things.

"And it's not only in the younger age groups," Eiseman said of men donning pink. "Donald Trump has taken to wearing pink ties."

Still, Susie Espinosa, 40, who lives in the Pilsen neighborhood, was taken aback when told of the CTA board's pick. After thinking about it for a few seconds, however, she endorsed the plan.

"It's an unusual color," she said, standing a block away from the 18th Street stop on the Cermak branch. "I like it."

Across 18th Street, Gus Alvarado, 44, shook his head in disbelief.

"Why would they choose pink?" he asked, chuckling.

"As long as it doesn't affect service, I don't care," added Alvarado who hopes the new route will get him to O'Hare more quickly. "It could be called chartreuse."

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vgroark@tribune.com


Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

No bullshit, friend.

http://www.transitchicago.com/news/ctaandp...rticleid=112209
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/c...ll=chi-news-hed
http://www.chicagosuntimes.com/output/news...pinkline31.html

So that's the line that goes to Boy's Town?

Yes, it enters through the backend of the city (ba-bing! I'm here through Tuesday.)

i should upload the article my friend wrote for our school's april fool's paper. "PRESIDENT BUSH GAY! (for heterosexuality). It's surprisingly hilarious for someone who normally doesn't write.

Nope. It goes to freaking Cicero. Boys Town would make much more sense.

It's such a dumb choice...just because the amount of grafiti and vandalism it's gonna invite (as well as bad jokes). I think I heard that the color was voted on by school kids? I'm sure I could find out by reading all the news releases...but who really wants to read that crap.

why would a pink el line promote breast cancer awareness? that's weird...

Pink is OK by me, because you can just do an outline and get some great pink heat slit drawings.

I was pretty happy when Hustler started showing pink, so I'm sure this'll be fine too.

They should've picked a color that would be comfortable for everyone. Pink may have been the popular choice, but I'm sure there was a massive Gold/silver vote split.

I call april fools though.

PINK
that's funny because pink is a gay color

<3

of course you would like it.

haven't worn the color in years (hmms, my last purchase has to be the 'chewing gum' single), but i support the silliness of a pink line.

still, i have no reason to ride that el but i would just to wear a pink neckscarf whilst on it (and make one of my beaus take a pic).

lemme tell ya's dis much right off da bat - you aint never gonna catch me ridin no faggotty ass pink line to Cicero - no frickin day, no frickin way. I'd radder pay some dothead cabbie to drive my fat ass over dere than ride some gay shit like dat.

Blue to pink? Sounds like a sex change to me...

And to think that I used to make fun of people who "rode the Brown Line." The only thing that would make me happy about this is if the train cars smelled like flowers (FYI, I take this line everyday).

Cam'ron is rotting the brains of America's youth.

sorry, i guess it;'s just me. but if the only way you can spend your time is thinking up ways to mock the new cta lines name, then you have one dull, boring life. wow. pink line. that's so crazy and wacky! there are so many more things to make fun of, like minorities and abused children!

p.s. vitalic was nuthin', 45 minute set and he was gone. damn, i missed m.a.n.d.y/ bookashade last night at soundbar.

Think of the marketing opporturnities, they could sell advertising to Pepto-Bismol.

I did hear a rumor that the kids picked the "black line" the most but it was deemed un-P.C. even though I think it's a way better name than the Pink Line.

would have been funnier if is was some obscuro color.

ultimately, i wish it was THE GREY LINE. classic.

more public transportation in chicago = good, regardless of the name/color.





that said, i have to agree w/SG - grey seems much more appropriate.