Originally Posted by Hans Dampf
I and my spouse arrived from the Ohara airport. We went to the Ramada at Oakshore Drive and 49th (near the UoC). The guy at the airport told us to get off at 47th and take the bus. And as any Chicagoer probably know, 47th South is in the midst of the worst ghetto.
As we were told in the hotel, no one shall take the green line to the south. That's the first thing. However, one stop more, and we would have arrived at 51st, which is a safe place. Furthermore, there is one very safe way to travel between 49th and downtown: There is an express bus.
Thanks for the information. The 47th street stop is certainly a fairly direct hop from O'hare. However, other posters are correct that there are safer routes late at night. I work in Hyde Park and wouldn't take the El to 47th, even though I'd probably be perfectly safe doing so. Even the next stop at 55th/Garfield is a bit dicey at night, but is fine in the daytime when many University folk are commuting back and forth and there is a lot of activity at/near the station. There is indeed an express bus that would drop you very close to the Ramada, as would the South Shore line. I suspect the CTA person didn't send you to either of those since that would have involved a bit of a walk in the loop to get to your connection.