…at the intersection of North Ave. and Halsted?? You’d think that such an arterial crossing with an Apple store et al would be a natural hangout for cabbies looking for fares…
Unless I’m in the Loop or River North, I always call for a cab on the phone. Flash is pretty good at showing up within minutes.
My impression is that the shops in that area (Whole Foods, Sam’s Wines & Spirits, Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware) cater more to the type of people who are likely to have their own cars. It also seemed to me that there’s a lower-than-average density of restaurants, bars, and residences in that area too. The whole area always struck me like some kind of high-end suburban mall in the center of the city.
I haven’t been back to Chicago in a few years now, though, so it may have changed since then.
I don’t know, but I live around the corner from there, and I am consistently amazed at how hard it is to get a cab. Half the time I wind up calling for one.
My experience has shown that the number of cabs for hire in a given neighborhood is related to how many restaurants/nightclubs there are in the area. This of course applies to areas outside the Loop. Add to it the fact the North/Halsted/Clyborn area has access to the Red Line and several major bus routes and you end up with an area where cabbies are less likely to hang around because there is less demand.
It probably doesn’t help that North Avenue is narrow for a main street – it doesn’t have a break-down or parking lane from at least the river bridge to east of Halsted, so any cab stopping to pick up a fare would be greeted with a “salute” of horns to rival a symphony. 
pretty sure not enough people try to hail cabs in the area so that’s why there’s so little of them, public transportation is also pretty close
Every time I’m at that corner there’s usually one or two other people I’m fighting with for a cab. Sometimes I have to get off the Red Line at North/Clyborn and grab the Halsted bus, but I don’t have time to wait half an hour (seriously, sometimes it’s that long between buses – and it’s pretty normal to have to let a full bus go by) so I have to grab a cab. It’s maddening.
Same thing happened yesterday…I managed to get a cab. He drove down Halsted to Blackhawk, put his blinkers on, pulled over, and said, “My car is dead. You need to get a ride from that guy.” There was a cab in front of him letting passengers out, so he frantically honked his horn and flagged him down. I got into the new cab and he asked what the deal was. I told him the guy said his car was dead. And just when I said that, the cabbie with the alleged car problem turned off his blinkers and sped away!