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Hey don't blame me, I just punched it into Google. That is telling of how efficient it would be for a casual visitor. Maybe the LA PT needs to team up to find more efficient routes. I haven't lived in LA, but I have tried to use the PT there, it just seems pretty slow to me from what I'm used to. Other cities don't take near as much planning. I will take your word for it though. And like I said, I'd easily put it above the San Diego, Dallas, Atlanta's of the world but below the dc/philly/chi/nyc/sf/boston's.
Hey don't blame me, I just punched it into Google. That is telling of how efficient it would be for a casual visitor. Maybe the LA PT needs to team up to find more efficient routes. I haven't lived in LA, but I have tried to use the PT there, it just seems pretty slow to me from what I'm used to. Other cities don't take near as much planning. I will take your word for it though. And like I said, I'd easily put it above the San Diego, Dallas, Atlanta's of the world but below the dc/philly/chi/nyc/sf/boston's.
I would too, but put it right alongside SF (which has a waaaay overrated system.)
Both Philly and SF have pretty bad systems (pretty good for the US). I'd put those two and LA in a tier together more or less, though LA is towards the lower end of that tier.
NYC ----------------- DC - Chicago --- Boston -------- Philly - SF - LA ---- other places
PT, especially when it comes to buses, have made a big turnaround for me because of smartphones. If I know where I'm going and the phone knows where I am, then it tells me where the station is and what route to go on. It's drastically changed my use of PT in NYC which used to be almost exclusively subways except for bus routes that I was already familiar with--the shift towards using buses for me has been pretty steady. Anyone else experiencing this?
It's 9 miles to downtown... and look at the public transit time, 50 minutes?
That is why LA gets the views that it does.
Everything is all over the place. You guys live a lifestyle more similar to the SUBURBAN areas of NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, DC, etc... and everybody here knows it.
There are apartment high rises out in the burbs of these areas also, still suburban though.
Now LA is denser than places like Atlanta San Diego or Dallas, but it isn't comparable to those denser cities...it's all about the layouts, not pop density.
If LA would work on making it's core area better, safer, more desirable and cohesive w/o breaks, it wouldn't get the criticism.
Overall LA still offers a ton, but it would take some major lifestyle changes even from San Francisco in the same state.
Dude, you SERIOUSLY have no clue what you are talking about. I don't want to be rude, but I mean it.
West Hollywood is 18,000 people per square mile. Its mostly all apartments, the Sunset strip Yes it is 9 miles from downtown, which goes to show how enormous LA is. You have fun places, dense apartment oriented areas, with people from all over the world. Other than the fact, that yes you do have to drive there, I can't see how anyone with even the biggest axe to grind, could say that they live a lifestyle more similar to the suburbs of those other cities.
I come from the Chicago suburbs. Its boring, conservative, all families, everyone grew up there. It is ALL houses on 1/2 acre yards, where people go to Red Lobster and Olive Garden. Its the same thing with the suburbs of Boston. With the exception of the near suburbs of those cities, the suburbs of Chicago, Boston, etc. have more in common with Atlanta, Dallas, without the southernisms. (climate is colder, white people are more "white ethnic Catholic" versus Anglo-Protestant, etc.)
Chicago is really cool city, and I think one of the best to visit if you only have a few days, but just because it packs everything cool it has to offer in an area the size of studio apartment doesn't mean that LIVING in the Chicago is going to be a horizon expanding experience.
I moved to LA for several reasons, but I believe it has certain qualities that those other areas are lacking.
LA needs to work on expanding its light rail, and revitalization and gentrifying in and around downtown, but other that is is the greatest city in North America.
And yes, it IS ABOUT population density. Again, living in a tenement-rowhouse style building with no greenery in a neighborhood bubble is not the only way of urban living. It is simply the very, very recently trendy way to think of it.
Also same thing with Chicago, I lived on far north side of the city. The easiest way to me to reach O'Hare airport was to go downtown first and transfer to another train heading towards the airport. The airport was directly west from where I lived but really it was easier to get there by car, which is what I use when I picked up visitors.
Remember I live in the city of Chicago too, not the suburbs. By bus I can reach it in 1 hours 27 minutes, and train only 1 hour 38 minutes.
Both Philly and SF have pretty bad systems (pretty good for the US). I'd put those two and LA in a tier together more or less, though LA is towards the lower end of that tier.
NYC ----------------- DC - Chicago --- Boston -------- Philly - SF - LA ---- other places
PT, especially when it comes to buses, have made a big turnaround for me because of smartphones. If I know where I'm going and the phone knows where I am, then it tells me where the station is and what route to go on. It's drastically changed my use of PT in NYC which used to be almost exclusively subways except for bus routes that I was already familiar with--the shift towards using buses for me has been pretty steady. Anyone else experiencing this?
Agree with that ranking for sure.
Yes very much so - as a newbie in LA I was very intimidated by the bus routes and my lack of knowledge of them, even with pretty extensive PT experience in Boston. The worst part is waiting for a bus/streetcar and having no idea if it is coming or when it will come (or if it will at all). The smartphone app that tracks each bus via satellite (LA's is called Nextrip) make that a non-factor now.
Another thing I am impressed with in LA's buses is that many have flat screen panels that display the area the bus is passing through. It makes it easier to get your bearings when you get off the bus, plus you know in advance when you are approaching your stop.
Yeah, same here. LI has a big enough name that people from there that Ive met never seem to claim NYC.
Its different in the Chicago area. The suburbs are not well known, so they get simply lumped in the Chicago suburbs. And the people also, typically say they are more or less from Chicago.
I think in Chicagos case, it would be good if most of the suburbs did have their own identity so natives and non-natives understand they their world is not the world of "Chicago" that gets all the attention by urbanophiles.
Also same thing with Chicago, I lived on far north side of the city. The easiest way to me to reach O'Hare airport was to go downtown first and transfer to another train heading towards the airport. The airport was directly west from where I lived but really it was easier to get there by car, which is what I use when I picked up visitors.
Remember I live in the city of Chicago too, not the suburbs. By bus I can reach it in 1 hours 27 minutes, and train only 1 hour 38 minutes.
Exactly - there is a reason that cities with the extensive PT usage also have the longest commute times. That being said I much prefer a longer commute that I can nap, read or be distracted over a (mildly) quicker commute in which I have to pay attention or suffer some rough consequences.
And yes, it IS ABOUT population density. Again, living in a tenement-rowhouse style building with no greenery in a neighborhood bubble is not the only way of urban living. It is simply the very, very recently trendy way to think of it.
It's also apartment buildings and high rise living that's trendy (but that's a holdover from the jet set days).
I think you mentioned before the manicured lawns and mini greenspaces of Los Angeles apartments. I've been thinking lately about how to better utilize them, because currently they're almost exclusively just there to be constantly maintained. All these separate little spaces right now can't emulate the functions of a good park (and not necessarily the basketball courts/baseball field/etc. kind of park, but also the ones that are good for sitting and strolling and spending the day), but maybe it's a possible to change them to get some of those functions. Right now, it'd be seen as mostly bizarre to set out a picnic or just to lie down and read on the tiny lawns in front of these apartments, but I wonder if that's a design issue (as in it's simply too unpleasant to do that for some reason) or possibly just something that's not in habit but can be. As I see it now, those spaces are somewhat wasted (though sometimes aesthetically pleasing).
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but actually go to the part of downtown where there is something going on? 
