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Old 08-07-2012, 10:44 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DC's Finest View Post
New York all day long. It's centralized with good PT, restaurants, shopping, bars, clubs, hotels, etc.... All in walking distance. You don't need a car to step out of your office to hit a quick spot. LA is a beast on the recreational front.
And you can't step out of your office in dt Los Angeles, Century City, Hollywood, Mid Wishire, Wilshire Center and a number of other LA areas and do this? I can step out of my job in Century City and grocery shop, catch a movie, go to a restaurant, catch a nice happy hour, put my feet in some grass, listen to live music, get my shoes shined or do some major shopping! Why do east coast people like yourself insist on thinking Angelinos can't do these things?
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Old 08-07-2012, 10:45 PM
 
Location: roaming gnome
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Originally Posted by munchitup View Post
Interesting perspective. I used to commute about an hour from Allston-Brighton to the Boston waterfront via Green Line, Red Line, Silver Line. Got a lot of reading done

One thing to put into perspective is LA residents have one of the shortest commutes in the nation (this is for any mode - driving, subway, bus). That is because the rule of thumb is you live where you work. I would imagine in the other mega-city NYC, that is a similar rule, even if you are commuting by subway vs. driving. I have no commute, as I work from home. My wife works in Calabasas (very far from Hollywood, but as much of a reverse commute as you get in LA) - her commute is about 30-45 min at the most.

Another thing to keep in mind is LA buses are very fast and frequent. The Rapid Bus is one of the most unique systems in the US (maybe NYC has something? Nei?) and provides surprisingly fast bus service. the Human Transit blog loves them, though thinks they have been a little diluted with expansion. There is a running Sticky thread on the LA forum of pictures, and someone pointed out that in nearly every street-shot, there is at least one bus in the picture. Sort of speaks to how ubiquitous the buses are in LA.
Oh I wasn't pointing out you specifically, and I'm sure at least the commute could be arranged, once you get the job, just live somewhere close to it, though I'm not sure many people live by that rule given how spread out it is. It's mostly the other things in LA which are more spread out in comparison. I'm sure it could be pulled off, would just take more planning for most things.
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Old 08-07-2012, 10:50 PM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
46,011 posts, read 53,143,264 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by munchitup View Post

Another thing to keep in mind is LA buses are very fast and frequent. The Rapid Bus is one of the most unique systems in the US (maybe NYC has something? Nei?) and provides surprisingly fast bus service. the Human Transit blog loves them, though thinks they have been a little diluted with expansion. There is a running Sticky thread on the LA forum of pictures, and someone pointed out that in nearly every street-shot, there is at least one bus in the picture. Sort of speaks to how ubiquitous the buses are in LA.
Not really. There are some limited stop services (Manhattan has a limited stop service on its most used route, 2nd avenue which like Wilshire is gettting a subway) but I don't think they're rapid — a few new ones (select bus service) have payment off board so that helps. And at times, some Manhattan buses can be almost as slow as walking. There are also express buses, but they're to distant parts of the city without much subway service and use bigger coaches and are more expensive, and marketed as more "high end" than the subway.

With extensive subway coverage, there's less of a need for bus rapid transit and it's hard to have buses move at a useful speed if they make any stops with the traffic congestion. Too many lights. There are some locals that have only use the bus system. For many trips, you're better off taking the subway and transferring rather than a long bus ride. The longest commutes come from people who don't live that close to their job and either live at the end of a subway line or have some cumbersome bus + subway commute.

Maybe BajanYankee would know more.
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Old 08-07-2012, 11:04 PM
 
Location: roaming gnome
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Originally Posted by nei View Post
Not really. There are some limited stop services (Manhattan has a limited stop service on its most used route, 2nd avenue which like Wilshire is gettting a subway) but I don't think they're rapid — a few new ones (select bus service) have payment off board so that helps. And at times, some Manhattan buses can be almost as slow as walking. There are also express buses, but they're to distant parts of the city without much subway service and use bigger coaches and are more expensive, and marketed as more "high end" than the subway.

With extensive subway coverage, there's less of a need for bus rapid transit and it's hard to have buses move at a useful speed if they make any stops with the traffic congestion. Too many lights. There are some locals that have only use the bus system. For many trips, you're better off taking the subway and transferring rather than a long bus ride. The longest commutes come from people who don't live that close to their job and either live at the end of a subway line or have some cumbersome bus + subway commute.

Maybe BajanYankee would know more.

I've certainly walked faster than Chicago buses as well, albeit I'm a fairly fast walker...have definitely done it.
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Old 08-07-2012, 11:36 PM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

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Location: Western Massachusetts
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The best Bus Rapid Transit I've seen is in Eugene, OR which had fully separated lanes in sections. Supposedly, ridership in that corridor doubled after it was introduced.
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Old 08-08-2012, 11:16 AM
 
Location: Crooklyn, New York
31,875 posts, read 34,362,591 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
Not really. There are some limited stop services (Manhattan has a limited stop service on its most used route, 2nd avenue which like Wilshire is gettting a subway) but I don't think they're rapid — a few new ones (select bus service) have payment off board so that helps. And at times, some Manhattan buses can be almost as slow as walking. There are also express buses, but they're to distant parts of the city without much subway service and use bigger coaches and are more expensive, and marketed as more "high end" than the subway.

With extensive subway coverage, there's less of a need for bus rapid transit and it's hard to have buses move at a useful speed if they make any stops with the traffic congestion. Too many lights. There are some locals that have only use the bus system. For many trips, you're better off taking the subway and transferring rather than a long bus ride. The longest commutes come from people who don't live that close to their job and either live at the end of a subway line or have some cumbersome bus + subway commute.

Maybe BajanYankee would know more.
The only time it makes sense to take a bus is if you're going crosstown. If you live in West Harlem/Morningside Heights and work on the East Side, it might make sense to take one of the crosstown routes. You also have to take a bus to get to LGA.

Taking a bus the entire distance from Uptown to Midtown or Wall Street sounds silly.
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Old 08-08-2012, 11:36 AM
 
Location: Pasadena, CA
10,084 posts, read 15,758,726 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
The best Bus Rapid Transit I've seen is in Eugene, OR which had fully separated lanes in sections. Supposedly, ridership in that corridor doubled after it was introduced.
Speaking of which:

How Much Bang Are Cities Getting From Federal BRT Bucks? | Streetsblog Capitol Hill
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Old 08-08-2012, 11:49 AM
nei nei won $500 in our forum's Most Engaging Poster Contest - Thirteenth Edition (Jan-Feb 2015). 

Over $104,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum and additional contests are planned
 
Location: Western Massachusetts
46,011 posts, read 53,143,264 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee View Post
The only time it makes sense to take a bus is if you're going crosstown. If you live in West Harlem/Morningside Heights and work on the East Side, it might make sense to take one of the crosstown routes. You also have to take a bus to get to LGA.

Taking a bus the entire distance from Uptown to Midtown or Wall Street sounds silly.
I was thinking more of outer Brooklyn / Queens areasthat are often forgetten for not being hip. For reason I'm imagining you live in a brownstone-ish Brooklyn neighborhood not far from Downtown Brooklyn.
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Old 08-08-2012, 12:51 PM
 
300 posts, read 521,637 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nei View Post
Not really. There are some limited stop services (Manhattan has a limited stop service on its most used route, 2nd avenue which like Wilshire is gettting a subway) but I don't think they're rapid — a few new ones (select bus service) have payment off board so that helps.
There are a number of BRT lines in NYC. In Manhattan, 1st Avenue, Second Avenue, 34th Street and a number of others have BRT service.

But most BRT lines are built or planned in the Outer Boroughs. Some of the existing ones are Fordham Rd in the Bronx and Nostrand in Brooklyn.
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