What the current status of the LA subway system? (Los Angeles: houses, transfer)

[NyWriterdude]

To be fair a lot of New Yorkers don't have good transit access either. Staten Island has only one train, and big parts of Queens and Brooklyn are inaccessible by train. Manhattan is very accessible by train, but that is the smallest borough of NYC. Getting around NY by car can be a lot quicker than by train. To go from where I live in the North Bronx, to Queens by subway is 1 and 1/2 hours. By car its only 25 minutes. As a result New Yorkers with at least teacher level money typically have cars and drive.

So the lifestyles in New York and LA aren't as different as people make them, at times, and I have lived in both places. Commuting by public transportion in LA can be rough. With that said, the buses and trains have lots of people on them. Its doable. Not fashionable, but doable.

Its easiest if you're going from say Hollywood or North Hollywood to downtown, or from Culver City to downtown. Or Pasadena to downtown, or vice versa. Now trying to take public transportation from the West Side to San Fernando Valley could take you three hours, or trying to go from San Gabriel Valley to San Fernando Valley could take you three hours. So you'd have to make sure where you live, where you work, and where you hang out on reasonable distances, preferably on the same bus and train routes.

But these things are also issues in NYC itself.

[PDF]

Originally Posted by NyWriterdude

To be fair a lot of New Yorkers don't have good transit access either. Staten Island has only one train, and big parts of Queens and Brooklyn are inaccessible by train. Manhattan is very accessible by train, but that is the smallest borough of NYC. Getting around NY by car can be a lot quicker than by train. To go from where I live in the North Bronx, to Queens by subway is 1 and 1/2 hours. By car its only 25 minutes. As a result New Yorkers with at least teacher level money typically have cars and drive.

So the lifestyles in New York and LA aren't as different as people make them, at times, and I have lived in both places. Commuting by public transportion in LA can be rough. With that said, the buses and trains have lots of people on them. Its doable. Not fashionable, but doable.

Its easiest if you're going from say Hollywood or North Hollywood to downtown, or from Culver City to downtown. Or Pasadena to downtown, or vice versa. Now trying to take public transportation from the West Side to San Fernando Valley could take you three hours, or trying to go from San Gabriel Valley to San Fernando Valley could take you three hours. So you'd have to make sure where you live, where you work, and where you hang out on reasonable distances, preferably on the same bus and train routes.

But these things are also issues in NYC itself.

That really depends. It's really based upon what kind of lifestyle someone is living in NYC. It's not as perfect as some like to say, but it's far away one of the best cities in the world to live without a car.

[rob3gd]

Originally Posted by munchitup

To be fair, that was a tiny minority of business owners. The vast majority of Rodeo Drive businesspeople are in support of the line. But you are right, divisive politics have hindered our progress towards a world-class system.

Well, your right but still, it was shocking to see what the minority had to say. L.A. is one of the worst places to experience change. If you look at the history of the politics in L.A. within the past 3 decades or so, you can easily see how L.A. has been stifled by people in the more upper-middle class and affluent areas. The NIMYism in L.A. had gotten so bad in the 80's, that it made national headlines. One of the most embarrassing moments was when homeowners in Studio City tried to get a car-wash labeled a historic landmark to prevent development. People couldn't believe what we were going through at the time. L.A. was experiencing a major economic boom and a booming and more diverse population, but the status quo didn't want to except it, so they tried to implement "slow growth" policies that were a disaster and slowed the city's economic growth dramatically. However, it didn't prevent population growth which resulted in a urban sprawl: gridlock traffic, heavy air pollution, and less open space was a consequence. City planners seen this coming and that's why they called for a world-class system, including plenty of subways and lightrail. Unfortunately, the politicians in L.A. didnt and still don't have any backbone to stand up to the affluent NIMBYs. They run this town until this day. However, their power is diminishing slowly because as you can see, we have a new generation and we are ready to finnaly put all of the prejudice, discrimination, and the status quo behind us and finally move forward to the future, something that was suppose to happen decades ago. The "character" of their neighborhoods are no longer a valid argument to oppose transit and growth.

[AllTimeLow99]

This is what I can tell you having ridden the lines dozens and dozens of times in the last year.


They are wonderful for getting around the -immediate- Area of Hollywood, Mid-town, downtown.

Other than that, you just have to be lucky that your destination is along one of the other lines(green, blue, etc)

The red line is superbly clean and well-maintained as well as being super safe. The blue line can be trouble and you need to watch yourself(long beach line)


Overall, they have saved me hundreds in gas an parking, and I highly recommend them.

[Chicano3000X]

Glad I have no reason to go to Long Beach.

Imagine today if they had a line going all the way down wilshire already? I'd like to see a raised line above street level.

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by Chicano3000X

Glad I have no reason to go to Long Beach.

Imagine today if they had a line going all the way down wilshire already? I'd like to see a raised line above street level.

The Expo Line has a few portions that are elevated. So does the Green Line (and a the Gold Line for a short distance between Union Station and Chinatown).

[TheGhostInMy♥]

Originally Posted by Dangerous-Boy

Well, LA is supposed to global world class city up there with New York and Chicago. I expect to better than say Boston or Philly or even Baltimore.

I don't mean to bust your bubble... but LA is not that great. At least compared to a city like NYC or Chicago anyway. Not even close. LA is cool in a different way. Think of LA as the biggest suburb you have even seen.

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by AllTimeLow99

This is what I can tell you having ridden the lines dozens and dozens of times in the last year.


They are wonderful for getting around the -immediate- Area of Hollywood, Mid-town, downtown.

Other than that, you just have to be lucky that your destination is along one of the other lines(green, blue, etc)

The red line is superbly clean and well-maintained as well as being super safe. The blue line can be trouble and you need to watch yourself(long beach line)


Overall, they have saved me hundreds in gas an parking, and I highly recommend them.

I agree with you 100%!

But I guarantee that for each one of you and me, for each one of Chicano, and others who enjoy the public transportation and want to see more of it, there are 10 people who refuse to leave their cars...who insist public transit is unsafe...who adamantly refuse to try something different.

Scared of their own shadow.

Parking is such a cluster%%^% in DTLA, mid city, K-Town, and Hollywood that I can't imagine driving all over the place. But despite that, the idiots still drive. I guess it shouldn't bother me that traffic in downtown is so terrible. I really should just laugh at everyone stuck in their cars.

I wonder if they'll ever learn.

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by PDF

That really depends. It's really based upon what kind of lifestyle someone is living in NYC. It's not as perfect as some like to say, but it's far away one of the best cities in the world to live without a car.

Why do you keep pumping NYC , are you not happy in L.A ?

[PDF]

Originally Posted by jm1982

Why do you keep pumping NYC , are you not happy in L.A ?

Hahahaha. Goes both ways, eh? Well I'm presenting facts, NYC is the better place to live car-free. I'm happy in LA, but no question NYC could provide a better lifestyle for some of us.