To those who live there...how do you deal with the traffic? I spent a week there last week and sat in traffic for most of it. It's impossible to get around anywhere! Are there any future projects in the works for relief? Otherwise, for those who want to live there in 2010, you might just live in your car
contrary to popular belief, i don't think LA traffic is that bad, meaning there is always a justification for the traffic for a city of 4 million people e.g. rush hour, car wreck, drive by shooting, etc. Compare that to suburban Atlanta where i found myself waiting 30 minutes to travel 3 miles on a one lane road and only one street light in the middle of nowhere. That kind of traffic you just ask, why?!
so long as you don't need to commute to/fro orange county to LA, traffic can be avoided with thourough knowledge of surface streets and short cuts. with this knowledge you are always gauranteed to be moving, although slowly.
oh yeah, my office is working on the MTA project to connect downtown with culver city (and eventually santa monica) by subway/light rail. i think there is a 2008 completion date.
you need to know when events are happening so as to avoid specific areas at specific times.
i work 4 miles from home so commuting is never a big deal. if there's congestion, i take side streets and can get around most things...
101/405 interchange is bad. southbound 405, south of sunset to the airport is almost always bad. venice blvd. usually is pretty good regardless of time of day. 10 freeway westbound in the early evenings is always bad. avoid the 101 near the hollywood bowl whenever theres an event there.... you can go on and on and on.
sorry, I just cannot the traffic in Boston and SF is worse...no way. Everytime I go to LA, which is a lot, I am in the car, siting, waiting, wishing for the cars to move. It's absolutely nightmarish...sorry to say
. I'm sad that this is so many years away.... if this were in place now, I could get by without having a car at all! The Expo rail would take me to work, and the combination of the expo rail, and the combination of the expo, wilshire, red, and blue lines would suit all of my social needs within walking distance.
from my understanding, there are no plans to extend the red line. i suspect it has to do geographic limitations as well as opposition from area residents who don't want a subway line going through their neighborhood.
the line we are working on runs parallel south of the 10 on goes from union station, southwest through parts of USC and eventually to culver city utilizing some existing rail tracks for phase I. Phase II will extend it from Culver City to Santa Monica.
I think the line Ants was talking about is referred to as the Wilshire BRT on the map I posted above. Seems to be a bus line, though, which sucks. Having ridden both, I VASTLY prefer the light rail system.
i hear the orange line in the valley works pretty well. it's essentially a train on wheels with a designated lane. this concept could work to extend the red line west, but maybe use San Vicente instead of wilshire because it is wide (historically was a trolly street). however, i think then the issue is rich folk, not wanting "undesirables" commuting through their neighborhood.
If they'd gotten their act together sooner, this could have been built into the big Santa Monica Blvd. project that tore up the street for the past few years.
Dot- does it have a driver or is it automated? There are essentially two reasons I like the trains so much more- the first is space and layout. Mostly the trains aren't so crammed as the buses are because they're able to be wider, the layout is more comfortable, they fit more people. The other is that the bus drivers can decide to change the route or skip stops, screwing over people who aren't regular riders of that bus and don't know that it varies from the official schedule. I've been stuck, lost, in the middle of south central because of this, and it was a very scary experience. On a train this doesn't happen- it stops automatically where the schedule says it will, roughly when the schedule says it will, and uses the same route every time so you can't lose track of where you are. There are maps posted on the walls making it extra easy. No chance of something like my bus experience. Plus, if there's a crazy person harassing you on the train, you just change cars. On a bus you're fucking stuck.
rationalist, imagine 2 super long buses joined together. that's what the orange line is. bc of the size it is limited to one linear route much like a train. they are driver operated, but is the equivalant of having a train operator.
they have actually been talking about the exposition line since at least the early nineties (maybe earlier), however funding and politics have obviously been a huge hurdle. i guess now they are finally serious about building it. our office is responsible for the planning and architecture of 8 of the 10 stations. for better or worse, as part of the deal we have agreed to an accelerated schedule (thankfully i am not working on it) so unless there is more political redtape, you should be able to ride the train form union station to culver city starting in late 2008.
awesome - maybe by 2030 we'll actually be able to get where we need to go :-) I also live close to work - in my backyard! know a few people who commute, but most of us try to not live too far away from work and drive against traffic. i hate it when i've got to do something that requires driving in traffic, but in general i can avoid it and maybe have to sit in traffic once a week at most.
Surface streets. Or know what roads to stay off of. Or bus. The bus system is the most extensive in the United States, there is usually one going where you need to go. The new articulated buses are the closest thing to a train on six wheels
If going cross town, the #10 big blue bus is a sweet way to go.
The first thing you learn when you live in LA is which streets to avoid and when. Everybody who visits takes only the freeways -- which makes sense, but sticking to the freeways guarantees that your perception of LA will remain negative.
People come to LA, visit the 10, the 405, the 101, Universal City Walk, and Hollywood Blvd -- and go home thinking LA sucks. Next time, try the surface streets. That's where you learn that LA is really interesting.
I would love to hear....LA related
To those who live there...how do you deal with the traffic? I spent a week there last week and sat in traffic for most of it. It's impossible to get around anywhere! Are there any future projects in the works for relief? Otherwise, for those who want to live there in 2010, you might just live in your car
I live very, very close to my job so that anytime I face the traffic for too long, it's for something I *want* to do, not something I *have* to do.
The Expo Line should be going from downtown to Culver City by 2010.
contrary to popular belief, i don't think LA traffic is that bad, meaning there is always a justification for the traffic for a city of 4 million people e.g. rush hour, car wreck, drive by shooting, etc. Compare that to suburban Atlanta where i found myself waiting 30 minutes to travel 3 miles on a one lane road and only one street light in the middle of nowhere. That kind of traffic you just ask, why?!
so long as you don't need to commute to/fro orange county to LA, traffic can be avoided with thourough knowledge of surface streets and short cuts. with this knowledge you are always gauranteed to be moving, although slowly.
oh yeah, my office is working on the MTA project to connect downtown with culver city (and eventually santa monica) by subway/light rail. i think there is a 2008 completion date.
you need to know when events are happening so as to avoid specific areas at specific times.
i work 4 miles from home so commuting is never a big deal. if there's congestion, i take side streets and can get around most things...
101/405 interchange is bad. southbound 405, south of sunset to the airport is almost always bad. venice blvd. usually is pretty good regardless of time of day. 10 freeway westbound in the early evenings is always bad. avoid the 101 near the hollywood bowl whenever theres an event there.... you can go on and on and on.
tips: AM 980. traffic on the 1s
sigalert for the highways
and LA City Traffic
takes time to learn the ins and outs but it's better than traffic i've had to deal with in boston and SF
dot-
do you know anything regarding the redline extension? i'd love to see it go all the way through BH, west LA, and into santa monica.
sorry, I just cannot the traffic in Boston and SF is worse...no way. Everytime I go to LA, which is a lot, I am in the car, siting, waiting, wishing for the cars to move. It's absolutely nightmarish...sorry to say
. I'm sad that this is so many years away.... if this were in place now, I could get by without having a car at all! The Expo rail would take me to work, and the combination of the expo rail, and the combination of the expo, wilshire, red, and blue lines would suit all of my social needs within walking distance.
ants,
from my understanding, there are no plans to extend the red line. i suspect it has to do geographic limitations as well as opposition from area residents who don't want a subway line going through their neighborhood.
the line we are working on runs parallel south of the 10 on goes from union station, southwest through parts of USC and eventually to culver city utilizing some existing rail tracks for phase I. Phase II will extend it from Culver City to Santa Monica.
I think the line Ants was talking about is referred to as the Wilshire BRT on the map I posted above. Seems to be a bus line, though, which sucks. Having ridden both, I VASTLY prefer the light rail system.
i hear the orange line in the valley works pretty well. it's essentially a train on wheels with a designated lane. this concept could work to extend the red line west, but maybe use San Vicente instead of wilshire because it is wide (historically was a trolly street). however, i think then the issue is rich folk, not wanting "undesirables" commuting through their neighborhood.
If they'd gotten their act together sooner, this could have been built into the big Santa Monica Blvd. project that tore up the street for the past few years.
Dot- does it have a driver or is it automated? There are essentially two reasons I like the trains so much more- the first is space and layout. Mostly the trains aren't so crammed as the buses are because they're able to be wider, the layout is more comfortable, they fit more people. The other is that the bus drivers can decide to change the route or skip stops, screwing over people who aren't regular riders of that bus and don't know that it varies from the official schedule. I've been stuck, lost, in the middle of south central because of this, and it was a very scary experience. On a train this doesn't happen- it stops automatically where the schedule says it will, roughly when the schedule says it will, and uses the same route every time so you can't lose track of where you are. There are maps posted on the walls making it extra easy. No chance of something like my bus experience. Plus, if there's a crazy person harassing you on the train, you just change cars. On a bus you're fucking stuck.
rationalist, imagine 2 super long buses joined together. that's what the orange line is. bc of the size it is limited to one linear route much like a train. they are driver operated, but is the equivalant of having a train operator.
they have actually been talking about the exposition line since at least the early nineties (maybe earlier), however funding and politics have obviously been a huge hurdle. i guess now they are finally serious about building it. our office is responsible for the planning and architecture of 8 of the 10 stations. for better or worse, as part of the deal we have agreed to an accelerated schedule (thankfully i am not working on it) so unless there is more political redtape, you should be able to ride the train form union station to culver city starting in late 2008.
awesome - maybe by 2030 we'll actually be able to get where we need to go :-) I also live close to work - in my backyard! know a few people who commute, but most of us try to not live too far away from work and drive against traffic. i hate it when i've got to do something that requires driving in traffic, but in general i can avoid it and maybe have to sit in traffic once a week at most.
Surface streets. Or know what roads to stay off of. Or bus. The bus system is the most extensive in the United States, there is usually one going where you need to go. The new articulated buses are the closest thing to a train on six wheels
If going cross town, the #10 big blue bus is a sweet way to go.
The first thing you learn when you live in LA is which streets to avoid and when. Everybody who visits takes only the freeways -- which makes sense, but sticking to the freeways guarantees that your perception of LA will remain negative.
People come to LA, visit the 10, the 405, the 101, Universal City Walk, and Hollywood Blvd -- and go home thinking LA sucks. Next time, try the surface streets. That's where you learn that LA is really interesting.
did you just mention universal shitty walk?
i hate that place.
Jerde Partnership is EVIL! They are a leading global standardizer of public places.
Since when is retail, entertaining???? Is our public space really just another shopping mall?
LA is better then this! do we need a Basspro in San Pedro or Santa Monica?
Oh - get a scooter! there is a fun thread on this subject from a few weeks ago.
Jerde pays well, and the people in their office play beach volleyball during their lunch break.
...no i do not work for Jerde.
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