LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 6.0 - Page 41

ConstructDTLA · #**801** Posted **Apr 24, 2016, 4:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Kill 'em

Today I took the Red Line to the Expo, and I kid you not I had to wait 20 minutes for the train. The Expo is infuriatingly slow between downtown and USC. Tomorrow I'm going to the science center and I'm going to try something different. I'll get off the redline in Koreatown and take the bus down Vermont, because I have a feeling that might be faster than taking the Expo.

I'm sure it will be. I have a hunch the Expo line will be far less popular than most here are believing. It would be one thing if the Expo line took 20 mins and the drive took 40 or 60, but thats just not the way it it's going to pan out.

Overload of Ten50 pics on the day it topped out:

View West from Metropolis by Hunter, on Flickr

Metropolis by Hunter, on Flickr

Ritz Carlton and the Marriotts by Hunter, on Flickr

Olympic & Broadway by Hunter, on Flickr

Ten50 by Hunter, on Flickr

6th Street Bridge by Hunter, on Flickr

LA21st · #**802** Posted **Apr 24, 2016, 11:21 PM**

Went to the dunkin donuts on olive.
One of most repugnant smells I've ever experienced. .
Not to be an ass, but I'm guessing a homeless person stayed for awhile

That said, it might be the best dunkin donuts in city.
I'm from Chicago, and so far la's versions have been somewhat weak.

King Kill 'em · #**803** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 12:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA21st

Went to the dunkin donuts on olive.
One of most repugnant smells I've ever experienced. .
Not to be an ass, but I'm guessing a homeless person stayed for awhile

That said, it might be the best dunkin donuts in city.
I'm from Chicago, and so far la's versions have been somewhat weak.

yeah their donuts don't taste as good here.

DistrictDirt · #**804** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 1:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by LA21st

Went to the dunkin donuts on olive.
One of most repugnant smells I've ever experienced. .
Not to be an ass, but I'm guessing a homeless person stayed for awhile

That said, it might be the best dunkin donuts in city.
I'm from Chicago, and so far la's versions have been somewhat weak.

Dunkin bakes and freezes their donuts off-premises and reheats them on-premises.

Give Downtown Donuts in Spring Arcade business instead. They are legit.

King Kill 'em · #**805** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 3:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DistrictDirt

Dunkin bakes and freezes their donuts off-premises and reheats them on-premises.

Give Downtown Donuts in Spring Arcade business instead. They are legit.

Yeah I've been meaning to try that. Donuts are kind of like pizza in that those that come from small bussinesses are usually better.

King Kill 'em · #**806** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 3:36 AM**

Untitled by Oscar Gake, on Flickr

ChelseaFC · #**807** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 4:26 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SimonLA

This is a worthy endeavor and good for DTLA, but I can't imagine driving from CC to DTLA during rush hour is much faster than the Expo Line, especially with parking. We're clearly very spoiled in this city, especially since increasingly many Angelenos have the option of car, train, bus, bike, or Uber.

If people aren't going to take the train because it takes five minutes longer than driving, they will probably get freaked out by the first homeless person they see on it and never return.

Yeah, that's not the issue man. What we're saying is that downtown is so difficult to get to, we just stay on the westside. The Expo Line just isn't useful. It doesn't make it worth our while.

I've tried using the Expo Line to get to Dodger Stadium for a weeknight game (Expo + Red + stadium shuttle) and it was awful. Slow and irritating.

black_crow · #**808** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 5:12 AM**

Nice updates guys.

Resident · #**809** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 5:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ConstructDTLA

I'm sure it will be. I have a hunch the Expo line will be far less popular than most here are believing. It would be one thing if the Expo line took 20 mins and the drive took 40 or 60, but thats just not the way it it's going to pan out.

Hasn't even opened yet and already shitting on it. The Gold line is vastly outperforming its expectations. I expect the Expo line will do the same. I know a ton of people who live in DTLA and work on the west side, and take the expo to CC and then take a uber or have their car parked in the parking lot there.

citywatch · #**810** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 6:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ConstructDTLA

Overload of Ten50 pics on the day it topped out:

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Kill 'em

Oscar Gake on Flickr

Quote:

Today Fiesta Broadway, a Cinco de Mayo celebration held downtown on the last weekend in April, has other problems. Big crowds aren't among them.

As the festival got underway for its 27th year Sunday, it was hard not to notice the change at an event that is in several senses smaller. The fiesta used to cover 36 blocks, centered on a long stretch of Broadway converted into an urban midway, with carnival booths and stages for musical acts. This year, construction on 2nd Street by the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority truncated the event to six blocks around the Civic Center.

Even that modest space was not especially crowded, suggesting a deeper diminishment.

The makeover undergone in recent years by Broadway and downtown L.A. has been hailed by many as a success story. But it is also a story of loss and of gentrification at its most jarringly obvious, as high-rent condos and slow-pour coffee stands spread through a neighborhood once dominated by discount department stores, commercial wedding chapels and boutiques selling quinceañera dresses.

If Fiesta Broadway's popularity once showed this neighborhood's importance to the Latin American immigrants who brought life to a largely derelict downtown in the 1970s and '80s, its sedate tone today points to those immigrants' gradual replacement by a downtown population that is richer, whiter and perhaps less inclined to spend a Sunday afternoon listening to Mexican pop music over elotes and shaved ice.

Anthony Figueroa, 18, said he had been coming with his family to Fiesta Broadway for the last five years. During that time, he said, they've witnessed the festival grow quieter, with the crowds that used to throng downtown steadily dwindling.

David Sanchez, who visited the festival for the first time Sunday to hand out literature for his Fontana church, had heard about the large crowds that could be found at Fiesta Broadway in its heyday. He said he was surprised to find just six small blocks that were a long way from filling up.

"We're kind of surprised at how empty it is," Sanchez said. "It just seems like there's not a whole lot of families out here."

Yuji Sugiyama, 30, works at a bank downtown but rarely visits on the weekend.

"I came to this country 11 years ago," said Sugiyama, who is from Japan. "Downtown was dead. There was no L.A. Live. There were no apartments." Since then, he said, things have changed. "For millennials, downtown is kind of hot right now."

On Sunday, Sugiyama made an exception to his routine and decided to attend Fiesta Broadway for the first time. He took the Expo Line from his Culver City home to downtown, expecting to find a crowd of 300,000 similar to those he had read about in years past.

At lunchtime, he stood at 1st and Broadway.

"It looks much smaller," he said.

NativeOrange · #**811** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 6:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewK

There is a strip of brick between the street and non-elevated "sidewalk" along the east side of Mill St between Industrial St and just north of Conway Pl.

That's not the one I was thinking of but thank you for telling me as I haven't seen that one yet. The one I was referring to is not nearly as cool and way smaller. It's really only a small portion on the side of a driveway where the sidewalk has crumbled away.

black_crow · #**812** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 7:26 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Resident

Hasn't even opened yet and already shitting on it. The Gold line is vastly outperforming its expectations. I expect the Expo line will do the same. I know a ton of people who live in DTLA and work on the west side, and take the expo to CC and then take a uber or have their car parked in the parking lot there.

The Expo Line will be even more successful, I will use it a lot. Trains will run every 12 minutes for most of the day.
The time isn't an issue. What's the problem with 45 minutes? Try to use your car during rush hour and good luck with parking.

How can somebody not like the extension to Santa Monica?

Public transportation will become more important in Los Angeles and that's a smart thing.

Best project ever!

chris08876 · #**813** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 8:14 AM**

I must admit that I don't follow the LA boom as much as I should be, but holy shit am I impressed. This easily has to be the biggest surge in construction since the 80's.

Based on the census gains for 2015, I'd imagine 2016 to 2017 will be just as strong. Quite impressed with whats going on in the Arts District. Whole neighborhoods are being redeveloped.

I think post #806 and #801 along with #777 and #782 really illustrate this.

Also like the mid rises that are going up near Hollywood. Some nice infill.

Eightball · #**814** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 12:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ConstructDTLA

I'm sure it will be. I have a hunch the Expo line will be far less popular than most here are believing. It would be one thing if the Expo line took 20 mins and the drive took 40 or 60, but thats just not the way it it's going to pan out.

Blatantly wrong

http://la.curbed.com/2014/1/22/10152...oom-for-future

blackcat23 · #**815** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 2:58 PM**

Not to be dismissive, but it's pretty much par for the course for people in big cities to bitch and moan about their public transportation system. That being said, a couple of negative anecdotes from sporadic passengers should not be accepted as a reflection of how the the system normally functions.

I rode the Expo Line on a near daily basis for more than two years, and can recall upwards of a dozen times where I was inconvenienced by delays of some sort. Should I focus on the handful of negative experiences, or the other 95% of the time when it got me from Downtown to Culver City in the scheduled 29 minutes?

ChelseaFC, that Dodger stadium ride does sound pretty brutal, but that's already an hour-long trip even if everything goes perfectly to schedule. Transit isn't meant to shuttle people 20 miles from doorstep to destination at the same speed as your personal automobile on a freeway.

SimonLA · #**816** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 3:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackcat23

Not to be dismissive, but it's pretty much par for the course for people in big cities to bitch and moan about their public transportation system. That being said, a couple of negative anecdotes from sporadic passengers should not be accepted as a reflection of how the the system normally functions.

I rode the Expo Line on a near daily basis for more than two years, and can recall upwards of a dozen times where I was inconvenienced by delays of some sort. Should I focus on the handful of negative experiences, or the other 95% of the time when it got me from Downtown to Culver City in the scheduled 29 minutes?

ChelseaFC, that Dodger stadium ride does sound pretty brutal, but that's already an hour-long trip even if everything goes perfectly to schedule. Transit isn't meant to shuttle people 20 miles from doorstep to destination at the same speed as your personal automobile on a freeway.

Voice of reason, thanks. While Santa Monica will mostly benefit from Expo extension, DTLA will also benefit, likely from the curious tourists that will ferry back and forth between the beach and the high-rises.

ChelseaFC · #**817** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 3:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackcat23

ChelseaFC, that Dodger stadium ride does sound pretty brutal, but that's already an hour-long trip even if everything goes perfectly to schedule. Transit isn't meant to shuttle people 20 miles from doorstep to destination at the same speed as your personal automobile on a freeway.

So, I'm going to the game tonight. I live on the westside. After trying it out previously, there is no way I would take public transit to the game. My car is more comfortable, requires no transfers, takes essentially the same amount of time, and by the time the game is over there is no more rush hour traffic. Making the DS - Union Station - 7th/Metro - La Cienega/Jeff trek at 11pm at night just isn't appealing when I can just jump on the freeway and zip home on the 10.

But yeah, it's ridiculous how slow the Expo Line moves through those at-grade non-traffic signal preempted intersections. It often stops for minutes at a time.

MKLA · #**818** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 3:47 PM**

I think everyone here can agree that the Expo Line would benefit with signal preemption.

Not saying at all that the line is not useful as it is now, I am a huge Expo Line advocate, but man it would be nice if those at-grade stops were reduced.

Here is a repost of the petitions: https://www.change.org/p/ladot-signa...ption-for-expo

202_Cyclist · #**819** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 3:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChelseaFC

So, I'm going to the game tonight. I live on the westside. After trying it out previously, there is no way I would take public transit to the game. My car is more comfortable, requires no transfers, takes essentially the same amount of time, and by the time the game is over there is no more rush hour traffic. Making the DS - Union Station - 7th/Metro - La Cienega/Jeff trek at 11pm at night just isn't appealing when I can just jump on the freeway and zip home on the 10.

But yeah, it's ridiculous how slow the Expo Line moves through those at-grade non-traffic signal preempted intersections. It often stops for minutes at a time.

I have not been on the Expo line but with this, you have the following advantages:

*Avoid the cost of parking either downtown or at Dodger stadium.
*Can consume alcohol prior to departing for home.
*Can check email or read while you're traveling-- 40 minutes or an hour spent on transit and the same time spent driving is not the same. Transit gives you the ability to be productive while traveling.

ChelseaFC · #**820** Posted **Apr 25, 2016, 5:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

I have not been on the Expo line but with this, you have the following advantages:

*Avoid the cost of parking either downtown or at Dodger stadium.
*Can consume alcohol prior to departing for home.
*Can check email or read while you're traveling-- 40 minutes or an hour spent on transit and the same time spent driving is not the same. Transit gives you the ability to be productive while traveling.

The alcohol issue doesn't seem to be relevant because unless you happen to live within walking distance from the Expo Line, you still have to drive to/from the station before and after the game. In any case, I don't drink, stadium parking is only $10, I can have private/loud conversations with the people I'm traveling with, and I get to enjoy the comfort of my car's cabin (no sticky floors, awful smells, etc.). And because of the traffic, I can still check stuff on my phone. It's just a much more enjoyable experience. That's why I really don't mind traffic. It's just part of the deal when you sign up to live in Los Angeles. And with technology nowadays, you can be more productive than ever in your car.

That said, having to jump on multiple forms of public transit after the game and the long late-night wait times (Union Station and 7th/Metro) is probably the dealbreaker.