Some info on L.A requested
dchat...@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
I am to visit L.A for a week from 26th to 1st. I am a student and looking
for a Youth Hostel (YMCA) within reasonable/ affordable prices. How is the
public transport system in L.A ? Is it safe to walk at night ?
Please send your responses via e-mail, or, post it on this newsgroup.
- regards,
deb chatterjee
e-mail: dchat...@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Peter Bray
> for a Youth Hostel (YMCA) within reasonable/ affordable prices. How is
the
> public transport system in L.A ? Is it safe to walk at night ?
>
The youth hostels suck... they are mainly shady places where shady
people do shady deals with shady characters. I think there is one in
venice beach near the boardwalk which might be okay.
The public transport system sucks. Don't trust it or use it.
It is not safe to walk at night in 95% of the environs in L.A..
The only places where you can walk are on the west side of los angeles:
like santa monica. If you walk at night in places like south central or
east los angeles you are liable to get hurt. If you walk in places like
beverly hills or palos verdes and if you look as though you belong then
you are okay; otherwise, watch out for the police. Even in places like
santa monica, it is best to walk with a large group of people on a
saturday or friday night (when there are a lot of other people around).
You *WILL* get accosted if you look slightly well-off in santa monica by
bums wanting money. You *WILL* get accosted, no matter what you look
like, by drunk bums wanting to ramble on about their troubles. Los
Angeles, my fair ciry, is an expensive place as well. Unless you have a
considerable trust fund don't go. The beaches are "locals only" in a lot
of places, and when they are not they tend to be very dirty.
Everyone who lives in L.A. is out to either trick you into giving
them money, kill you or talk to you about some really boring thing. The
driving sucks in los angeles. Why the hell do you want to go? There is
no central part to Los Angeles. There is no nice center where you can
meander about from shop to shop. If you want to go one place it is,
invariably, an hour's drive from the place you are at.
The weather sucks in L.A.. Yes the sky is blue, the sun shines;
but the heat that the sun emits is stale and pathetic, worked dry by the
smog, the noise and the moral chaos. The heat is draining rather than
invigorating. If you customarily jog or exercise don't do it in L.A... Do
it, and then breath deeply and you'll gag and cough. The smog *IS* that
bad.
I personally love los angeles 'cause I grew up there. Everyone I
know who has visited has hated it unless you give them a veiled tour of
places in the cool comfort of your air-conditioned, cd-playing lexus:
places like malibu, disneyland and so on. Watch out!
Ciao
--
At the base of all these aristocratic races the predator is not
to be mistaken, the splendorous blond beast, avidly rampant for
plunder and victory.
-- Senor Nietzsche
Peter Bray
Mr V A Noronha
How is the
> public transport system in L.A ? Is it safe to walk at night ?
>
Well, I lived in LA for a year, I had no car and I don't think it's as bad as some people make out,
depending on which area of the city you are interested in. Remember it's a huge city, and to say you
want to stay in LA is almost meaningless. The best area is west LA, and this is served by the Santa Monica
Bus Company (the blue buses), as well as the Culver City buses (green) and the RTD, which serves the whole
of southern California. If you stick to santa Monica, West LA, Rancho Park, Culver City, and Westwood, the blue buses
are fine. RTD is more expensive, not as clean and often attracts less desirable customers. There are no trains
or trams for this side of town.
AS for walking at night, very few cities are safe anywhere in the world. Several of my
friends were mugged in west LA. If possible, avoid going out after dark, or stick to a vehicle, or travel in
a group. That's sound advice as much in London as in LA.
LA does not have a metro/underground system, and the reason is obvious: the city is too vast. So it
it nowhere nearly as easy to get about LA as it is to travel around Washington, Boston, LOndon or
Paris. Perhaps you should hire a car. That's of course the most convenient option, providing
you can handle the immense amount of traffic and congestion on the city's streets at all times.
Mark Ashley
>LA does not have a metro/underground system, and the reason is obvious:
>the city is too vast.
No. LA used to have a rail cars like San Francisco's. But the
car companies managed to shut down the company that ran it.
They supposedly bought the company but I cannot remember the
nit-picky details. Strewn across the "old" LA are rail tracks
that used to be part of that system.
Anybody more knowledgeable in this respect perhaps can add more
details ?!?!?
Well,yeah, it wasn't underground. 8-)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Ashley |DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed
ma...@gcx1.ssd.csd.harris.com |here are my own; they do not
..!uunet!gcx1!marka |reflect the opinion or policies
|of Harris Corporation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Newman
|> The youth hostels suck... they are mainly shady places where shady
|> people do shady deals with shady characters. I think there is one in
|> venice beach near the boardwalk which might be okay.
It's in Santa Monica near the Pier--not Venice.
|> The public transport system sucks. Don't trust it or use it.
It can be slow, and it's no replacement for a car.
But on my last trip to LA, I did find it reasonable to drive
a car to a neighborhood, park it, and then walk a few miles in
one direction and later take a bus back to the parked car.
(I did this in Hollywood, Venice/Santa Monica, and Downtown LA.)
The Santa Monica "Blue Bus" system is better than the RTD buses.
|> It is not safe to walk at night in 95% of the environs in L.A..
This is a gross exaggeration. With this attitude you will not enjoy
L.A. or any other place you go.
|> Everyone who lives in L.A. is out to either trick you into giving
|> them money, kill you or talk to you about some really boring thing.`
See above.
|> There is no nice center where you can
|> meander about from shop to shop.
There are several; I recommend:
- Melrose Avenue (trendy funky arty shops)
- Fairfax Avenue (long-standing Jewish ghetto, very close
to La Brea Tar Pits, County Museum of Art, and Farmers Market)
- A combination of the Venice Boardwalk, Main Street in Santa Monica,
and the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. (This one is
ideal for the strategy of "walk one direction and take the bus back.")
--
Ron Newman rne...@bbn.com
Howard Arthur Faye
>In article <1992Nov30....@reed.edu>, pb...@nextweek.Reed.Edu (Peter Bray) writes:
>
>|> The youth hostels suck... they are mainly shady places where shady
>|> meander about from shop to shop.
>
>There are several; I recommend:
> - Melrose Avenue (trendy funky arty shops)
> - Fairfax Avenue (long-standing Jewish ghetto, very close
> to La Brea Tar Pits, County Museum of Art, and Farmers Market)
> - A combination of the Venice Boardwalk, Main Street in Santa Monica,
> and the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. (This one is
> ideal for the strategy of "walk one direction and take the bus back.")
>
lot (esp Bob's Fish). I'd also add Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, especially
with Il Fornaio opening there. Ventura Blvd between Lankershim and Coldwater--
there's a wonderful selection of high-end furniture and antique stores
that recently opened (Cranberry House & Bedfellows among others, not
to mention Art's Deli, one of the best in LA) and Beverly Blvd between
La Brea and Fairfax-- Big & Tall Books, Modernica (which purveys
props and furniture for film), Java (a good coffee house), Erewhon,
Authentic Cafe, the patio at El Coyote and hasidic families with
swirling cliques of children everywhere. I think Silverlake along
Hyperion is interesting; there's a great cheese shop called 'Say Cheese',
aTrader Joe's, Videoactive and the bar where much of 'Cruising' with
Al Pacino was filmed. I also recommend the restaurant 'Da Noi' on
Hyperion. And I won't even start blathering about 2 Rodeo Place and
N. Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. Even if you can't afford it, Fred
Hayman and David Orgell are fabulous. Damn, I love this city.
--
Howard Arthur Faye * Panglossian Acres * Box 7 * Littlerock, CA 93543
"But Marielle liked the _baba_. It was, she said, 'comme il faut'."
C D Burdorf
>In article <1ffv18...@clover.csv.warwick.ac.uk> ec...@csv.warwick.ac.uk (Mr V A Noronha) writes:
>>LA does not have a metro/underground system, and the reason is obvious:
>>the city is too vast.
>
>No. LA used to have a rail cars like San Francisco's. But the
>car companies managed to shut down the company that ran it.
>They supposedly bought the company but I cannot remember the
>nit-picky details. Strewn across the "old" LA are rail tracks
>that used to be part of that system.
>
>Anybody more knowledgeable in this respect perhaps can add more
>details ?!?!?
>
It was called the red car and served from Santa Monica to downtown LA
to Orange County. The story I read was that the oil companies bought
it up and ripped it out, because they figured they could make more
money from automobiles.
C D Burdorf
>In article <1992Nov29.1...@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> dchat...@kuhub.cc.ukans.writes:
>
>
>AS for walking at night, very few cities are safe anywhere in the world. Several of my
>friends were mugged in west LA. If possible, avoid going out after dark, or stick to a vehicle, or travel in
>a group. That's sound advice as much in London as in LA.
>
I disagree with this statement. I lived in LA for 4 years and have
lived in the UK for 2 years now and I would say that London is vastly
safer to walk around at night than LA. LA has drive by shootings -- London
doesn't. LA has nasty street gang violence and innocent bystanders
often get caught in the crossfire. London gangs generally don't use guns and
are far less intimidating. London is a utopia in
comparison to LA.
I've been hassled and threatened walking around the
Westside of LA at night (supposedly the safest area), but have never
been hassled even when walking around supposedly dubious parts of London
at night. Don't get me wrong. London has problems, but to say that
it isn't safe to walk around London at night, especially in the city
centre, is just not true. Nonetheless, walking around LA at night
isn't safe, unless you are in a shopping mall.
Eric Promislow
>LA used to have a rail cars like San Francisco's. But the
>car companies managed to shut down the company that ran it.
>They supposedly bought the company but I cannot remember the
>nit-picky details. Strewn across the "old" LA are rail tracks
>that used to be part of that system.
>
>Anybody more knowledgeable in this respect perhaps can add more
>details ?!?!?
I don't remember the exact details either, but they're amply
covered in David Halberstam's _The Powers That Be_. Students of the
North American urban landscape and conspiracy theorists alike will
find Halberstam's explanation of how the media, rubber, and motor
interests managed to put into gear the transformation of Los Angeles
into its current form.
--
-- Eric Promisl...@xgml.com--Exoterica Corporation, Ottawa, Ontario
Michael A. Thomas
No. Not from what I've heard. The riddance of the trolly cars was
a purely political move to make Los Angeles the decentralized
suburbopolis that it currently is. This was purposeful, and hardly
some shady conspiracy by the oil companies you seem to imply. The
idea was that this kind of city layout would provide a better
community. Irvine, here in Orange County, typifies this mentality.
Back in the forties when most of these decisions were being made,
cars were *the* lifestyle, and were regarded as a boon to better
living. The entire LA culture is imbued with the cult of the automobile.
At that time, LA was a relatively small community with area to expand
streaching to infinity. All one need to do is build more freeways.
Of course this is not the case today, but in their mindset the
car, the freeway, and the independence and mobility it affords
(and still does for that matter) was the prime motivation on
city planning.
Trolly cars were the inner city, the shackles of immobility.
They interfered with the dream of the new mobility and thus they
had to go. And so it was.
I'm not saying that city planners were right (I certainly have my
list of gripes about the idiocy of the layout here), it's just that
this was the plan of building a better city -- not some backroom
conspiracy.
--
Michael Thomas (mi...@gordian.com)
"I don't think Bambi Eyes will get you that flame thrower..."
-- Hobbes to Calvin
USnail: 20361 Irvine Ave Santa Ana Heights, Ca, 92707-5637
PaBell: (714) 850-0205 (714) 850-0533 (fax)
Alan F. Perry
>>LA does not have a metro/underground system, and the reason is obvious:
>>the city is too vast.
>
>No. LA used to have a rail cars like San Francisco's. But the
>car companies managed to shut down the company that ran it.
>They supposedly bought the company but I cannot remember the
>nit-picky details. Strewn across the "old" LA are rail tracks
>that used to be part of that system.
>
>Anybody more knowledgeable in this respect perhaps can add more
>details ?!?!?
I do not claim to be more knowledgable, but, when the Red Line was in use,
L.A. was not quite as vast as it is today. From what I have seen of
the system in photographs, it doesn't look like it would scale up very
well.
Comparing it to San Francisco, let's say you worked in The City and lived
in San Jose, imagine taking a cable car to work. Even if you wanted to
take modern mass transit, it is not easy.
--
-----------------------------------+----------------------------------------
Alan F. Perry | "e-mail is wrecking my life"
esp...@netcom.com (home) | - some random person
al...@hakkinen.lynx.com (work) | standing in San Francisco
Richard Whitney
>
>|> The youth hostels suck... they are mainly shady places where shady
>|> people do shady deals with shady characters. I think there is one in
>|> venice beach near the boardwalk which might be okay.
>
>It's in Santa Monica near the Pier--not Venice.
Actually, one is in each place: in Venice, on Windward near the
Pavillion, and in Santa Monica on 2nd Street, 3 or 4 blocks from the
pier; I think there are others around town. I'm not endorsing them,
but I think many European youths made use of them during the summer.
Cheers,
Richard
Christopher M Stanley
ec...@csv.warwick.ac.uk (Mr V A Noronha) writes:
>>LA does not have a metro/underground system, and the reason is >obvious:
>>the city is too vast.
>No. LA used to have a rail cars like San Francisco's. But the
>car companies managed to shut down the company that ran it.
>They supposedly bought the company but I cannot remember the
>nit-picky details. Strewn across the "old" LA are rail tracks
>that used to be part of that system.
This is the story that I've heard.
The Red car system used to be the largest network of commuter rails in
the world. Sometime in the early 60's (roughly) GM and Goodyear got
together and bought the whole thing. They said, Noooo! we're not going
to tear it up. Why would you think we would want to do that??? (right).
Anyway, the result is obvious. They sold off what parts they could and
scrapped the rest.
Some people (I don't have any idea who) got together and sued GM and
Goodyear. They actually won. The big boys had to pay out some
enormous sum (probably a few million) and that was that. No more Red
Cars.
This is what I know about he story. There has got to be a train buff
out there that knows the complete facts though. How bout it??????
chris
Ken Boozer
the rail lines in anticipation of bigger profits in their industries.
The movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is basically a true story!