MetroRiderLA

This one sure slapped me in the side of the head with almost no warning. Apparently, the city of Irvine is going to go ahead and build a streetcar line from the Metrolink/Amtrak station to the “Great Park.” So, a bit of an excursion route as well as a destination route.

I recall reading something briefly about this plan months and months ago, but it fell out of my brain since not a peep was heard about it since then. Please note this is NOT the proposed light rail line going to Huntington Beach proposed a few months ago (and shouted down by NIMBYs). Apparently the money for this 4 mile line is mostly (but not all) in place and the cars could be running by 2012. That is, if I read the article in the LA Times today right. There’s even lip service paid to making this into a county wide system someday if other adjacent cities pony up some cash for expansion. Go streetcars! I’ll be there in 2012 to ride on the first day.

January 12, 2006 - June 17, 2007

From the LADOT web site:
The Holly Trolley’s 1 1/2 year run as a LADOT pilot program is coming to an end. The service will be suspended indefinitely at 2:30 AM on Sunday, June 17, 2007.  We will analyze the ridership data collected and use this pilot program experience to plan future Hollywood transportation services designed to alleviate parking and traffic congestion and allow visitors and residents to get around Hollywood without difficulty.

As an alternative evening/nighttime service, commuters may take the Metro 217 service along Hollywood Blvd. between La Brea Ave. and Vermont Ave., or the Metro Rail Red Line service between the stops at Hollywood/Western Ave., Hollywood/Vine and Hollywood/Highland.

So walking home tonight from my grocery, I see the lovely sign above. My Korean is poor (hey, at least I have some Korean now, thanks to the wonderful folks over at the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles), but it’s obvious that this is about the meeting on May 24th.

Lovely. So basically, in their “rail is racist” message they expect to drag along residents of Koreatown, a district that, in my view, is the best example in LA of what can happen to an area after you add rail service. My hope is that most fellow residents and boosters of Koreatown recognize this nonsense for what it is. It’s interesting to see them try to pull along Korean residents, when anyone who watched TV in the 90s could tell you how poor relations were between the Korean parts of town and the traditionally poor sections that the BRU tries to represent. Well, that they try to represent when they’re not driving expensive cars or throwing parties at the Biltmore, that is. But that’s neither here nor there.

I do wonder if the reason that the fare hike “debate” is so muted may be the BRU - they’ve basically sucked all of the air out of the room, and it’s hard to come back with nuanced, well-thought ideas when they’re at these meetings shouting like five-year-olds who haven’t had their afternoon snack yet. I know I’ve certainly shied away from the issue - I put in my written comments and went about my day.

So it’ll be interesting to see what happens. I’ll be curious to see if the meeting makes the news. But I won’t be there - if I wanted to see or hear a bunch of five-year-olds throwing tantrums, I’d go to my local McDonalds.

So, seeing as the peanut gallery back here is going to have to pick up the slack, let’s have some “fun” at the expense of LADOT today.

Many of you know that I’m in a wheelchair, which makes the whole car-free thing interesting at times. I moved here from Boston, where ADA access seems to only be a suggestion, and have largely done well here; the two primary systems I use, Metro and Santa Monica, are both very much on top of things.

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[tags]los angeles, boyle heights, gold line, mariachi plaza, union-tribune[/tags]

The hotel is across from Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. The Metro Gold Line will have a stop here in 2009, which explains the tore-up streets.
Credit: Darryleasy via Flickr 

The San Diego Union-Tribune came up to Los Angeles to write about the Boyle Hotel, a dilapidated complex across the street from Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. Mariachis compete among themselves, and for work, at the intersection of First Street and Boyle Avenue. Many of them live in inexpensive quarters at the hotel.

The East Los Angeles Community Corp. purchased the hotel in hopes of renovating it and keeping it affordable for the mariachis. Urban planner William Fulton said in the article that the nonprofit purchased the building before the Gold Line extension opens in two years, as light rail is likely to boost property values in the poor Latino neighborhoods. Many businesses are already revitalizing First Street east of Alameda Street and west of the bridge.

“No question that when the Gold Line extension opens, East L.A. is going to be hot,” Fulton told the U-T. “When market forces get whirling, it is very difficult.”

[tags]los angeles, gold line, heritage square, lummis day[/tags]

A scene from last year’s Lummis Day festival.
Credit: LummisDay.org

Several northeast Los Angeles organizations are sponsoring Lummis Day, celebrating the history and culture of the area and one of its most important residents, journalist and activist Charles Fletcher Lummis.

The event itself is on Sunday, June 3, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It features musical, artistic and other cultural displays. It is at Sycamore Grove Park, 4900 N. Figueroa St., in Highland Park. A poetry reading and tour of Arroyo Seco begins at 11 a.m. at the Lummis Home, 200 E. Avenue 43, also in Highland Park. Both events are near the Metro Gold Line, but if the walk is too far, take bus lines 81 or 83 to those locations.

A fund-raiser for the June 3 event is also set for 5:45 p.m., Saturday, May 5 at the Heritage Square Museum, 3800 Homer Street, Highland Park. It is also near the Gold Line and lines 81 and 83. The $35 ticket ($40 at the door) includes museum admission and tour, music by Los Californios, poetry by Linda Albertano and a talk with farmer-writer Mark Thompson, as well as food and wine. Payments can be made through PayPal.

Questions about the fund-raiser or event should be directed to Eliot Sekuler, who can be reached at (818) 535-9178 or via e-mail at lummisday@yahoo.com.