Learning to find community.

September 20, 2017 by Reed Alvarado in Bus, Metro, Rider Stories

“It was absolutely intentional. I have always been really passionate about community; not just taking in your neighborhood by osmosis, but really taking in the faces and names of your neighbors”

It's 6:50 in the morning and Taylor Slavens, or Mr. Slavens as he is known at work, is getting ready in his Los Feliz apartment, in a neighborhood where he has lived in or adjacent to for the last five years. While living here he attended USC to undertake a Master's in Education, after which he quickly found a position teaching English and 'Intro to Theatre' at John Marshall High School, located only 1.7 miles away from Taylor’s apartment. Having a commute of just under two miles is a dream that most Angelenos can only envy but Taylor was determined to live close to where he ended up teaching saying, "It was absolutely intentional. I have always been really passionate about community; not just taking in your neighborhood by osmosis, but really taking in the faces and names of your neighbors...I wanted to be a part of the kid's lives that walk by me every day on the streets."

While walking through the neighborhood I asked Taylor how he travels the 1.7 miles each day, "I drive my Mini Cooper; it takes about thirteen minutes." A choice that is made even easier by the fact that the school provides free parking for the staff. I understand Taylor’s choice: driving is convenient, easy, and cheap. Also, his school, which is located on the border of Los Feliz and Silverlake, is not close to any obvious rail or bus routes. Yet, as I hear what Taylor says about the importance of interacting with his neighbors I see his commute as one of his best opportunities to find out what, and who, truly make up Los Feliz. There are a couple options to get to work, but Citymapper informs me of the most convenient: a bus that runs during rush-hour between Hollywood and Silverlake. The 175 bus picks us up about one block from Taylor’s apartment and drops us off at the front of Marshall high in about twenty-six minutes.

As we make our way to the stop, across the street from the infamous, yet-to-be-completed Target on Sunset and Western and I ask Taylor how most of his students get to school, "most of them take public transit; a good number of them get picked up by their parents; a very small number drive because there is no parking for them...a lot of them don't think twice about using Metro" a statement which he says he can't apply to much of his friend group adding, "most think of it as occasionally helpful but largely kind of inopportune." As we walk up to the station I see his assessment as fairly accurate at least on this occasion. There are none of the hip Coachella outfits or manicured beards that Los Feliz and Silverlake have become so synonymous with as of late, but there are about four people at the stop, one of whom is wearing John Marshall gear.

“I remember I was with a friend using the Redline to get downtown ten years ago, I remember thinking this is great but limited in its scope...at least the rails. I’ve been on a bus one other time, I’ve always wanted to utilize it, but I’m always nervous or afraid of doing transfers and getting lost. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

As we board the bus, Taylor talks about his own experience with Metro, "I remember I was with a friend using the Red line to get downtown ten years ago, I remember thinking this is great but limited in its scope...at least the rails. I've been on a bus one other time, I've always wanted to utilize it, but I'm always nervous or afraid of doing transfers and getting lost. I don't know what I'm doing." After stopping a few times, the number people on the bus goes from about seven to forty fairly quickly and the vast majority are students. Taylor laughs saying, "I'm already obsessed with it...riding Metro creates space for connection and learning that a thirteen-minute drive doesn't offer. What is this twenty-six minutes? So what - am I losing fourteen minutes? I get up at five every morning, it's not that different."

“I’m already obsessed with it...riding Metro creates space for connection and learning that a thirteen-minute drive doesn’t offer. What is this twenty-six minutes? So what am I losing fourteen minutes? I get up at five every morning, it’s not that different.”

Taylor has learned a lot about his community from teaching in his neighborhood. We reminisce over our college years, going to cafes and bars in the area, but we can't recall many times where we saw teenagers in the neighborhood. "Marshall has challenged me to really understand the culture that I can name but can't really speak about at length. It has shown me a personal side of what is going on in Los Feliz with gentrification. My students, a lot of them, might not have the money to go to the restaurants my friends enjoy...it is easy to be nearsighted and myopic to think 'my experience of my neighborhood is the only experience of my neighborhood,' and it takes effort to see the reality of what your neighborhood actually is."

“My students, a lot of them, might not have the money to go to the restaurants my friends enjoy...it is easy to be nearsighted and myopic to think ‘my experience of my neighborhood is the only experience of my neighborhood,’ and it takes effort to see the reality of what your neighborhood actually is.”

The biggest thing I notice on this bus ride is that I'm seeing a Los Feliz I've never seen before outside of a taqueria or chance encounter with a stranger. Unlike Downtown or Koreatown, where density makes old residents interact with new, side by side, in this part of town it is easy to avoid anyone that isn't in a person's daily sphere. Taylor talks about the similarities between transit and his job, "Where else other than a bus or a school, or maybe jury duty, are you forced to interact with all the different people in your neighborhood?" We can't rely solely on coffee shops, or any other private enterprise to integrate neighbors when many in the community cannot afford them. That doesn't mean the private sector isn't adding great and valid institutions but they cannot be responsible for bridging the divide. Unfortunately, Taylor doesn't see many of his friends using buses as a valid option, mostly due to their perception, "people see rail and subways as being more expedient and efficient, but a bus can also be really efficient."

By the time we get to Taylor’s school 75% of the bus unloads directly in front of John Marshall. Whether by choice or simply being too young to drive, Metro is certainly a working option for these kids whereas Taylor didn't even know this route existed. I can't blame him. It is hard to learn the schedules and routes, particularly for buses that don't run all day like the 175, when they aren't advertised the same way rail lines are. One has to use a map like Citymapper or Google Maps to find it or scour the Metro page for a possible route. People want easy and convenient options. There are many, like Taylor, who are actively seeking out ways to engage with their community, and we shouldn't make it harder for them to engage rather than travel solo. Taylor might not switch to Metro full time, but at least now he is aware of how many of his students are getting to school. That dialogue, that shared experience, is just one more way to build a community that didn't exist before.

Acting on his terms.

September 13, 2017 by Reed Alvarado in Metro, Rider Stories

Devon Graye has had a long run getting to where he is in Los Angeles. "It feels like it's been several different cities because it's so spread out. Every neighborhood has its own flavor," Devon says as he puts together the timeline of his thirteen years in Los Angeles. Before arriving in DTLA two years ago, Devon had experienced almost every type of L.A. there is from the far flung suburbs of Thousand Oaks and Van Nuys to the city center (but still car-centric) neighborhoods of Miracle Mile and the city of West Hollywood. When Devon came to L.A., he moved from neighborhood to neighborhood trying to find a place that reflected his lifestyle while also allowing him to see friends that were stretched out all over the county. "There is such a strategy in finding a place to live in L.A...if I decide to move to Venice I can say goodbye to all my West Hollywood friends...but that's why I love downtown because the transit down here can take me into every different neighborhood or at least somewhat near it. That's the ideal way to keep my life going," he says as we walk to 7th & Metro, a nearby walk from Devon's apartment.

“I realized, maybe 3 and a half years ago, that I hated the car and was developing a severe anxiety of driving. Every time I got behind the wheel of my car, especially on freeways, it was getting progressively worse. I don’t why or what it came from.”

Devon started his career in L.A. the way most actors do. He found an apartment, an acting class, and his Toyota Corolla. As an actor, many will say having a car is obligatory. Beside the obvious need to race from Burbank to Santa Monica on any given day for an audition, Devon, like many actors, used his car as personal office and changing room darting between auditions and side jobs. Eventually, Devon recognized he had a problem, "I realized, maybe three and a half years ago, that I hated the car and was developing a severe anxiety of driving. Every time I got behind the wheel of my car, especially on freeways, it was getting progressively worse. I don't why or what it came from."

“People sometimes tell him that he needs to “fix” his feelings around driving to survive as an actor in L.A. but Devon doesn’t accept that. Devon is a person living in a city of four million, and with a valid reason or not, it is irresponsible for a city not to provide options for transportation.”

While there isn't a single moment Devon can point to for his anxiety behind the wheel, it started when he moved here and slowly crept its way up to becoming a larger issue. "I got to the point where I couldn't do freeways at night, then it turned into not doing freeways at all, then I couldn't do side streets at night, and I can still do side streets during the day but I really hate it. I went to therapy for it but it didn't really work. So I would still drive and reluctantly get in the car if I had to go to the valley and I'd find side streets to get there so I wouldn't have to take the freeway. I'd panic if I saw a freeway onramp in front of me and there was no way to get anywhere else...it was stressful." Like many, Devon thought it was unrealistic to be an actor in L.A. without a car. It wasn't until Devon left town for a month and arrived back to a note on his car from a cement truck driver who regretfully informed him that he smashed the back end of his car. "With the car totaled...I took it as a sign from the universe I was never to drive again, " he laughs, though I could tell it wasn't a joke.

“...that’s why I love downtown because the transit down here can take me into every different neighborhood or at least somewhat near it. That’s the ideal way to keep my life going.”

Until recently - especially with the expansion of Metro and the added reliability of ride-share with Uber and Lyft - this was the kind of thing that would send an actor running to New York. Devon, despite the odds, has made it work, and as we walk on to the Expo Line to get to Santa Monica for a voice over recording I realize Devon isn't regretting a single thing about going car-free. "It's limited me in that I need to plan a little bit more in advance; I have to get creative with what I can fit in a backpack, and I find I get a ton of time to work on my writing, my lines for auditions, I just find that my days are nicer." Prior to moving downtown, Devon used Lyft exclusively to get around the city when he lived in West Hollywood. He used Lyft Line to save money but would often find it hard when you would get ninety percent of the way there and then side tracked by a last minute pick up. Moving downtown was a game-changer. Suddenly, at a fraction of the cost, Devon was connected to North Hollywood in twenty-five minutes, Santa Monica in an hour, and Hollywood in twenty minutes without the fear a suprise detour.

As we pass USC and start heading west Devon says, "I have this theory that people move to L.A. a lot of the time because they were told in their towns that they were the most special and most talented...and you see that when people get behind the wheel of their car...everyone feels like they are the most important people getting the most important thing and that causes accidents...after all the cities I've gone to and driven in, by far L.A. has the most inconsiderate drivers." Using Metro, Devon has been able to get out of his own bubble. People sometimes tell him that needs to "fix" his feelings around driving to survive as an actor in L.A. but Devon doesn't accept that. Devon is a person living in a city of four million, and with a valid reason or not, it is irresponsible for a city not to provide options for transportation.

“I feel like we are all sort of trained as soon as we get here to live in an insular bubble and not really connect with people, and many already feel that in a entertainment industry that is rampant in a feeling of exclusivity”

"I feel like we are all sort of trained as soon as we get here to live in an insular bubble and not really connect with people, and many already feel that in an entertainment industry that is rampant in a feeling of exclusivity," Devon says and adds how that is the opposite of what a community of artists should be striving for, some actors that might work, but my philosophy is that you should be as open as possible...if I spend my time on a train with people from all walks of life I'm going to be way more open when I walk into that room and share myself so much more freely rather than living in a cocoon."

This made me curious as to Devon's experience of arriving on foot at one of the many studios spread throughout the county. "Universal is easy because the Red Line goes right up to it even though you walk in through the driving entrance. Sony is great...it's a twenty-minute walk from Expo...but it's in a cute part of the city. 20th Century Fox has a big metal fence and you feel like they are going to pat you down; it's harder, I feel like I can't get there on transit." I let him know about the 728 Rapid that goes from DTLA through Century City, he said he wants to try it but has never heard of it. It highlighted to me how beyond the allure of rail versus buses, bus routes are hard to understand for many. The iconography of the Metro map is what most people are used to, and they don't feature bus routes. For a system that relies so heavily on buses, Los Angeles could do a far better job of advertising where their buses actually go.

As for the Expo Line, it does not need any explanation. After opening in 2016, it has already reached its ridership projections for 2030 at 64,000 riders a day. We step off at 17th St/SMC Station and walk the three blocks to the small studio where Devon will record, of all things, voice over for a car commercial. Go figure. Unlike Metro, car companies have mastered the art of selling the experience of getting there even when it isn't entirely accurate. Both residents downtown, we joke about how often we see commercials of cars racing through an abandoned DTLA care free. The lens is a powerful thing: it slyly eludes the numerous cop cars and fellow drivers that have blocked the street to make that dream a reality.

One Stop.

September 06, 2017 by Reed Alvarado in Metro, Rider Stories

It's 6:30 on Monday morning, and while most of the work force is sleeping in on Labor Day, Maria Akis is walking out her door. She lives on the edge of MacArthur Park and is going to her job as a restaurant server at a hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. Considering it's a holiday, and Metro schedules usually run on an abbreviated schedule, I'm a little worried that we aren't going to make it to her job downtown by 7, but she assures me, "Metro takes half an hour." Even I – who prides myself on my confidence of in the Metro – seems skeptical, but we venture forth.

As we walk, sun still rising, I ask Maria what it is like to have always lived in LA without a car, (she moved here only a year and a half ago from Pittsburgh) and she admits, "It's sometimes annoying to get to places where you have to talk multiple trains or buses. Uber's are expensive, I was at the Annenberg seeing this show called "Generation Wealth"...the Uber was $17 from my house, and surging, I walked part of the way to get home...there isn't much shade in L.A. once you get off transit." This feeling of walking in a pedestrian wasteland is particularly strong coming off the week-long heat wave. In too many areas of the city, particularly around the Annenberg Space for Photography, heat coming off the wide boulevards of black asphalt and low concrete buildings offering little shade for cover makes pedestrians feel alone and unaccounted for.

However, MacArthur Park couldn't be more different. Even at 6:30 AM on a holiday, the streets are activated. This dense population of over 103,000 people in under 3 square miles makes it the second largest neighborhood by population in Los Angeles. Very few buildings have parking options and it's all centered around a large park that dates back to the 1880's. "I love MacArthur Park like it is. I would hate to see the chaos taken away. What's really nice is the breeze that comes off the lake, the little bit of grass, it makes a difference," she says. She talks about how even though she doesn't spend a lot of time physically in the park it affects the environment of all the apartments that face it, she even laughs about how she has a hummingbird that sometimes visits her on her balcony when she has her morning coffee.

“I love that about my neighborhood. I’ve thought about moving to other parts of the city but having both lines here is amazing. The train comes every four minutes toward Downtown in the morning.”

“I also love how each of the stations are different! The blue and orange tiles of the MacArthur Park Station...when my best friend was in town we did a photo shoot in the Pershing Station because of the different neons.”

It only takes about three minutes to walk to the station that she uses to get to her two jobs downtown. While many neighborhoods on the Eastside are transit-friendly, MacArthur park is the first that I've seen that is almost anti-car; there just isn't any room left to add parking. There is no parking at Maria's building and very few nearby lots. Transit here is the best way in and out, that's probably one of the reasons why there is such a vibrant market of vendors at the entrance of the station. In fact, as we are walking I realize my fear of making Maria late is unfounded, I forget that MacArthur Park station is served by both the Purple and Red Lines so trains run frequently even on a holiday. She says, "I love that about my neighborhood. I've thought about moving to other parts of the city but having both lines here is amazing. It comes every four minutes toward Downtown in the morning."

As we get down to the platform I ask her what aspects about her commute she wished could be improved and she quickly brings up that her second job has her coming home from Pershing Square station and the lack of seating there is disappointing. She assumes it's because of the large transient population that hovers around that station causing Metro to resist adding seating but as we look around at the station we're in, another preferred stop of the homeless population in LA, there is plenty of seating. Whatever the reason, it's an unfortunate truth however that the Pershing Square station feels barren despite its cavernous size and multiple entrances. It does not have the vendors of MacArthur or the volume of 7th & Metro.

Stepping on the train, she says that beyond seating she doesn't have many qualms with her daily commute, "I can rely on it...It's honestly interesting to me seeing the different vendor's and peddlers on Metro...there is an incense guy...I asked him how business was going once and he said it was good!" The interaction is one I know well. I too have had meetings with the incense man, while sometimes pungent, he's a nice guy doing his thing and I am often amazed by the number of people looking to buy the scented sticks. As we step out at 7th & Metro, only one stop later, we cut through the new entrance via The Bloc and Maria remembers, "I also love how each station is different! The blue and orange tiles of the MacArthur Park Station...when my best friend was in town we did a photo shoot in the Pershing Station because of the different neons." I admit that while used to think of them as superfluous when I first saw them, and still think a few are strange (the flying people at Civic Center is very unnerving in my opinion), and yet I have seen tourists enjoy them...I chalk it up to quirky L.A. charm.

Even though we had only gone a single stop, we walk up into a different world. Downtown L.A. with its high-rises and smaller population it is a vastly different place than its neighbor. Maria talks about how she fears gentrification may risk the city becoming more homogeneous one day and she hopes Los Angeles can figure out a way to keep neighborhoods intact even as new people move in. One thing MacArthur Park has the going for it is that the lack of car accessibility, slowing the influx of change. While the neighborhood will inevitably evolve, as all neighborhoods do, one can hope that whatever happens we can find a way to keep the vibrancy, the vendors, the life.

“I love MacArthur Park like it is. I would hate to see the chaos taken away. What’s really nice is the breeze that comes off the lake, the little bit of grass, it makes a difference”

However, not all change is bad. As for Downtown, along with all the new high-rises, one improvement she hopes to see is additional green space and trees just as she has in MacArthur Park. Her own neighborhood is a good example that density doesn't mean one must forego nature. Walking through the neighborhood of construction zones you can see the newly planted tree's and rising towers but only time will tell what they will bring. By the time we reach the front door of her restaurant a few minutes later I look at my clock and realize the whole trip took twenty-one minutes. Not bad for an L.A. commute.

It's not always easy getting there.

August 30, 2017 by Reed Alvarado in Metro, Rider Stories

“He hasn’t tried to get to his job in Century City via mass transit yet so I look up the route and we head on our 52 minute, 4 mile, journey.”

"It was cheaper than Koreatown, and closer to Century City," Mitch King comments as he explains his recent decision to move to Mid City, a very large neighborhood that covers roughly everything east of La Cienega, south of Pico, west of Crenshaw, and north of the 10. He hasn't tried to get to his job in Century City via mass transit yet so I look up the route and we head on our 52 minute, 4 mile, journey. I admit that even I know this isn't going to be easy. As we stroll though his neighborhood, one of the most dense in the city, we pass many streets of cute multi-residential homes, cars, and a fair amount of greenery. It's about a 10 minute walk to Pico and Redondo, the nearest bus stop that will take us to Century City and we both agree that this is a very different city then where he lived just six weeks ago.

Mitch's change comes with gains and losses but he says, "That's what makes L.A. so unique, it's a city of neighborhoods...K-Town was its own ecosystem. I had a market a block from me, bars and coffee shops. I was right above the Wilshire/Normandie train station. It was nice to be there, I felt like I could be in NY. Parking was miserable, but once I parked I didn't have to get back into my car till 8 o'clock the next morning. This is more residential, the nearest market is a mile away." While he has lost the vibrancy of K-Town he finds his new neighborhood appealing because of it's central location, and having grown up in the suburbs of Atlanta he jokes, "It makes me feel a little more grown up, part of that might be attributed to growing up in a neighborhood like this where it was just also removed from the city." Given his new route, I don't blame Mitch for driving to work, he is literally traveling in the way he, and everyone else in this neighborhood, is designed to.

The first thing I notice walking in Mid-City is that it wasn't really designed for people to use their feet as a way to access it. The houses sit in a dense neighborhood of homes that almost feel hidden from the freeway-like thoroughfares that connect them. As we cross one of the widest streets in the city, Venice Blvd., Mitch says, "there are times when its frustrating because I remember being in K-Town and thinking I could walk anywhere...it's little things like that. I find myself driving a lot more now." It is also interesting hearing how services like coffee shops, bars, or grocery stores are now measured in miles and not feet. The space that Mitch needs to satisfy his daily or weekly tasks has grown because of the automobile, Mitch refers to his neighborhood bar now being a mile away. Whether that is a good thing is up to any individual person and their own desired lifestyle, but when a neighborhood is designed with the prerequisite of a vehicle to carry out daily tasks the choice is no longer up to the individual but rather the people who made that decision when designing the neighborhood decades ago. An interesting design choice for the center of the second biggest city in the country.

“there are times when its frustrating because I remember being in K-Town and thinking I could walk anywhere...it’s little things like that. I find myself driving a lot more now.”

After a short walk , we reach Pico & Redondo and while waiting for the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus 7, I ask Mitch about his experience with transit, "I used to be terrified of buses...I was staying with my uncle who lives in Sherman Oaks without a car...I didn't ride the bus for about a week, but then I went stir crazy and I sucked it up and I was fine...it's just a bus." While Mitch can laugh about the preconceptions many have toward public transit, most bus stops have very little appeal for those waiting to get to work. A single unshaded bench; a sign that makes it hard to understand when the next bus is coming (especially for the first time rider); dozens of cars are zooming by at top speed. Only a few weeks ago there was a driver who literally flew into a restaurant just feet from this stop. Speaking of passing cars, as we are about to get on our bus we see Mitch's roommate zooms by; they work in the same office but commute seperately. It will take his roommate 22 minutes to get to the office.

“it’s more convenient to drive and even though parking in Century City is ungodly expensive my company doesn’t charge for it...they assume you are going to drive. Taking transit would triple the commute time and cost more.”

The Big Blue Bus, at $1.25, ironically took us 22 minutes just to make our way down Pico. It was a little confusing for Mitch because, like many, he was unsure of the difference between Metro and Big Blue Bus. Luckily, they both take TAP card. Mitch admits he think he would take transit if it were more convenient but, "it's more convenient to drive and even though parking in Century City is ungodly expensive my company doesn't charge for it...they assume you are going to drive. Taking transit would triple the commute time and cost more." Unlike his company's New York office, which subsidizes Metrocards, the L.A. office only offers free parking. He also talks about not having confidence in L.A. transit due to the fact that when he lived on Wilshire he would often see the bus lanes aren't actually enforced: "People would park in them and parking enforcement would just drive straight past. To take transit, I would need to be able to rely on it. When it says it's gonna be there, it needs to be there."

The 20 minute walk from Pico on Centrury Park E to Century City isn't exactly pedestrian or bike friendly.

As we get off the bus our most daunting stretch begins. Century Park E. is a straight shot up to Mitch's office but a rigorous 17 minute walk. There is only a sidewalk on one side of the road with traffic rushing by, and on the other side of the sidewalk sits a high fence for a gated community. How can I encourage Mitch to take transit to work when these neighborhoods are designed without transit in mind? As we get closer to the office I realize just about all of Century City regards pedestrians as an afterthought. To cross the last street to Mitch's office, we had to first cross the street to where there was previously no sidewalk because our side had no street crossing for pedestrians. Go figure.

“when he lived on Wilshire he would often see the bus lanes aren’t actually enforced: “People would park in them and parking enforcement would just drive straight past. To take transit, I would need to be able to rely on it. When it says it’s gonna be there, it needs to be there.”

Each intersection you cross on this commute is near freeway-length.

The parking lot across from Mitch's building where he parks his car.

At the end of the day, the trip was doable but by no means appealing. Even by stereotypical Los Angeles standards, this is the worst of the worst when it comes to pedestrian experience. It is a commute like Mitch's that highlights much of why people aren't taking transit: many places in this city are not designed for them to take transit. That doesn't mean our investment is wrong, but we can't just focus on creating new lines, we have to fundamentally adjust the experience of what it means to be in these communities as a pedestrian. Once someone steps off the bus or walks out of the station, is there a sidewalk? Shade? A nearby coffeeshop or park? These are the aspects that can make transit unbearable if not accounted for. As for Century City, only time will tell what that it will look like in the future, but as we walk the last 500 feet to Mitch's office he remarks how the building next to his office is about to be torn down for the new Purple Line Century City stop. How is this neighborhood going to change? Will there be more pedestrian crossings? Will there be more pedestrian entrance's to the revamped Westfield mall and it's nearby high-rises? One can hope.

As for Mitch, he is aware that while he enjoys his time in his car he is also hoping to integrate more eco-friendly transportation into his life. He mentions he wants to get a bike and utilize the Venice Blvd. bike lanes to get him to the Expo Line in Culver City and the beach in Venice. In the short-term, he is carpooling with his roommate to get home this evening, and mentions he will make an effort to carpool more often. Baby steps. We're still getting there.

As we walk to Mitch's office you see how car-based Century City is.

Finding freedom on Metro

August 23, 2017 by Reed Alvarado in Rider Stories, Metro

It's 7:30AM and as I am walking out of Heidi Ippolito's apartment, a spot only two blocks away from an apartment I lived three years earlier, I realize I already have a problem with this week's story. I don't know what the proper title is for this neighborhood. I would call it Thai Town, others would call it Little Armenia. One could, incorrectly, throw it in with Los Feliz. A few count it as the fringe of Franklin Village, and finally there are those who just chalk it up to East Hollywood. Whatever you call it, the stretch of Hollywood Blvd between Normandie and Gower, and its neighboring streets, are some of the most dynamic and dense in the city.

Ferndell Trail at the Western/Los Feliz Griffith Park Entrance.

This compilation of communities has caused for a neighborhood where you can get award-winning Thai Food, go to a comedy show at UCB, check out the more pedestrian friendly entrance to Griffith Park, and finish at one of the most iconic bars of Hollywood all within a square mile, but ask anyone who has lived here and they will tell you one aspect that defines the neighborhood over all else is parking.

Made up mostly of two to five-story walk up apartments and strip malls, the neighborhood has limited parking. I remember the anxiety when I lived here with my car. Even in a smart car finding a spot was like winning the lottery. I would often spend twenty-five minutes circling the neighborhood. It became a ritual.

“when people told her about the freedom of having a car she just felt that freedom got her stuck in traffic.”

So as I'm walking with Heidi to the station, I wonder where her car is. Her answer surprises me; San Diego. She first moved to Franklin Village proper in 2008, then Los Feliz proper a couple years later, all with a car, but after she left to pursue a graduate degree in Scotland she returned to the stretch of Hollywood that lies between her two former neighborhoods. Having lived in the area before she knew how the neighborhood worked. She decided to leave her car at her parent's house in San Diego, waiting to see if she would need it, and after landing a job at the University of Southern California, another notoriously frustrating place to park without a parking pass, she decided she was better off without it.

As we walk underground, Heidi talks about how she became a Metro commuter. She remembers as a freshman not having a car, but utilizing the Zipcar locations that USC offered, and would take the Amtrak Surfliner to visit her home in San Diego. However, starting Sophomore year she brought up her car and had it for five years until she left for grad school in Scotland. After living abroad, she felt that not having a car made her life easier. "To not be driving felt more luxurious than having a car...there's more freedom not having a car," she recalled and said that when people told her about the freedom of having a car she just felt that freedom got her stuck in traffic. Heidi views Metro as "freedom within a structure (she) can't control," and that gives her the ability to find peace in her commute. She feels in the age of ride share, if something really goes wrong with a delay she can always call a Lyft or Uber for work.

“Every once in a while you get a character who is filling the space entirely with their own vibes, and for the most part you’re just making eye contact with everyone else like ‘you see this, yeah I see this too.’”

We get in a packed train downtown, and Heidi acknowledges she is asked about her safety on Metro from friends. She says she has her tactics but that they are the same she has at a bar or on the street. While admitting she doesn't usually take the Metro alone late at night, she states that she finds comfort in being surrounded by the other people on the train, unlike when she drove and had to park far away from her apartment alone late at night. Heidi, like other passengers, creates her bubble, riding the line between being friendly and keeping to herself. "I just stand, walk, and sit with a purpose...it's awareness and experience, nine out of ten times it's same old same old. Every once in a while you get a character who is filling the space entirely with their own vibes, and for the most part you're just making eye contact with everyone else like 'you see this, yeah I see this too.'"

About fifteen minutes later we pull into 7th & Metro where, in the middle of the morning commute, Heidi snakes through Metro's busiest station and heads up to her next train. She finds that after the transition to being a daily commuter she is now slowly using Metro more in her social life as oppose to ride-share services. If she has to go to The Grove, she will take the Purple Line as far as she can then use ride-share the rest of the way. What she loves the most about Metro is the freedom it has given her to make stops on the way home. "I can meet people Downtown on the fly. (When I had my car) I would always want to rush home to park while the spots were still there before going out, and that didn't make me feel free. I stay on campus more often now going to screenings and classes because I don't feel like I have to rush to my car."

“I can meet people Downtown on the fly. (when I had my car) I would always want to rush home to park while the spots were still there before going out, and that didn’t make me feel free.”

The last ride along the Expo Line is a frustrating stop and go experience, due to the cross-traffic that is notorious among this particular section of the Expo Line, but Heidi enjoys the line that didn't exist when she was a student at USC. It is an option that helps make USC feel more integrated into the city of LA. She even notes that she sees a good amount of younger faculty using the train, which is a frustrating observation considering USC disbanded their $30 subsidy toward a $100 monthly pass. Heidi would certainly benefit from that subsidy but says that she still saves money by no longer having to pay for the various costs attached to her car. It costs Heidi about $70 a month to commute to work.

It took about another fifteen minutes to get to Expo Park/USC Station, and we walk the last ten minutes through campus. In the end it took forty-nine minutes from Heidi's front door to Heidi's desk in the center of campus. While it's important to note there are still great subsidies for Undergrad and Graduate students at USC it is a missed opportunity that one of Los Angeles's largest employers does not have a program that encourages a non-car commute.

Until that changes, Heidi will enjoy the other social and monetary benefits that this shift has brought to her life. She has even considered opting for a monthly pass at $100 a month so she can be encouraged to use it more outside of her commute. As for that car in San Diego, she has decided to sell it.

How we're Getting There.

August 16, 2017 by Reed Alvarado in Biking, Rider Stories, Metro

It's 7am, and I'm in the middle of two construction sites and a lot of graffiti waiting to get on a Metro Bike with Tiffany Chao and Thomas Szelazek. Unlike the many people who feel helpless yelling, "why would someone build this!", when they are stuck in traffic on a poorly designed street or lost because of a confusing transit system; these two are the people who usually know why or how it happened. Thomas and Tiffany are what they call transportation consultants in the world of urban planning. They make a living studying and improving this city, spending days in meetings, at computers, and on location throughout the city, and state, trying to figure out how to improve mobility for the masses and untangle the knots built by previous generations. As we begin our trip from the Downtown Arts District to their office in Old Town Pasadena they have a lot to say about how we are getting there.

“I didn’t need it. I was paying between $600 - $700 a month with insurance, gas and parking.”

One of the many construction sites in the ever-expanding Arts District.

Prior to relocating to the Arts District, both Tiffany and Thomas were of the many Angelenos who lived by the seat of their cars. For sixteen years, Tiffany lived in LA with her car on the Westside, while Thomas resided near USC before the Expo Line or immediate ride share. Five years ago the couple moved themselves to the Arts District near 7th and Santa Fe – an area known for it's coffee shops and restaurants and the warehouses that house them. This move was their first big attempt to make for a life less dictated by traffic. Their next step was getting down to one car, a goal they accomplished two years ago when Tiffany sold her car saying, "I didn't need it. I was paying between $600 - $700 a month with insurance, gas and parking." Now, with a single car they are commuting to work together which takes about thirty-three minutes door to door.

To unlock a MetroBike you register your tap card and then simply place it on the reader to unlock the bike.

When possible, they would try mass transit, but due to the strenuous twenty-eight minute walk to the Gold Line at the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station, the commute didn't feel totally worth it. Fortunately, just over a year ago that trip was condensed with the introduction of Metro's new bikeshare system, Metro Bike, which added a bike station within three blocks of their home. At $20 a month, unlimited 30 minute rides, it is best designed for frequent riders, casual rides are $3.50 for 30 minutes or $1.75 for 30 minutes with a yearly payment of $40. Despite a semi-confusing price structure, this gave Thomas and Tiffany more mobility. That mobility made for a new goal: commuting to work via Metro once a week. Now at 63 minutes on average, the commute is still longer, but it is doable.

Tiffany can use the front pouch for her bag.

“...the light, which is controlled by circular sensors that detect cars and didn’t turn green for us twice, therefore adding a two minute delay. ”

As we started biking from one end of the Arts District to the other it really hits me how bikeshare has changed this neighborhood. There are few bus routes and none that run north-south and the low-rise steel and concrete buildings coupled with few trees offering shade make for an unfriendly pedestrian experience on a hot day. The sidewalk system has yet to be completed at many key streets which is becoming an increasing problem due to a housing and retail boom. Sometimes sidewalks disappear or streets lack easy pedestrian crossings. The Metro Bikes allowed us to move through the neighborhood more easily. The biggest hold up was at 4th and Molino because of sensors that didn't read us at the light, which is controlled by circular sensors that detect cars and didn't turn green for us twice, therefore adding a two minute delay.

The circle sensors could not tell we needed a green light.

Stopped at this infuriatingly long light, I ask Thomas and Tiffany what they think about the changes. They agree Metro Bike's have increased their mobility but also state that the Arts District has a long way to go to be a neighborhood easily accessed by transit. Tiffany says, "It's about making it easy...proper sidewalks, bike lanes or two main bike routes, there are a lot of curves that make it hard for a driver to see a pedestrian. I often see, including myself, people running across Santa Fe trying to avoid getting hit by one of the five trucks barreling down. People want to walk and bike but the city doesn't always make it easy for them to do it."

Plan for Pedestrian Improvements in the Arts District

Luckily, the city has recently awarded more than fourteen million dollars to improve pedestrian connections and it can not come soon enough. There are at least twenty retail and pedestrian development projects in the pipeline to date. They acknowledge there may be pushback with changes to street design, Tiffany adds "There's a perception all these planners want people to stop driving. No, we don't want you to stop driving, but maybe you can do something different once a week. There is a woman who was quoted in LA Times recently, she was complaining she couldn't drive from her home at Venice pier to Abbot Kinney because of tourism, but maybe she could have walked."

One or the many missing links for pedestrians in the Arts District. The sidewalk disappears going south on Santa Fe with no crossing to Mateo in sight.

Exactly 10 minutes later we park our Metro Bikes outside of Angel City Brewery, and are walking a block toward the Gold Line to Pasadena. Thomas talks about how critical it is to give people these links to the transit system and that we need far more linkages to give people a reliable way to access the system. Tiffany agreed but added, "it's certainly getting better with all the investment going in, but all these cities in LA county are still providing parking...I think we can grow this system as much as we want, I don't see it getting to it's full potential until we address parking policy." She cites the irony of when city officials and transit planners arrive to a Metro meeting via private vehicles to discuss how to improve the system.

“...I think we can grow this system as much as we want, I don’t see it getting to it’s full potential until we address parking policy.”

Given they both have free parking at work, I ask them why they are experimenting with transit when driving is quicker. Tiffany admits that despite the official status of the car being quicker to work, more variables exist when considering public transit. She often has more to do than just go from home to work and back, and that's when public transit really comes in hand. Quite often she has meetings in the heart of downtown, where parking can be a nightmare, but the gold line is a straight shot making it easier to stop in for a meeting. She also says, "coupled with the bike ride, it gets her moving after sitting at a computer all day. It comes down to an improved quality of life for her." She remarks how it compares to her life on the Westside, "It greatly improved my quality of life. It felt like the equivalent of a $20,000 raise in terms of how my mood changed, and then after getting rid of my car I feel, well 99% of the time, I feel free." She talked about how isolated she felt when her life was controlled by a car. She didn't have exposure to different cultural centers and populations, even finding her new lifestyle has lead to an increase in exposure to different types of food; the Westside was a bubble for her. Thomas adds, "I don't think (public transit) disturbs anything. If anything it makes me walk more and be more active. Maybe I get to work a few minutes later, but heres the thing about people driving alone, I think they real overemphasize the convenience of it." They both joke how easily we forget that when people drive so they can stop and get a coffee on the way to work, often the time spent circling for parking negates the time saved by driving.

“...but it’s really about control. If you get into a delay on Metro you will blame Metro, but if you hit traffic you still feel in control”

Thomas and Tiffany don't always have the ability to take public transit, but their rate of use increases as connections become easier and Thomas adds that it isn't just the cities' responsibility to create infrastructure. "We actually survey a lot of companies and the core reasons we get for people not using shared transit is convenience and reliability, but it's really about control. If you get into a delay on Metro you will blame Metro, but if you hit traffic you still feel in control," Thomas says. As transportation consultants they cite the need for companies to embrace more options for their employees to take transit and provide less parking, such as with the B-Tap program at Ace Hotel I discussed last week.

Thirty-three minutes later we get off at Memorial Station in Old Town Pasadena, and take the final ten minute walk to the office. As we walk through City Hall we pass more Metro Bike stations as the program has now expanded to Pasadena. Thomas remarks, "I hate driving. There is a level of arrogance and security that I get from driving in my car. I think people like that comfort. If you close your windows you are in a literal bubble."

It speaks to some of the irony of Californian environmentalism. We have managed to become an extremely environmentally and socially conscious state that simultaneously embrace a symbol of both environmental abuses and social seclusion. The car allows us to forget we are a society. Something they take transit to remember. "I want to be around my fellow Angeleno," Tiffany says. We all wish to change society on a macro level but are of often unwilling to integrate our lives into that change when it comes to transportation. An example of our inability to modify behavior is occurring at California's beloved national park Yosemite. A recent explosion in popularity has driven up traffic to more than five million vehicles a year. Proposals to have visitors shuttle in to the fairly compact walkable heart of Yosemite, which has been successful in nearby states with National Parks, have been shot down due to lack of interest. Our need for an easy experience can run the risk of destroying what we are trying to experience if we aren't careful.

As we walk up to their office I ask them how they are getting home. Tiffany smiles and says, "we're gonna take the train home and go eat in Little Tokyo because we don't have to drive. If we were driving I'd say lets just go home, I don't want to have to deal with and pay for parking.

Transit instructions provided by Citymapper

The Evolution of an Angeleno.

August 09, 2017 by Reed Alvarado in Rider Stories, Metro

Morning walk to the Red Line through Virgil Village.

Picture this. Rene wakes up every morning, leaves his apartment, walks a couple blocks to a subway station, goes four stops, walks about five more blocks and is at work in roughly 30 minutes. Door to Door. If that was the only information I gave you, where would you say he lived? Perhaps Midtown Manhattan. Another option is Virgil Village, a neighborhood along the Red Line, sandwiched between Silverlake and East Hollywood. Rene moved here about 3 years ago, but was raised nearby in Thousand Oaks, a city about 15 miles past the northwest border of Los Angeles. Throwing even more LA mass transit stereotypes out, Rene doesn't take the train because he has no other option, Rene has a car. I ask him how often he uses it and he semi-jokingly says, "twice a week. Moving it from one side of the street to the other...for street cleaning. I think I'm going to sell it soon."

“Therefore, on top of savings gained by not parking, not only does Rene save $4 a month commuting to work, any other time he uses Metro, he’s saving money.”

Always ask your supplier if they have B-TAP.

It surprised me that Rene wouldn't use the car he has. "It's too expensive. Every time I drive it's like $10 for the day (at a parking lot near Ace Hotel)." He has the option for a monthly parking space, but at about $100 a month, it isn't a solution for him. A more appealing option is the subsidized TAP card the hotel uses through a program with Metro called B-TAP. This gives him an unlimited monthly TAP card for about $66 a month. A standard monthly TAP card is $100 a month. He learned about the option in an orientation that new hires at Ace Hotel take. It's a great option, which allows you to use it 24/7, not just while commuting to work. If Rene payed for single use rides he would be paying $3.50 round trip each day. Thats $70 a month. Therefore, on top of savings gained by not parking, not only does Rene save $4 a month commuting to work, any other time he uses Metro, he's saving money. That's a great reason to work at Ace Hotel. Only a handful of companies currently are enrolled in the B-TAP program, but for many companies it makes a lot of sense. It's not just an advantage for Rene, Ace Hotel took over an old office building from 1927 built long before the private automobile engineered how we designed our city. The cost of providing parking for all of their employees would be far too high, a predicament many companies see. More and more companies, and even cities (See what Columbus, Ohio is doing), are finding new ways to get their employees to work.

Growing up in Thousand Oaks, Rene didn't use mass transit. He hadn't even tried Metro until 2012, while going to UCLA, when he found his way first to the Expo line and then on to the Red Line to go out one evening. Prior to that night, he didn't really think of it as a viable option. As we are getting on our train he says, "I didn't really think about it at all...it existed, but my whole life was on the Westside. I didn't try."

“Five years after his first ride on Metro, Rene lives in a place where his car sits parked on the street.”

Video monitors display when the next train is coming.

Five years after his first ride on Metro, Rene lives in a place where his car sits parked on the street. He gets around via Metro, and when time is of the essence he supplements his transport by ride sharing services like Lyft (a service which he spends about $25 a week on). He takes an average of four Lyfts a week. Having an unlimited TAP Card has made it more desirable for him to pick mass transit. I wondered how he got here. He wasn't raised to take mass transit. He isn't forced to take mass transit. Often in Los Angeles many assume that there are only two types of people who rely on Metro: the one's who can't afford private vehicles, or the transplants from more urban cities like New York or San Francisco that are used to the lifestyle of underground trains and shared spaces. Rene is neither. He's just an Angeleno who has chosen to participate in LA's great 21st century experiment: Can this city have more than one option for how we move around? Rene wants something different than the normal LA commute. He wants more time to do what he wants to do. He wants to be able to get around without a car. "It's made me write and read more, even though I have only about 10 minutes on the train." It gives him a reason to get a book started or brainstorm a project.

"I love walking into these stations and imagining what they are going to look like in the future." It's an interesting thought. Will there one day be enough traffic or political will power to justify the in-station concession stands we are used to in other cities? Will there be more digital visuals or art? More entrances and exits like the one that recently opened at 7th and Metro he uses to make his way to work. The new portal saves him two minutes on his walk. These are all valid questions. Our rail system is relatively young. The Blue Line, Metro's oldest line that streches from Long Beach to DTLA, only opened in 1990, a year before Rene was born. He remarks that he feels enjoyment that he's part of the big experiment of bringing rail back to Los Angeles.

The interesting thing about talking to Rene is that he wasn't seeking to change the way he lived his life to survive in LA. He just made choices that made economical sense and gave him the ability to use his time the way he wanted. He wanted less time in traffic and more time with friends. He tries to encourage his friends to use mass transit to varying success, he did manage to persuade his roommate to get a TAP card. When we think about what growing up in Los Angeles means we usually have a few ideas that come to mind, but it's important to remember that this city is changing fast and those idea's might become more of an option rather then a rule.

“What would happen if we introduced mass transit education into schools the way we teach DMV handbooks?”

There are thousands of children growing up in LA today who have had an operational rail line within a mile of them their whole life. They might have already used their first TAP Card. What would happen if we introduced mass transit education into schools the way we teach DMV handbooks (as Seattle Mayoral Candidate Nikita Oliver recently stated)? How would this effect the next generation and their perception of transit? Would it be normal to them? Will they grow up and have to move to SF or NY if they seek a more urban life? Or might our future Angelenos just have to move to another part of town. As I walk up to the door at Ace to conclude our talk, Rene notes how he wishes the subway to Westwood had been built when he was in college, 25 minutes from DTLA to Westwood/Wilshire. Can you imagine?

Rene's Commute from Virgil Village to DTLA. Provided by Citymapper.

Trying Something New.

August 02, 2017 by Reed Alvarado in Metro, Rider Stories

It's 8am on Friday morning and I meet Izzy Schloss, a friend from college, who agrees to my request of joining her on her commute to work. With one condition: we take public transit. She agrees, with slight hesitation but an open mind, and I plot our voyage from Vermont in Los Feliz to Old Town Pasadena.

Living on the southern part of Los Feliz near Vermont & Hollywood, Izzy has two options to get to work. There is the Red line that she can ride to Union Station and then transfer to the Gold line to Pasadena, walking included it takes about 1 hour. This is the obvious route. The one Google Maps would often advise, however there is an alternative. Metro's often criticized "Rapid Buses" (the red busses) were introduced in 2000 as a way to speed up bus travel. They make limited stops more akin to a subway or light rail. However, most common maps of metro don't feature them and the bus stops don't exactly advertise any particular significance so they are often overlooked, even by avid transit users.

We discovered this route worked well only because of my favorite transit app, CityMapper. Its interface makes it almost seem like Waze for mass transit. It is quick and efficient, and most importantly uses more logical connections then other interfaces like Google Maps. For Izzy, who wished to avoid cumbersome connections and being underground, the 780 was a great option.

The 780 would get us to where we needed to go for $1.75 in about 45 minutes. About 50% longer then her average car trip that takes "20-30 minutes most days depending on traffic." Which proved Izzy right when asked to comment on mass transit in LA saying "it's terrible...not on time, and usually takes at least twice as long to get anywhere then it would in your car." I couldn't refute the time argument and there is a lot of room for improvement, however, I found it interesting that we usually talk about commutes from only a single angle: time. Izzy went so far as to say, "its about efficiency. I want to get from my home to work as fast as possible, I'm not saying that it's right, but if anything that means I get to spend more time at home, and if I get really illegal, I can do it in 15 minutes."

We begin snaking through Atwater Village and Glendale, and I ask Izzy if she has had positive experiences with mass transit. She talked about a recent summer spent in Spain being an Au Pair where a good bike network and bus system allowed her to get everywhere she needed to go. What struck me the most was that, while Izzy loved the efficiency of the system, what she really loved was how it taught her about her surroundings and helped her learn Spanish by listening to others. One could argue that we are allowed to be more carefree about time on vacation but being an Au Pair and taking Spanish lessons Izzy still had places to be and speed was a factor. Many of us love to utilize the social benefits of mass transit when we are in cities that have systems that are perceived as efficient, but ignore the benefits in our own cities. LA is a perfect example. Izzy doesn't use Metro because she perceives it as being inefficient but the irony is the freeway system in LA, particularly during rush hour is far from efficient with traffic jams and accidents effecting your arrival time (add to that a million other factors.) So if time wasn't the main issue, maybe something else was.

The 780 Rapid Bus in Los Feliz, and the Local 181 behind it

As I asked Izzy what was the quality of time spent on her commute like she said she enjoyed "time to herself...listening to NPR.." I definitely understand the desire for alone time and it makes a lot of sense, but the funny thing was when asked what her least favorite aspect of her commute she responded, "well I don't like the terrible traffic sometimes...and it's funny I usually keep my windows down because I don't like the isolation. That separation to everyone around me."

LA is the product of being a civic experiment in how far we could take the idea of privacy and private property. The car has become an extension of our home and many often end up with a community solely consisting of those either in their home or work. In many parts of LA, you can find it difficult to run into people in parks, or on the street, or any other public space because they tend to not exist or are engineered as an after thought. This can be tempting for the individual, particularly those that adore privacy, but dangerous for a society. We isolate ourselves. If desired, we ignore problems of those with different lives then us whether it be racial or economic. For example, the massive homeless problem brewing in LA can easily be avoided if one just turns up their radio, rolls up the window, and takes the right route.

So, is there a way to have a city that looks out for one another and yet allows for the very healthy desire of a certain amount of privacy? That is a very large issue and not the sole responsibility of any one Angeleno who's just trying to get to work. The funny thing was, by the end of the trip as we were passing through Eagle Rock, she remarked that trip had been so easy. She enjoyed seeing the evolution of the city between Los Feliz and Pasadena. She enjoyed a coffee. She talked to a friend. She wanted to try it again, and next time bring a book. The ride turned out to only take 39 minutes (I tried it twice just to make sure.)

Not everyone has the luxury of the door to door route that the 780 offers Izzy, for many of us transfers are required. Increased frequency is needed. Those are all valid and very real concerns. Yet, the thing that I find most fascinating is that Izzy had no knowledge of this very convenient route prior to our investigation. There are so many transit routes in this city of 4 million that many have little to no knowledge of. Metro can do a far better job of advertising our system, but if you are annoyed by traffic and feeling isolated, if you want more time to read or watch a show, or even just desire the ability to feel like you live in a city, I advise you to download Citymapper, or any other transit app, and discover your options. Or leave me a comment asking for a hand, I'd love to explore the city with you.