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Post by gibiscus on Nov 5, 2007 13:24:10 GMT -8
I think that the area around Broadway between the 101 and Cesar Chavez is one of the biggest dead zones downtown and also has the most potential. I think most of the area should become a park, but the lonely buildings by Cesar Chavez should have new buildings next to them and the parking lot NW of the Chinatown Gateway should be developed. Anyway, since the Red Line seems to run right under this area, I think it would be a good idea to put a new station there. I would build the station to include bypass tracks so that the trains going to Western would stop there, but not the longer-distance trains to North Hollywood (and in the future Santa Monica). Any other additional stations should be built like this, such as City West, Vermont & 3rd or Lafayette Park. I would also add bypass tracks to Wilshire & Normandie when the line gets extended. Anyway, the parking lots between Main and Spring are owned by El Pueblo, so any buildings there would have to be of the same old-fashioned style as El Pueblo, perhaps by looking at pictures of the buildings that used to be there or even blueprints, if there are any.
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Post by James Fujita on Nov 5, 2007 13:43:27 GMT -8
if the area that you are talking about is the same area that I am thinking of, I would agree that there is a dead spot there between Olvera Street and Chinatown.
however, somehow I suspect that a Red Line station there would not be the answer. first, I am not certain that the Red Line tunnel between the Civic Center and Union Station even passes under the area in question; secondly, a station there would be so close to Union Station as to be completely inefficient.
but, I am sure there are possibilities for that location; we just haven't come up with the right idea just yet.
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Post by Elson on Nov 5, 2007 14:44:11 GMT -8
I'd like to see a hotel there. Wouldn't that be cool - to have a hotel just a short distance from Union Station? It would give the town an almost European feel - there's the train station, a plaza area and a hotel. Especially if/when CA HSR comes, a hotel there would be imperative.
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Post by whitmanlam on Nov 5, 2007 20:18:09 GMT -8
A Starbucks Coffee shop wouldn't hurt either, I need internet access at Union Station, but I never can get it. Every other corner has a Starbucks .... why not there ??
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Post by wad on Nov 6, 2007 3:28:04 GMT -8
I used to work at the abandoned office building sitting at the corner. It was a county-owned building leased to nonprofits. It was ordered closed in late 2002, as the county wanted to sell the land to expand the parking lot next to it.
The building sits there empty to this day.
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Post by masonite on Nov 6, 2007 23:31:09 GMT -8
I haven't heard anyone comment on the LA Times article that talked about sending the subway west from Hollywood down Santa Monica Blvd. mostly to the Westside rather than down Wilshire. While there are some arguments that the West Hollywood and Beverly Center area is better suited for a subway, it doesn't have near the bus ridership that Wilshire does nor the business population. Also, I'm not sure how this would work operationally as we would then have a 3 branch subway instead of 2 with the Wilshire option. There also wouldn't be a direct Westside to Downtown connection with the West Hollywood option.
Overall, I am a Wilshire subway supporter and I already saw it derailed for the mid-city option 10 plus years ago against all logic except for the complainers around the Highland to Crenshaw portion of Wilshire. I'd hate to see it derailed again for this small contingent of objectors.
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Post by bobdavis on Nov 7, 2007 18:45:51 GMT -8
Constructing a new Red Line station between Civic Center and Union Station would probably be prohibitively expensive, and would cause too much disruption in present subway operation. In the unlikely event that it was built, passengers would have a long escalator/elevator ride from platform to street level.
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Post by newton on Nov 9, 2007 11:20:27 GMT -8
I used to work at the abandoned office building sitting at the corner. It was a county-owned building leased to nonprofits. It was ordered closed in late 2002, as the county wanted to sell the land to expand the parking lot next to it. The building sits there empty to this day. Good lord, what a terrible idea...to get rid of a productive building for more parking lots. On Tuesday night I walked from the Metro HQ to the library area and was literally stunned by how ugly a walk it was. Most blocks had buildings with no charectar at street level (either walls or gates) and rarely did I see shops or even entrances to break up the monotony until I reached Little Tokyo. Got a great view of the skyline through chain link fenced in parking lots though.
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