|
Post by nicksantangelo on Oct 15, 2007 7:40:41 GMT -8
>:(I got my Downtown News this morning, only to find an "L.A. Live/Nokia" Parking Guide inside. Not a Transit guide, mind you, but a parking guide. There is absolutely NO mention of the Blue Line Station, other than the Metro 'M' on the fold-out map. Nor is there any mention of transit options to the venue.
This has got to stop. We have invested too much in this system to have major venues fail to draw attention to them.
I strongly suggest sending an email to these people @media@nokiatheatrela.com. I did:
Hello.
I believe that if you REALLY want this venture to succeed, you must do a lot more to promote the fact that you have a Metro Rail station TWO blocks from your venue.
I found your “Parking Guide” in my Downtown News this morning and could not believe the short shrift you gave rapid transit. The parking is not the selling point- on the contrary, it just might scare people away. Further, your “Tips for Planning Your Trip” mentions NOTHING about how to get to the Nokia via rail.
If all you can offer potential visitors is more congestion, fees, stress and gridlock, why would anyone attend your events? I have been to Staples many times and not once have I driven there. Frankly, if I were forced to drive, I wouldn’t go.
Please consider granting Metro a higher profile. We taxpayers have made a substantial investment. Please don’t squander it.
Thank you.
Nick Santangelo
|
|
|
Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 15, 2007 9:25:22 GMT -8
Thanks Nick. I will do the same. I usually send letters to LA Times editors for their failure to mention Metro Rail whenever they discuss restaurants/events in LA. I wrote an e-mail to a Times reporter about their lack of mention of the 7th Street/Metro station when she discussed Elevate/Takami Sushi and all the road directions to get there. She responded, noting she will have run that by her editors. Hopefully that happens.
|
|
|
Post by wad on Oct 16, 2007 3:25:43 GMT -8
The map does have a mention of the Blue Line.
|
|
|
Post by nicksantangelo on Oct 17, 2007 21:02:21 GMT -8
Wad: I don't think the Metro ''M'', pin-prick tiny among all the parking lots listed on that map counts as a mention. Why not draw attention to it? Are lucrative parking fees the reason? Look how long it took the El Capitan to even RECOGNIZE the subway station DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET.
Showing a diagram isn't going to give transit the equal footing it deserves. It's really a slap in the face as far as I'm concerned. The Downtown News did this big story about 'if they build it, will anyone come?" and what did they fail to do- capitalize on the resource a block or two from the project. Brilliant. What a waste.
Sorry about the rant- this issue just really makes me angry. These corporation couldn't give a damn about redevelopment or making downtown viable. They only care about their bottom line and if they marginalize rapid transit then they are just plain crappy businessmen.
|
|
|
Post by wad on Oct 17, 2007 23:27:36 GMT -8
Wad: I don't think the Metro ''M'', pin-prick tiny among all the parking lots listed on that map counts as a mention. Why not draw attention to it? Are lucrative parking fees the reason? Look how long it took the El Capitan to even RECOGNIZE the subway station DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET. Showing a diagram isn't going to give transit the equal footing it deserves. It's really a slap in the face as far as I'm concerned. The Downtown News did this big story about 'if they build it, will anyone come?" and what did they fail to do- capitalize on the resource a block or two from the project. Brilliant. What a waste. Sorry about the rant- this issue just really makes me angry. These corporation couldn't give a damn about redevelopment or making downtown viable. They only care about their bottom line and if they marginalize rapid transit then they are just plain crappy businessmen. Address this issue with the cartographer and/or designer. We can only speculate on why the Pico station did not get more play, and if we're nice they'll give it better play.
|
|
|
Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 18, 2007 7:35:50 GMT -8
I wrote a letter to them yesterday. And other places as well that do not advertise Metro when their footsteps away.
|
|
|
Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 18, 2007 8:54:22 GMT -8
And...I got a response this morning!
"Thank you for contacting NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE. This information has been passed along to our Director of Parking, and we will look to include more details on public transportation soon.
Guest Services NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE"
I sent the e-mail to: media@nokiatheatrela.com
|
|
|
Post by tonyw79sfv on Oct 18, 2007 18:45:24 GMT -8
Looks like the opening day of the Nokia Theatre, first day of the E For All video gaming expo at the Convention Center, and a Clippers exhibition game at Staples have overwhelmed the 101 freeway going south from the San Fernando Valley. The freeway CMS (changeable message sign) indicates that it can take more than an hour and a half to travel from North Hollywood to downtown, a distance of 12 miles! Look at this traffic map captured today at around 7:15pm It takes only about a half hour to go from NoHo to downtown LA via the Red and Blue Lines. It takes 50 minutes to an hour to go from the Balboa Orange Line station to the Pico Blue Line station instead of 2 hours the CMS shows from White Oak and 101 to downtown (17 miles).
|
|
|
Post by LAofAnaheim on Oct 19, 2007 8:40:32 GMT -8
^ Finally....the Metro will go faster than the highways! This is good. Unfortunately, our roads are too damn good, and you can get somewhere faster by car than by train. I hope this trend continues and more people consider Metro rail for their journeys. Plus, it's great to see downtown becoming exciting again!
|
|
|
Post by whitmanlam on Oct 19, 2007 9:19:28 GMT -8
Some events are promoting the use of Metro, and will give discounts to people who buy the Day Pass. Kings games and Galaxy games, and also "Wicked" at the Pantages theater.... hey... it's a start, but it should be more widespread.
|
|
|
Post by nicksantangelo on Oct 19, 2007 11:04:38 GMT -8
Tony: those screen shots are great- very instructive. I met friends at the Disney Hall last night (I was the only one among them who took the train to get there). The car culture is a tough, tough nut to crack, even with people who know better.
Downtown business are getting better about not only 'allowing' Metro to appear on their maps, but actually pointing the station(s) out and/or providing a link to the MTA trip planner site.
Wad: thanks for the reply. I do think the cartographer only generates art that the company requests, but I could be wrong. It's the entire mindset that needs to be modified and I will continue to write letters, that seems to work.
LAofAna: you got a better response than I. Maybe the more emails they get, the more seriously they take the request. That's great.
|
|
|
Post by dasubergeek on Oct 19, 2007 12:58:56 GMT -8
Looks like the opening day of the Nokia Theatre, first day of the E For All video gaming expo at the Convention Center, and a Clippers exhibition game at Staples have overwhelmed the 101 freeway going south from the San Fernando Valley. The freeway CMS (changeable message sign) indicates that it can take more than an hour and a half to travel from North Hollywood to downtown, a distance of 12 miles! Look at this traffic map captured today at around 7:15pm <note: image snipped from quoted post to preserve legibility; scroll up to see original image> While I'm all for the Red Line, and even on normal traffic days it's faster than the horror that is the 101, what you've got there is directly related to a Sigalert and right-lane closure on the 110 south at 8th Street last night. I left work at 19.45 and the 5 was backed up all the way to Hollywood Way -- I took the 134 to the 2, suffered for a mile, and it got better (though much, much worse than usual at 20.15, even on a Thursday). If Metrolink had trains departing later for Orange County I could have taken the train instead... but the last train that works for a non-monthly-pass-holder leaves Downtown Burbank at 17.59. (There is a 20.00 and 22.00 Amtrak train out of LA Union Station but Rail2Rail only works for monthly pass holders, and as I'm split-time between Burbank and Orange County, a monthly pass is not a good choice for me.)
|
|
|
Post by nicksantangelo on Oct 23, 2007 18:03:47 GMT -8
This letter was published in today's L.A. Times. I couldn't agree more.
Little things about the Nokia Theatre
Re "L.A. theater's effect an open question," Oct. 19
I welcome the opening of the Nokia Theatre and L.A. Live, but I am perplexed by the coverage in The Times, in almost all local media and in marketing materials for the venues.
With traffic congestion literally getting worse every day, it's a shame that their close proximity to the Metro Blue Line is not just applauded but shouted from the rooftops.
By simply including this important information, more people will likely get out of their cars and onto the Metro.
Miles Crakow
Los Angeles
|
|
Mac
Full Member
Posts: 192
|
Post by Mac on Oct 23, 2007 18:12:57 GMT -8
More traffic: more demand for public transportation. I love it! Lets clog up all our freeways, and then everyone would be in support for the building of rail lines LOL =)
|
|
|
Post by wad on Oct 24, 2007 2:37:10 GMT -8
More traffic: more demand for public transportation. I love it! Lets clog up all our freeways, and then everyone would be in support for the building of rail lines LOL =) It's more sensible than it sounds, actually.
|
|
Mac
Full Member
Posts: 192
|
Post by Mac on Oct 24, 2007 18:06:03 GMT -8
Ya I know, it sounds like a joke, but it could help us. Traffic is gradually gonna increase by itself as the population increase, that that could take many years. But then how do we make traffic, since on this forum we always talk about getting rid of it. hmmmm... cut the highway matainence in half which would cause some pot holes. I don't really care if everyone starts yelling at me about the traffic, cuz I'm gonna be taking the Gold line once its done! plus, the budget cut in matainence could be used to fund rail lines!
|
|
|
Post by nicksantangelo on Nov 14, 2007 21:14:54 GMT -8
I gotta stop reading the Downtown News. Here's Leff's column (Nov. 12). He starts slagging the Blue Line toward the end.
Far and Away, Nokia Still Rocks
Bad Seats Are Not Too Bad Inside Downtown's Newest Venue
by Howard Leff
Here I am with this old guitar/Doin' what I do
-lyrics to the Neil Young song "From Hank to Hendrix"
"Neeeeilll!"
"Doowwwwn by the Riiiveerrr!"
Way up here in the Nokia Theatre mezzanine, where I'm one chair away from not even being in the Nokia Theatre, one fan's alarmingly loud voice is urging rock legend Neil Young to perform this 1969 classic. The song ironically comes from an album entitled Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, which perfectly describes where the good folks at Ticketmaster have placed me for my first ever L.A. Live concert.
I hope they enjoy my $9.55 "convenience" charge.
Simply put, Nokia has 7,100 seats - 7,099 of which are better than the one I'm sitting in. Row N. Seat 514. The very end of the very last row.
Nowhere indeed.
Fortunately, the Nokia hype is true. Even on the outer ridge of Downtown's shiny new theater, a distance of 210 feet from the stage, I can clearly make out every lyric, note and minor chord - even during the acoustic set.
This remote section also attracts Young's most colorful fans. At one point, after the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer finished telling us an intimate tale about how certain thoughts from his past now make him rather sad, the "Down by the River" fan immediately fired back a no-nonsense reply:
"Don't think, Neil!"
It's actually fun back here, even though I'm closer to Figueroa Street than the front row. When the legendary 62-year-old singer/songwriter settles in for a soft ballad, and an expectant hush falls over the sparkling new venue, I swear I can hear the quaint, yet reassuring sound of Kobe getting booed from that other building across Chick Hearn Court.
That, my friends, you can put in the refrigerator.
Oh, if only Chicky could have seen this. The butter's hard, the Jell-O's jigglin' and Downtown Los Angeles is forever back from the brink. The Nokia has injected this already miraculous resurgence with a massive adrenaline jolt.
Outside, it's pure Vegas, with the entire area lit up in a soft purple glow. Bright blue, Strip-worthy neon "Nokia" signs show the way to the theater's entrance, yanking the spotlight away from the suddenly overshadowed Staples Center. I couldn't help feeling that the concert seemed more exciting than the Lakers-Rockets affair next door.
It's that kind of place. Large, yet intimate enough to feel you might toss out a comment to Neil Young and actually receive a response. Out in the lobby, meanwhile, Nokia looks and feels more like a futuristic movie theater megaplex than it does your typical concrete rock concert hall. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a great view of the burgeoning L.A. Live complex, while concession stands boast video menus. Bright. Airy. Carpeted. Colorful.
You're not in the Sports Arena anymore.
But guess who was?
The Nokia, on this night, managed to upstage yet another big-time Downtown Los Angeles event taking place just a few miles south. Not so long ago, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band would have had the entire city all to themselves. But now, you almost wanted to coax the Boss out of the Sports Arena to join the rest of us.
Just one complaint: Can't someone please inform that poor little Blue Line station at Pico and Flower that there's an urban renaissance going on? Here we have a transit stop perfectly situated just a short walk from three major L.A. attraction: Staples, Nokia and the Convention Center. And it has all the elegance and charm of a Bronx bus platform.
If Young's really looking for nowhere, he might just find it here.
While most of the Gold and Red Line stops are all decked out with pagodas, themed architecture and movie memorabilia, this station lacks any character at all. We all know Downtown's not a theme park, but perhaps we can try to dress this lonely little slab up a bit since, with any luck, many L.A. Live visitors will opt to use Metro.
Right now, this stop's not for the squeamish, especially if you're planning to arrive after dark. I didn't witness any serious felonies, but the atmosphere doesn't exactly make your wait for the next train very pleasant. Worse, I arrived a little late, meaning the concert and basketball crowds had long passed through.
Plus, the platform's virtual street-level location means you literally have to step across the train track in order to get on or off the platform. I had to walk in front of a stopped train, while the conductor gave me the "go ahead and cross" sign with a wave of his hand.
Back in the $120 million theater, after a short break, Young brings out the full band, straps on the electric and really knocks the Nokia crowd out with a stirring set beginning with another 1969 gem, "The Loner."
He's the unforeseen danger/The keeper of the key to the locks.
|
|
|
Post by nicksantangelo on Dec 4, 2007 15:35:52 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by LAofAnaheim on Dec 4, 2007 17:11:26 GMT -8
Fantastic. Jan Perry helped you, huh?
|
|
|
Post by kenalpern on Dec 4, 2007 17:26:04 GMT -8
It would be very nice, indeed, to know that Jan Perry helped you...although I'm glad that, one way or another, Nokia did the right thing.
|
|
|
Post by nicksantangelo on Dec 4, 2007 22:06:04 GMT -8
Well, I got sick of no response from Nokia, so I cc'd Jan Perry's office email. Little did I know she reads and responds to her email! I really wish she were my rep. Huizar is too busy selling off the Southwest Museum to the Autry- so much for the SW Museum Station.
Anyway, Jan Perry must've exerted some pressure (so did we) and they eventually redesigned the page. So, yeah, she helped me. Sort of. Not really.
Now onto FIDM and all other downtown businesses that manage to ignore Metro.
|
|
|
Post by kenalpern on Dec 5, 2007 7:05:00 GMT -8
Keep up the good work...although it's a shame you even need to do it!
|
|
|
Post by bluelineshawn on Dec 5, 2007 8:56:01 GMT -8
Great job Nick! I bet that it's hard to get destinations that own their own parking to list Metro. I've noticed that most of the destinations that list Metro either don't own a parking lot and use a leased lot or don't have enough parking for all of their visitors.
And on a related note I was coincidentally on the blue line last Thursday after the Lakers game and was very surprised at how many people took Metro...and on a weeknight! It was late so we only had a 2-car train, but the cars had lots of standees after Pico. In fact maybe twice as many people boarded heading south at Pico as boarded at 7th/metro. And maybe 1/4 of the people on the Pico platform were waiting for the next NB train. That was great to see.
But it was also apparent that if more people do use Metro as LA Live continues to open that the narrow Pico platform will get crowded late at night since trains only run every 20 minutes. And somewhat related to the Expo discussion people were consciously walking in front of the train. The horn was sounding and pedestrians continued to casually stroll across the tracks against the light (on the south side of 12th where there's not even a crosswalk for Flower) for maybe 15 seconds.
|
|
|
Post by gibiscus on Dec 5, 2007 12:52:28 GMT -8
They should have built a new underground station with portals at Flower/Olympic and Figueroa/11th (within LA Live) at the developer's expense.
|
|
|
Post by zoostation on Dec 5, 2007 22:51:08 GMT -8
I'm glad you said that because I have been thinking that for a while. You've got that whole entire complex over there and the same pre-Staples station. It seems like something could have been negotiated for some more tax breaks over there.
|
|
|
Post by bluelineshawn on Dec 6, 2007 8:17:39 GMT -8
They should have built a new underground station with portals at Flower/Olympic and Figueroa/11th (within LA Live) at the developer's expense. That would have been a project killer. LA should be encouraging these types of mutually beneficial projects (like they did with LA Live) not discouraging them.
|
|
|
Post by nicksantangelo on Dec 6, 2007 11:02:54 GMT -8
Shawn: I couldn't do it without Jan Perry. She's great! I also got Helen Leung to respond- she works for Eric Garcetti- regarding the Knitting Factory and their steadfast refusal to reference Hlywd/Highland. That one really annoys me because I want my band to play a gig there, but their hardheadness keeps me from going for it.
If the venue/destination is not responding (and it's in the City of L.A.), then I highly recommend contacting the appropriate Council office. So far, that works as well or better than contacting MTA, at least in my case.
It seems that despite the neglect, lonely little PIco Station is doing the job. There is no reason why AKG/Nokia can't pump some money into gussying up the station, making it more appealing to commuters. Oh, wait there IS a reason why they don't: lucrative parking fees...?
|
|
|
Post by nicksantangelo on Dec 6, 2007 11:05:53 GMT -8
Just checked my email and found this from Sprint (they have a store at 626 Wilshire). Sometimes it just takes a click onto CONTACT US.
Dear Nick Santangelo,
Thank you for contacting Sprint. I will be happy to assist you regarding your suggestion.
I understand your concern about the service. I have forwarded your concern to the concerned department and we will include subway stop in our service. Also, we will include train stations in our directions.
Thank you for contacting us. Have a great day.
James P. E-Care Sprint "Where our customers come first!"
|
|
|
Post by gibiscus on Dec 6, 2007 13:41:26 GMT -8
Actually, now that I've thought a little more, the south portal would be the parking lot just north of Holiday Inn (SE corner of Fig/Olympic) and the north portal would be by the Concerto project and FIDM Apartments. This way people walking to the Staples Center will actually walk past LA Live on the way to and from the station. Using the Pico station, they walk away from it. The north portal would serve people going to FIDM, the Pantry and the Ralphs.
|
|
|
Post by LAofAnaheim on Dec 18, 2007 7:58:00 GMT -8
This is the best promotion of public transportation I have seen yet! Giant Maximus New Years Eve feat Tiesto Giant New Years celebrations have always featured the world's top DJs, Artists and Producers. This New Years Eve will be no exception as we roll out our line up ... starting with TIESTO ... we will be adding many more top names to this 3 stage event! Confirmed Line Up: Tiesto (4 hr set!) Roger Sanchez (4 hour set) MSTRKRFT Kaskade Z-Trip Robbie Rivera LA Riots Lazaro Casanova Franki Chan more DJs to be announced... Travel InformationArriving by air? Book your flight into LAX. The event in downtown Los Angeles is just 30 minutes from LAX. Coming from San Diego or Orange County? Take Amtrack's Pacific Surfliner train service to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. You're just a 5 minute taxi ride from GIANT MAXIMUS at 8th and Figueroa. Driving? GIANT MAXIMUS is just 1 block off the 110 Freeway, in the middle of the Downtown Financial District. Parking is available for over 5,000 cars. Metro? Take the RED LINE to 7th Street / Metro Station and you're just 1 block away from GIANT MAXIMUS. Trains run all night on New Year's Eve. Source: www.clubzone.com/events/event53477.html
|
|