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Post by antonio on Feb 26, 2008 14:47:25 GMT -8
What is your favorite station? Design, accesibility, uniqueness, etc., artwork, whatever, overall favorite
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Post by masonite on Feb 26, 2008 17:41:20 GMT -8
I'd have to say the first time I was in the Hollywood/Vine station, I thought it was by far the coolest subway station I had every seen (I've been all across the world on many subways). It was the first weekend it was open and it was occupied by thousands of people, which may have increased the excitement. I've been through there only a couple of times since, and it doesn't quite strike me the same, but I still think it is an ingenious design to have a station built like a movie theater and no other city could have pulled this off.
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Post by neyojii on Feb 26, 2008 18:15:47 GMT -8
I would have to say Willow because of its big Park, and Ride Structure, it would be good for a future investment banker to get to work from.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Feb 26, 2008 18:39:10 GMT -8
I picked 7th/metro center. Not for design or architecture (obviously), but it just seems so useful and busy.
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Post by antonio on Feb 26, 2008 21:11:26 GMT -8
masonite, there is a poll and thread in the Red Line section where you can vote for Hollywood/Vine. While not my absolute favorite, I have yet to meet a person who didn't like that station. It is the one that people always cite for saying LA has great subway stations but my personal faves are Vermont/Sunset, Universal, and Pershing Square I picked the Firestone station for the Blue Line. I'm a big fan of elevated stations (though not necessarily elevated lines) and it just has a great urban feel to it plus the art is really cool. The thing that distinguishes this from Slauson is the surrounding neighborhood. That said, one of my favorite photos of Downtown is from the Slauson platform with a southbound train approaching (it alternates with a DTLA with snowy mountains shot as my background photo). This photo is by Salaam Allah (as usual). world.nycsubway.org/perl/show?72358
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Post by spokker on Feb 27, 2008 2:12:06 GMT -8
Whichever one police officers are currently patrolling at.
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Post by James Fujita on Feb 27, 2008 13:31:42 GMT -8
hmmmm. I guess I'll join the parade of transit fans who all seem to be voting for 7th/ Metro.
none of the Blue Line stations are quite as spectacular as the Red Line stations, but the 7th/Metro station does hold the unique distinction of being a very simple and unique transfer station. the Blue Line/ Green Line transfer requires too many stairs and the Red Line/ Gold Line transfer is just too awkward.
ironically, in the future I hope to see more transfer stations, and yet at the same time, I hope that the Downtown Connector will diminish 7th/Metro's importance.
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Post by kenalpern on Feb 27, 2008 14:46:26 GMT -8
The Blue Line was built in another era, with engineering, environmental, aesthetic and other standards completely out of touch with today's standards. Yet so much has been built on the shoulders of those who created this first, prototypical line.
We don't have a "Friends of the Blue Line", but it's hoped that future upgrades for this line occur. Most of the stations get the job done, but they're utilitarian (I suppose the term "butt-ugly" might be too harsh) and not meant to be a source of civic pride that we're now seeing with current and future lines.
The key nature of 7th/Metro will certainly change once it's no longer a terminus, but its proximity to Staples Center will likely keep it a key station with lots of boardings.
I don't really know if/when the Southeast Cities COG will ever start caring about its Blue and Green Lines the way the Westside and Eastside and Downtown regions do, but if they ever do it would be nice to see a Blue Line Upgrade project (bigger trains, grade separations, cross-tracking to establish express service, etc.) that would allow more express and local ridership to accommodate a 150-200,000/day ridership.
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Post by nicksantangelo on Feb 27, 2008 19:38:22 GMT -8
Yep, gotta go with 7th/Metro, tho I live the Hollywood/Vine Station quite a bit.
If you are looking for an Ugliest Station, system-wide- vote for mine: Southwest Museum. Absolutely hideous.
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Post by antonio on Feb 27, 2008 20:18:53 GMT -8
No way that is crazy. That is my home station too. It's a beautiful station, albeit horribly sited. Ugliest station would have to be one of the very plain Blue Line stations, probably Grand, all it has is words on the ground. It is art yes, but they could have come up with better. Pico is just as bad if not worse and Washington would win it hands down if it didn't have so much color on the columns and fences The other at-grade stations at least have nice little mosaics, tiles, and sculpture
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Post by ieko on May 14, 2008 21:43:24 GMT -8
I chose Willow not for it's looks (most of those Long Beach stations look the same), but for its placement. I regard this as probably one of the best planned blue line stations because of the following, a very large park & ride lot, it's near a school, hospital, there is a lot of small retail stores coupled with pretty decent fast food, and lots of homes surrounding the station. This to me makes it very easy for someone from the surrounding area to come, park, grab some starbucks or a sandwich then take the train to their destination, or of course get off the train and grab something to eat and go to a doctors appointment.
This to me is the kind of enviroment that encourages people who normally wouldn't bother with public transport to give it a go because you've placed things that people want to do normally before they go somewhere next to the station and also made it easy to find a parking spot. It's also a good destination thanks to all the jobs in the area creating by those retail outlets along with the hospital, naturally you'll have kids trying to get to the school as well but since schools generally don't get students from great distances the impact of the school is not as great however if the kids want to do something after school it provides them with a quick way to get somewhere.
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Post by metrocenter on May 15, 2008 10:11:41 GMT -8
Pico Station needs a serious upgrade, given (1) how many people currently use it, (2) how many more will use it once the Expo Line opens, and (3) how many more people ought to be using it to get to Convention/Staples/Nokia.
BTW, I had heard in the past that, as a part of the LATTC expansion, the Grand station was going to be upgraded into some sort of transit plaza. Does anybody know what that means, or when that is supposed to happen?
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Post by James Fujita on May 25, 2008 11:25:24 GMT -8
Pico definitely needs improvement, and if there was money in the budget for station upgrades, surely that one could use it, especially with all of the improvements in the neighborhood (L.A. Live, etc.).
even a pedestrian underpass or overpass would be a huge step in the right direction; imagine an elevated walkway leading from the convention center area to the station??
of course, this would require somebody to provide the funds for it
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Post by bluelineshawn on May 25, 2008 11:44:18 GMT -8
I agree. I remember making the point that Pico needs upgrading on the old board. Just go and look at what happens when there is a game at Staples. People getting off the train and people that park in the lots east of Flower will sometimes stand on the tracks to cross Flower and cross against the light. I've seen blue line trains coming out of the tunnel wait a couple of times. Their horns are sounding, but pedestrians walk in front of the train for a few more seconds. The light is ridiculously long and there's often little traffic on Flower so I can see why people get impatient. The problem is that this situation is going to get much worse as LA Live continues to open and more people use the station. Then when Expo opens and there are nearly twice as many trains...
I guess one thing that could be done in the short term is to speed up the light, but when Expo opens I think that will interfere with the trains. I think that we talked about an overhead walkway, but the consensus was that the overhead power cables would likely be in the way. I don't really know what the long term solution would be. I was hoping for a complete station redesign as part of Expo, but that's obviously not happening.
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Post by JerardWright on May 25, 2008 11:58:29 GMT -8
I agree. I remember making the point that Pico needs upgrading on the old board. Just go and look at what happens when there is a game at Staples. People getting off the train and people that park in the lots east of Flower will sometimes stand on the tracks to cross Flower and cross against the light. I've seen blue line trains coming out of the tunnel wait a couple of times. That is where a traffic officer(s) need to be present to improve the pedestrian and train flow of these conditions. Here's an aerial of the Pico Blue Line station ( MS Live original). Another thing that really needs to get serious consideration is using the unused sidewalk on the eastside of Flower, take out those parcels fronting it and build a second platform for Northbound trains so there's less passengers needing to enter onto the tracks. This will be a significant requirement once the Regional Connector is built. Eventually the developer at the Figueroa Central could integrate an pedestrian bridge and connect the two platforms with escalators or ramps up to the crossing which would improve the local economy of the development to cater to those patrons during and after Staples/LA Live events.
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Post by bluelineshawn on May 25, 2008 12:05:31 GMT -8
Good ideas. And speaking of sidewalks how about a sidewalk or waiting area on the west side of the station where the easternmost traffic lane is on Flower? Flower isn't really that busy of a street. although that could change as the area gets more activity.
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Post by JerardWright on May 25, 2008 12:43:46 GMT -8
Good ideas. And speaking of sidewalks how about a sidewalk or waiting area on the west side of the station where the easternmost traffic lane is on Flower? Flower isn't really that busy of a street. although that could change as the area gets more activity. That would work take some of the space that would be used for merging to make left tuns to create a median island in case pedestrians can't make the light in time.
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Post by roadtrainer on May 26, 2008 16:02:15 GMT -8
;D Imperial and Wilmington, Because it puts me in the right direction, whether going to work or going home! Sincerely The Roadtrainer
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Post by metrocenter on May 27, 2008 10:19:11 GMT -8
Jerard, I like the idea of having two platforms at Pico: one on each side of the tracks. Also, the station should extend the entire length of the block, between 12th and Pico.
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Post by JerardWright on May 27, 2008 11:11:04 GMT -8
The idea of this is from something I saw in Calgary's LRT when I was in college of how they integrated a new convention center, sidewalk and at-grade platform on the side of building. And since the sidewalk on Eastside of Flower Street is virtually unused space. Some cyclist and a few peds use it but not that many of them. This is the Centre Street station on their 7th Avenue Transit Mall. These pics were taken from www.lightrail.com
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Post by James Fujita on May 27, 2008 19:08:32 GMT -8
now that is the sort of thing that I really like, where they completely integrate a Metro station into the building that it serves, and not just seemingly plop it down in the middle of a street; I wish they did that more often in Los Angeles.
of course, there's always a question of the height of the station platform relative to the height of the buildings; in the Long Beach Transit Mall, it always seems like the platform is half a floor off the ground
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Post by JerardWright on Jun 21, 2008 17:01:30 GMT -8
^ In this particular case since the buildings in question on Flower Street aren't helping the ridership of the Pico station I would move to demolish them and build a new development that would match itself to the height of the platform on the Flower Street edge and transform and improve the urban streetscape of the area.
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Post by James Fujita on Jun 21, 2008 21:30:46 GMT -8
^ In this particular case since the buildings in question on Flower Street aren't helping the ridership of the Pico station I would move to demolish them and build a new development that would match itself to the height of the platform on the Flower Street edge and transform and improve the urban streetscape of the area. heh. although I've taken the Blue Line many, many times, I've never really given much thought to the buildings on Flower next to the Pico Station. (other than they look absolutely awful). with all of the development in the Staples Center area, I'm sure that the properties in question could be transformed in some way into some truly wonderful transit-oriented Pico Station restaurants/ apartments / cafes/ stores/ a hotel that would complement the Convention Center. too bad the eminent domain price for such buildings must be huge. any chance that Anschutz might be interesting in buying that block?
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Post by JerardWright on Jun 22, 2008 12:41:35 GMT -8
With all of the development in the Staples Center area, I'm sure that the properties in question could be transformed in some way into some truly wonderful transit-oriented Pico Station restaurants/ apartments / cafes/ stores/ a hotel that would complement the Convention Center. too bad the eminent domain price for such buildings must be huge. any chance that Anschutz might be interesting in buying that block? I doubt Anschultz will be interested in that lot, however South Group might jump on the opportunity since they have the site to the West of the station. This would be an opportunity for them to integrate the transit components into their development and do something really special. When this is tied with the Regional Connector they'll see the need for it and even throw in more office/commercial development into the program.
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Post by James Fujita on Jun 23, 2008 14:53:03 GMT -8
With all of the development in the Staples Center area, I'm sure that the properties in question could be transformed in some way into some truly wonderful transit-oriented Pico Station restaurants/ apartments / cafes/ stores/ a hotel that would complement the Convention Center. too bad the eminent domain price for such buildings must be huge. any chance that Anschutz might be interesting in buying that block? I doubt Anschultz will be interested in that lot, however South Group might jump on the opportunity since they have the site to the West of the station. This would be an opportunity for them to integrate the transit components into their development and do something really special. When this is tied with the Regional Connector they'll see the need for it and even throw in more office/commercial development into the program. heh, it doesn't really matter who, Anschutz was the first name to come to mind. at this point, it's just a matter of getting somebody with an interest in and appreciation of rail transit. I can't imagine that block remaining underdeveloped for very much longer, and then it just becomes a matter of: will the developer recognize the untapped potential in the Pico Station; will the MTA and the developer be able to work together; because I've been to cities where the transition is seamless: you just step off the train, walk down the platform, go through some gates and ta-da, you're at your destination; but I've also seen how Los Angeles has frankly muffed some opportunities — for example, at Hollywood and Highland, the train station is certainly visible, but it's just sorta sitting there like a box surrounded by other boxes and there's no real interaction between the subway and the shopping mall.
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Post by Jason Saunders on Sept 10, 2008 21:40:22 GMT -8
I believe Pico will be rebuilt/upgraded as a part of Expo. I bet it will be minimal.
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Post by pithecanthropus on Sept 20, 2010 14:55:44 GMT -8
The Blue Line was built in another era, with engineering, environmental, aesthetic and other standards completely out of touch with today's standards. Yet so much has been built on the shoulders of those who created this first, prototypical line. Can you elaborate on this? I wouldn't have thought that the engineering standards would have changed that much, other than that the original designers seemed to have underestimated the demand, and that there's no cheap or easy solution for that. Other than that, a train's a train, so what's changed in the past 20 years?
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Post by pithecanthropus on Sept 20, 2010 15:04:32 GMT -8
I voted for 7th Street, because if nothing else it's the station I would show anyone who says nobody uses the trains. At rush hour it's always crowded. At other times one can see encouraging signs that the rail system is beginning to be on people's mental radar. Last holiday season, I happened to be on a westbound Red Line train on the Sunday evening of the Hollywood Christmas Parade, and at 7th Street the car suddenly filled up with families on their way to the parade. Some folks, at least, are looking at transit maps and realizing they can take the train instead of driving, or even the bus.
You can't assume that people will avail themselves of a cheaper or better option just because it's there. When I was at UC San Diego in the late 1970s, taking the train to L.A. was a couple of dollars cheaper than taking Greyhound, but a lot of people still used the bus anyway. I couldn't understand why anybody would take a Greyhound if the train is cheaper.
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 20, 2010 15:13:32 GMT -8
Back in July, Expo and Metro came up with a list of "safety enhancements"to the Expo Phase 1 project. (None of these items was in the original scope.) Enhancements include the new station at Farmdale, a new dispatch booth at 7th/Metro, signage, signals, crossovers, etc. Item 1 on the list says the following: Pico Station (Gates, Flashers) Requested by EXPO/Metro/CPUC. Added to meet updated Fire Life Safety and National Fire Protection codes for station egress and pedestrian swing gates and flashers. $375,000 Item 4 on the list says the following: Junction ATP Requested by Metro/CPUC. Added to replace line of sight operations between Washington and Pico Stations with an automatic train control system. $5,000,000 The document describing the new items is here. These enhancements will definitely benefit Blue Line riders as well as Expo Line riders.
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 20, 2010 15:26:57 GMT -8
Can you elaborate on this? I wouldn't have thought that the engineering standards would have changed that much, other than that the original designers seemed to have underestimated the demand, and that there's no cheap or easy solution for that. Other than that, a train's a train, so what's changed in the past 20 years? (FYI, your link seems to be broken or empty.) Expo is benefiting from lessons learned on the Blue Line and the other light rail lines in L.A. It is being designed with better signage, fences, gates, lights, signaling, etc. The Blue Line was a huge success, but it also started off as pretty bare-bones, and gained something of a reputation (unfairly, I might add) for being unsafe. The fact is, these really are hybrid systems -- not 100% grade separated rapid transit, and yet not streetcars. These are big, fast, frequent trains that require special attention at the places where they cross roads. Over the last 20 years, many people in L.A. have had a chance to consider how safe is safe enough. I still wouldn't say we have anything like a consensus yet, but we're getting there. This goes not just for safety but for operations. Metro has learned how to maintain shorter headways consistently, for example. Now for the first time, Metro has the added challenge of coordinating shared use of light-rail track. Thus, the Flower Street segment is especially important to get right, and if necessary, "over-engineer".
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