I actually never thought about how hard it is for people to come visit me in DTLA since when people do, they just take Uber. I can see how someone driving in might have a hard time. On the flip side, it’s somewhat easy to get out of DTLA because of the freeway adjacency, so long as you leave at the right time and don’t need to cross all of downtown to get to the freeway. In any case, an ex-gf lived in the BH area…suffice to say I got used to the DTLA → central LA commute.
$6.99 Uber flat fares FTW!
At times I wish it was a bit easier to get to the Arts District from the heart of downtown, but that’s about it. I walk to the vast majority of places in DTLA, especially during evening traffic hours. Walk maybe 2.5-3 miles a day. When going to dinner or to a bar, I may take Uber depending on the distance and who is with me.
No, I’m not fucking kidding. I work in DTLA, commuting by car and public transit, especially public transit, where dtla actually is the center of the rail system. And it’s becoming an easier place to get to as the city increases these lines, and parking becomes less an issue with Uber.
Glad you’ve found a solution to easily access DTLA. I live in the Hollywood hills, only 7 miles from downtown, and find it rather inaccessible. Public transit is not an option because there’s no place to park near any of the red line stops. If I didn’t pay $250 a month for parking at my office I wouldn’t know where to park. I never go to Chinatown for lunch from my downtown office because between surface street traffic and parking, it’s actually faster for me to hop on the freeway and drive to Monterey Park. And even Sunday mornings when driving to church in Chinatown, the Hollywood Freeway comes to a stop at Vermont.
I agree. I worked downtown for several years, so I knew how to get around, but it was still hellish. As for driving downtown for dinner, it had better be someplace special (Bestia, ERB), and even then I think long and hard about if it’s really worth the drive.
Uber’s surge pricing is ridiculous to get to downtown on a Friday, for good reason.
As for public transportation, the Expo line is disgusting. I would never consider hopping on it to hang out downtown or in Santa Monica for an evening.
@CiaoBob Traffic may deserve it’s own thread, but in L.A., how long it takes to get somewhere definitely has an effect on people’s restaurant and shopping choices.
Personally, I’d love to visit Galleria and Ranch 99 more often, but it’s usually a planned excursion, not a spontaneous need for groceries that get me to drive there. Same with all the great Japanese restaurants in Torrance. There are narrow windows of time when freeway driving is worth the payout to and from.
Hey let’s start a “Life Hacks for Angeleno FTCers” thread. Secret routes, public transit combos, parking tricks, timing the commute, etc. for easier access to all them great restaurants in the L.A. Metro region.
I’ve used it during the day for football games and it seems totally fine and not unlike public transportation in any other major city. What makes it so distgusting? Are you against riding the subway in NYC, which is probably worse in my view?
I know. I am sorry.
I should just get over it but I have to admit that Angeleno’s constant carpings, rantings and warnings about traffic annoy the shite out of me. Some folks love cruising the city, driving from place to place, regardless of traffic, whereas others cannot stand 10 minutes of it. Either way the constant complaining about it is silly, IMHO.
There are more homeless sleeping on the lines, but the expo line is among the cleaner systems of any major metro in the US. LA is just a city where, if by car, you need to research your routes, research your parking options, plan what time of day you can ride…etc. Getting to anywhere in this city is an ordeal. That’s not news. I find the rails and Uber/Lyft increasingly more convenient to get around.
Same here. I use the metro all the time to get downtown and for short trips to Culver City and Santa Monica. There are some sketchy characters on the train but no more than other cities like SF or NYC. Probably fewer, in fact.
I don’t even bother driving downtown on a Friday. The 10 is just such a soul-crushing experience. It’s the Expo line or nothing.
Next time you’re riding the train home, at night, take a look around and see how many sole female travelers are sitting around you. Or even two female travelers together. It’s not about snobbishness.
You previously said it was disgusting, not unsafe. That is a fair point, I suppose it depends when you are taking it. I would suggest taking it on the way to dinner (when a lot of people who cannot afford a car are relying on it for transportation) and then Uber on the way back if that is a problem.
Admittedly, most of my experience with the LA subway is on the Red Line over 10 years ago. Took at it all kinds of hours. More recently I have used the Expo Line and the Gold line to get to either the LA Colesium or the Rose Bowl.
