I wish the author of the article would talk to somebody from the city of LA who lives above the subway line to note the noise vibration is an unsubstantiated problem.

By the way, this whole thing about Beverly Hills and the subway ties into the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear this last weekend in DC. Political pundits (in this case, Beverly Hills) is spreading fear over the unknown and giving key words to the masses to use (i.e. "our only high school", "methane gas explosion", "sinkhole"). Whereas the rest of the good is not being promoted by Metro heavily to combat this fear mongoring. For example, with the case of Osama bin Laden being Muslim, does that mean all muslims are bad? Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was awesome.... I'm not instilling politics here; but this whole "don't dig under our high school" sounds a lot like Teabaggers.

Vote tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

GOP-controlled House might hinder Villaraigosa's transit funding request (LA Times)
 

As outlined in the GO(B)P's Pledge to America's Corporations, much better to have massive tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent and more wasteful defense spending than investment in transit that will improve mobility, improve air quality, reduce our consumption of oil, encourage hundreds of millions (billions) of dollars of development around stations, and put people back to work building a much-needed rail system connecting people in the nation's largest county.

B]GOP-controlled House might hinder Villaraigosa's transit funding request[/B]

Republicans are vowing to cut government spending, but the L.A. mayor and others argue that his 30/10 plan — seeking federal loans to expedite key transit projects — is a wise use of federal money.

By Richard Simon and Dan Weikel, Los Angeles Times
November 6, 2010

"After Tuesday's election, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa could have a tougher time securing federal aid for his plan to accelerate a dozen local transit projects, including the much-heralded Westside subway extension. That's because the Republican majority sweeping into the House has pledged to rein in government spending.

Although Villaraigosa has enjoyed the support of many fellow Democrats in Washington for his so-called 30/10 plan, a number of California's congressional Republicans have been wary, at best, of sending Los Angeles more federal funding when the federal budget is covered in red ink.

"With this year's deficit at $1.3 trillion, and next year's projected to be a trillion dollars or more, it's going to be extremely difficult to convince Congress to increase spending for anything," said Jim Specht, deputy chief of staff to Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), who could return as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,5970508.story

Stumbled upon this while browsing Flickr. This map is from Metro, so it appears that the Fairfax option is gone.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/...1bb79a75_b.jpg
From Flickr, by jwalker64

I think they've also considered that one of those green line extensions would be part of the Harbor Subdivision Corridor's local LRT service. It would have been nice to see the West Hollywood subway as heavy rail and also connected to the future Vermont Ave extension...

Okay I like that map. I didn't realize the San Vicente alternative was still going to connect to Hollywood Highland, which is a much better alterantive than having the extension go straight up La Brea. Could get a couple good stops on Santa Monica Blvd. for West Hollywood.

Yes, there would be a stop apparently at Rage (San Vicente/SM) so expect that to be most colorful stop in the entire system if you know what I mean.

;)

Definitely, and for me personally it would be nice to hop on the West Hollywood extension and go deeper west into the city. Now I’d say our walking perimeter is no farther west than Crescent Heights, although we have walked all the way to the Parade and festival on more than one occasion from Hollywood. It would really open up what I consider my neighborhood (places I can get to on foot and with the use of the Red Line Subway).

The routing hasn't been decided. Fairfax is still an option: http://www.metro.net/board/Items/201...8MRPDItem6.pdf

However, I will personally add that since West Hollywood is not getting a Red Line extension, I think the Board will most likely go with La Cienega boulevard when the DEIR is completed to appease West Hollywood. Good thing is we'll get connections to the Beverly Center and Cedars Sinai as well; though lose out on the Grove and Farmers Market. Melrose will still be connected with either La Cienega or Fairfax options.

If it cuts down santa monica after going north on la cienega I am sure there would be a stop on Fairfax/Santa Monica and that would be close enough for me to go to the Grove and Farmers market.

I'm pretty sure you can count on stops at Wilshire, Beverly Center/Melrose, Santa Monica/La Cienega, Santa Monica/Fairfax, and Santa Monica/La Brea. Those would be great destinations.

Instead of extending the Crenshaw corridor on Fairfax, why not just extend the Grove streetcar to the nearest future Metro station (Fairfax/Santa Monica or Beverly Center)?

Is Los Angeles Ready for 30/10?


http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/11/12...eady-for-3010/

That's a very cool idea. The trolley can extend down 3rd street from the Grove to a stop at Cedars Sinai/Melrose.

Im very skeptical of this orgamization that wants to halt 30/10. On the one hand they worry new development wont conform to their neighborhood plan, and yet on the other they think there isn't enough density proposed transit stations? And their solution is to stop funding transit lines?


It sounds like an anti-transit, anti-growth organization.

Or it could use the alley just north 3rd street to get to Cedars Sinai so it wouldn't affect automobile traffic as much as it would if it went on 3rd street.

That's because it is.

Streetcar construction is a faction of the cost to build compared to either heavy rail or light rail and will become imperative if we want to connect neighborhoods in West Central LA.

I have a feeling that people will become naturally more receptive to streetcars when DTLA becomes ever more salient in the area and people finally start to understand what walking means when it comes to a lifestyle and not a recreational activity.

I would prefer we stop pandering to the single passenger automobile....I'd rather see the median of 3rd street taken over by a streetcar. People can hop on - hop off as they shop. Behind an alley would be ugly. I can't think of any streetcars that avoid street-life and go behind alleys. If so, you may as well build a light rail train. The streetcar would give more life to 3rd street.

Because Metro Rail is more of an interurban service (more spread out lines with greater stop spacing), it is therefore less accessible to the populace it serves than traditional rail systems. Streetcars are the solution to "filling in the gaps" because they attract riders that would otherwise avoid taking the bus at all costs. Also, streetcars are arguably the most effective way to revitalize/transform neighborhoods and create "ambiance". They clearly provide the biggest bang for your buck.

Yay, the name of the Expo Line will be just that! The color Aqua will be used to denote it on the map, but the line will be called "Expo". I am very, very happy. :yes:

...

Don't Call It the Aqua Line: It's the Aqua-Colored Expo Line
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/1...d_the_name.php

Speaking of the Aqua line, do any of you remember that spoof sign put up by Transit advocates/activists in the early 2000's announcing the coming of the Aqua subway line complete with map? It was featured in the alt-culture magazine Adbusters. Anyone remember that?