Re: South Central Los Angeles (compared to Melbourne)
petercook2705
Tuesday, May 21, 2002 7:07 AM
--- In TramsDownUnder@y..., "pn1.rm" <pn1@b...> wrote:
Toorak has fewer hookers, and is pedestrian friendly. Beverley Hills
has too many cars, just like the rest of LA.
Was this the airport shuttle? They have recently cracked down on
anyone using this without an MTA ticket and a bit of luggage. A lot
of (mostly non-english speaking) airport employees were using the
Aviation P&R and catching the free shuttle to the airport, ignoring
all the signs saying the P&R was intended for MTA ticket holders
only. I don't think they cracked down on all non-travellers, but it
is the next logical step.
On both my trips on that shuttle, I as well as every other passenger
on board was interrogated in Spanish then English about whether I was
planning on catching a train at Aviation. They didn't seem to think
that an akubra hat and 4 items of luggage was sufficient proof that I
was a traveller and wasn't an airport employee.
Anyone who thinks that heavy or light rail stations belong in the
middle of freeways, please take note of this. It is a very dumb
idea. The sheer noise of (what was it - 5 or 6 lanes each way?) of
cars and trucks a good 12 feet away from the platform screaming past
at 70mph was not only disappointingly noisy, but actually quite
scary, and that's not even taking the bad neighbourhood into account.
There is nowhere in Melbourne where it legal to carry handguns. In
South Central LA, you are nuts if you don't. If you step outside the
MTA Light Rail, you leave the video surveillance zone and enter gang
turf. If you look the wrong way in that area and aren't able to
assert yourself when confronted by a dozen or more youths, you are in
deep s***.
This was my very first impression of the USA, and it made me realise
immediately just how good we have it down under. That place is a
complete hole. Qantas would be wise to switch its US West Coast hub
from LAX to SFO one day.
PC
Melbourne
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Yes, I agree there would be few areas in Melbourne similar
to South Central Los Angeles. But how much better is
Beverley Hills than Toorak?
Toorak has fewer hookers, and is pedestrian friendly. Beverley Hills
has too many cars, just like the rest of LA.
In August 2000, returning about 8.30 pm from a train ride to San
Bernardino we caught the Red line subway, changed to the Blue line
light rail, changed to the Green line light rail to get to Aviation
Boulevard. Found a bus there that took us to a stop near our hotel
(Westin LAX).
Was this the airport shuttle? They have recently cracked down on
anyone using this without an MTA ticket and a bit of luggage. A lot
of (mostly non-english speaking) airport employees were using the
Aviation P&R and catching the free shuttle to the airport, ignoring
all the signs saying the P&R was intended for MTA ticket holders
only. I don't think they cracked down on all non-travellers, but it
is the next logical step.
On both my trips on that shuttle, I as well as every other passenger
on board was interrogated in Spanish then English about whether I was
planning on catching a train at Aviation. They didn't seem to think
that an akubra hat and 4 items of luggage was sufficient proof that I
was a traveller and wasn't an airport employee.
The transfer from Blue to Green lines is interesting. The
Green line platform is extremely noisy with the freeway
traffic on both sides.
Anyone who thinks that heavy or light rail stations belong in the
middle of freeways, please take note of this. It is a very dumb
idea. The sheer noise of (what was it - 5 or 6 lanes each way?) of
cars and trucks a good 12 feet away from the platform screaming past
at 70mph was not only disappointingly noisy, but actually quite
scary, and that's not even taking the bad neighbourhood into account.
We took the Blue/Green option rather than making a direct
transit from the Blue line to a bus (that stopped at the door
of our hotel) because we were told we would be taking our
lives into our own hands if we tried to make the connection
after dark. Are there be any evening tram/tram connections
in Melbourne where the same advice would be appropriate?
There is nowhere in Melbourne where it legal to carry handguns. In
South Central LA, you are nuts if you don't. If you step outside the
MTA Light Rail, you leave the video surveillance zone and enter gang
turf. If you look the wrong way in that area and aren't able to
assert yourself when confronted by a dozen or more youths, you are in
deep s***.
The areas served by the Blue and Green lines are rather
tacky by Melbourne standards. But we did not forget we
were visiting the Greatest Country in the World!
This was my very first impression of the USA, and it made me realise
immediately just how good we have it down under. That place is a
complete hole. Qantas would be wise to switch its US West Coast hub
from LAX to SFO one day.
PC
Melbourne
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Take the Yahoo! Groups survey for a chance to win $1,000.
Your opinion is very important to us!
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