A Hollywood show stopper

Bradley Martin was exploring the Metro rail system for the first time when he hopped on a Red Line subway car he thought would take him to downtown's Union Station as he headed home. Wrong. He ended up in Hollywood by mistake. ("I was paying more attention to photo opportunities than signs.") No matter, he ended up wandering around the neighborhood and took this image of the interior of the Hollywood & Highland station.

"The trip was well worth the travel time and far less stressful than driving.  Had I been in my car, I would not have seen as much as I did."

--Jesus Sanchez

Photo: Bradley Martin / Flickr

Comments

[jeff]

Yeah, the subways are works of art -- fortunately, not trashed in the last decade. BUT too bad they don't go anywhere -- like this guy, my family and I took a trip for fun, on a weekend, from Hollywood to downtown/Pershing Square and back. WEnt to the Biltmore for a snack, very nice -- but coming home at night, it was all immigrant families and felt like a very downmarket experince despite all the art. Hardly anyone else on the train, except a few confused European tourists, wondering where everyone was.

What a shame, all this artwork and money wasted on a train that goes nowhere but downtown-Hollywood-Universal, when it SHOULD have all along been built west along Wilshire or somewhere parallel, which the city is finally hoping to do now. But, for the record, it's NOT just NIMBY's in Cheviott Hills and Zev/Waxman who were to blame: I distinctly recall that the pols who represented East and South L A said it would be racist to run it west instead of to serve the poorest of the city, which are more centered in East Hollywood.

Well, we gots what we gots. Ironically, Hollywood/Vine and Highland are now a lot more upmarket than they were then, and proximity to mass transit may be helping them. It's so hard to park there on a weekend -- maybe they can better play up how easy it is to go from downtown hotels/concerts/MOCA to Hollywood and Universal, to get more tourist traffic, we need the money to finance the subway to the sea yesterday. (And connect it up to the NoHo/Valleyites, as well as offer them a stop at Sepulveda to connect to the city. We;ve GOT to get commuters out of their cars onto mass transit, not just the poor. -- Though better they take the trains than play bump-and-run in uninsured, unlicensed cars.)

[ick ock]

Only illegals & losers take public transpertation

[Hoz]

I've never heard such classist b.s. in my life. Public Transportation is meant to be just that--for the public. Yeah, the economy of riding is going to make it an inevitable resource for the poor.

I live in New York, and you will find every type of person riding the train. Sometimes you're on in the morning at 8 a.m. and the train is packed with middle-class people going to their office jobs. Other times you might be squeezed next to some tourists, a bible-thumper preaching in the cars and a man who literally crapped his pants and passed out. That is the nature of the train. It is what it is, but I'm glad it's there. It makes my city work.

I hope one day that the LA Metro becomes a resource for Angelenos. But dudes, if you hate looking at poor people, then the train is not for you.

[Michel]

je suis français, j'ai vécu trois ans à Paris. Je sais par expérience que le métro est surement le moyen de transport en commun le plus cosmopolite qui existe. Pour être venu à NY et avoir été dans le Queens le métro par ses haltes innombrables indique par la population qui s'y engouffre à chaque station le melting pot new yorkais. Mais le melting pot existe-t-il? Chaque communauté ne reste-t-elle pas sur sa limite de quartier, chinatown? little italy? Ici je vis à Tahiti point de métro, des embouteillages mais un tel climat et un tel douceur de vivre donc un petit bonjour des Iles aux lecteurs du LA TIMES.

[transpohawk]

In any case, it's a nice photo...

[K-Town Jimmy]

Metro needs to address the safety issues confronting the bus operators. Operators need to be behind a safety window to prevent assaults that could endanger riders. Something must be done to keep extremely filthy persons from riding the buses- often all day and night. The overwhelming stench of urine and feces will send riders racing back to their cars. Metro needs to develop a sensitivity for what riders and drivers face on a daily basis- and take steps to correct problems. When this is done, L.A. will then have a world-class public transportation system.

[neats]

The linked article investigates stand-outs who refuse to use public transportation.
Harry Cosmotos, (perpetrator), is mentioned with a name that begs the question: Cannot we occupy ourselves with the least expense for 10+ minutes on the train?