After years of saying that someday I should go up to LA and check out their new subway, I finally did it this week. It's not so new anymore, but better late than never, amirite?
I was mainly interested in taking pictures of the various pieces of artwork that adorn some of the stations, and I'll show those to you in the future. First, though, here's my favorite bit of creative decoration. It's at the Hollywood/Highland station, and as you approach the escalator to the platform it looks like an ordinary railing:
However, once you descend to the platform itself and look up, it's a strip of 35mm film. Clever!
And the supports on the top level have...fancy bar seats attached? They seem a little high.
That part of the subway doesn't go much of anywhere yet (Sorry for the insult, Koreatown!) Hope you tried the light rail above-ground lines which run from Santa Monica to Pasadena and beyond. Pretty impressive to me how fast they got up and running compared to the underground line.
Something else that's impressive to me: just how much transportation projects like this seem to affect the appeal of neighborhoods and real estate values. LA seems to have -- smartly -- emphasized building apartment buildings along the route of the subway in the picture. You really can't believe how many new apartment buildings are going up near that line, which ultimately will reach west to UCLA.
Meanwhile, on the light rail line I mentioned, in particular the Gold Line which runs from downtown through Pasadena and then to the east to places like Azusa, home prices have gone way up. Take for example, South Pasadena, which has played Small Town America in commercials and TV shows for decades, and which, until 10 years ago, was a relative bargain in LA real estate. Once the light rail station opened in the heart of South Pas, prices started climbing fast, and the area is no longer a bargain, but rather is now very expensive (i.e. upwards of $1000/sq/ft for an unrenovated house). Now, part of the reason for this is that downtown LA itself became more attractive as a place to work and live, and the light rail station made it much easier to live in South Pas and work downtown... nevertheless, the transformation of the whole city because of 1) lower crime rates and 2) better public transportation... is amazing.
"35mm what?" - anyone borne this century.
From the looks of it, I’d say it was closer to 900mm…
Like +35 (mm)
... and has never seen the various production company and movie cable channel logos.
I wonder if anyone riding it knows what 35mm film is.
'Sub--way', --like a pneumatic tube, but for sandwiches?