Metro Green Line Meeting: 4/14/2011

Some Notes from the 4/14/2011 Green Line Extension (GLE) Meeting
William Green Elementary School, Lawndale, CA

There were four types of commenters:
1. Anti GLE in any way
2. Anti GLE in Lawndale
3. Anti GLE on Right of Way (ROW), pro GLE on Inglewood or Hawthorne (most on Hawthorne)
4. Pro GLE in current configuration

The first couple of speakers fell into camps 2 and 1 and got a lot of support from the crowd. Someone from a transportation organization (not the BRU or the Transit Coalition) got up and spoke and was booed resoundingly. Another guy who was 22 was in the #4 camp, and said some poorly worded (and offensive) things and was booed and heckled. Things calmed down somewhat after that but most of the people still were in camps 2 and 3.

People were really concerned about safety.
Some were concerned about other effects (traffic, noise).
A couple mentioned 'inevitable' cost and schedule overruns.

The people in the pro camp talked about how much it would save their personal commutes, thinking about the future (especially the younger commenters), and getting off oil.

A really interesting facet that I was surprised at was how many 'Lawndaliens' felt like this was being rammed down their throats by Redondo Beach. They were very sensitive to perceived benefits going to Redondo (via tax revenue at the South Bay Galleria) and Lawndale bearing the brunt of ill effects because of the route choice.

It also seemed like there is a lot of willful ignorance - not believing anything in Metro's presentations, dubious of studies, etc. A suggestion I wrote on a card was to present a little more data but I'm doubtful it would have swayed many of the people there - especially not at the meeting itself.

Also there were many Lawndale City Council members in attendance but none spoke and it seemed like there was someone taking notes and people's names - maybe a reporter for the Daily Breeze?

My two cents:
Lawndale city leaders could have done themselves a HUGE service but interfacing with both their community and Metro long before the meeting tonight. If the community had been more organized they could have helped influence Metro's analysis of the Hawthorne ROW. For example - if Lawndale were to put a special redevelopment district along Hawthorne BLVD to get more transit oriented development, in areas that they would like stations, and shared that information with Metro before Metro did its ridership analysis, that would have positively affected the Hawthorne corridor ROW analysis. Metro could have also done a better job of engaging the different cities - but I'm late to the process so I'm not sure of the entire history.

Another option would be for Hawthorne and Lawndale to pursue a light rail/streetcar up and down the Hawthorne ROW, independent of Metro, but involve Metro for synergistic effects. Lawndale could also look into pursuing more funding (either grants from State/Fed govt or passing a bond measure) to help Metro choose the Hawthorne route - say a public/private partnership to develop a station and TOD with the developer getting tax breaks, building a station that Metro wouldn't have to, and Lawndale getting some new development to increase the tax base. It seems like they're in reaction mode instead of being proactive.

Metro Link

Make Money!

Playing Poker! Like my previous post these locations were also from the latest issue of ESPN the magazine. I was actually surprised that so many places were in LA. The only time I was in the Hollywood Park Casino it was surreal - especially when you're used to stumbling through a Vegas casino at 4 in the morning. Also, Berlin played a concert that night which was the strangest concert I've ever been through (note to self: don't wait to hear Take My Breath Away for any length of time no matter your love of Top Gun). And I've never been at a 'real' card table so there's that. Also, these places have nothing on the Cayucos Tavern (complete with MySpace page!). Liquor in front, poker in the rear. Heyo!


View Top 10 Places in the Country to Make Money Playing Poker in a larger map

Book Report: Cloudsplitter

I just finished Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. It tells the story of abolitionist John Brown from the point of view of is son Owen. You can get salient links from the Wikipedia page. It's a monster book - 758 pages - that I was reading on and off for a couple months. I'm not sure I have a ton to say about it that isn't included here or here.

I liked it because it covered a historical subject that I had learned about from US History classes in high school and college but really paints the scene of how society worked and the motivations that (perhaps) could have been the cause of such an important piece of our history.

This is not what we do on Baseball Trip

I realize this is a bit out of character for this blog (misogyny anyone?) but after getting the September 20th issue of ESPN the magazine (The List Issue) and reading Bill Simmons' tweet about Edge James' favorite strip clubs, I had to make a map. (And no, I haven't forgiven James for 1998). Get Bill's first book: Now I Can Die in Peace, or his second: The Book of Basketball.


View Edge James' favorite Clubs in a larger map

Holy Mother of BSE!

Here it is almost Labor Day and not one single Best Summer Ever post?!?!?!?!?! First off I highly recommend four wheeling in the country. I spent a week in central Illinois and had a blast: cousin's wedding, side trip to Memphis (and Graceland!), a family reunion, and a great drive through the countryside on ATVs. The coolest part was when, after driving through countless fields of corn and soybeans, we came across a shack that was built on stilts because it was next to the Sangamon River (in case of flooding, right?). So this shack is total redneck fishing cabin - no running water, an outhouse, random bones everywhere, no real road to get there, etc. But once we took the ATVs to a sandbar on the river it was amazing. You couldn't see a single hint of civilization, not counting sandy beer cans (even oldies with pull tabs). But this was great because of the sense of history: you see, Abraham Lincoln was the Postmaster General of New Salem, Illinois, not 10 miles up the river. He lived in those parts before becoming a lawyer in Illinois (and getting into that whole politics thing). His first love, Ann Rutledge, is buried in the same cemetery as my grandparents (and great grandparents, and relatives that came from Denmark to the new world). So yeah, that was pretty great.

Also I've been to Vegas a couple times for bachelor parties, been to some weddings (and took the train to one), had a couple of work trips in Salt Lake City, went to the Strawberry Festival in Oxnard (good corndogs and strawberry shortcake bar but big crowds), did a baseball trip to Southern Florida in May (the real start of BSE round these parts), played hooky to see an Angel game on a Wednesday (Ferris Bueller style), and am wrapping up a beach volleyball league.

Makes me tired just thinking about it!