Commuting, II

(Reprint -somewhat modified- of an article I posted on CV some time ago.)

You join me in part two of my journey from home to work. Part I, together with some of my reasons for doing this, can be found here. See that post for links to public transport resources too.

We pick up the journey just after we passed another food stand serving tasty morsels. We’re still on Sunset (which by the way has a cycle lane for a long way), in the heart of Silver Lake now, and there’s a slight hill up towards the neighbourhood called Echo Park, just before which we’ll do our turn onto a useful side street (there are so many in this city, which is why the complaint that cycling is dangerous can be tackled a bit – you can choose to avoid a lot of the worst stuff – it does not grant you immunity, but it can help manage your vigilance a bit better). Immediately turning the corner we glimpse one of the many interesting gardens that so many people have. In fact, I could do you a whole garden tour using the route I take when I walk to the busstop if for some reason I’m not cycling. We’ll pass many more of these, along with lovely trees, etc. I won’t include any more photos, or we’ll have to do a part III and IV.

I like to pause and smugly look at the 101 freeway as I cycle over it. Annoyingly, it is not at a standstill as I took this photo, so the photo is not dramatic. Ok, I’ll come clean here: it seldom is at a standstill. What people tell you about traffic in LA is in fact over-exaggerated, most times. Try driving near London or many other major European cities and you’ll know what I mean. Traffic is not the (only) reason I choose to use public transport (and cycle). One reason is simply that if we don’t use what is there, it will never get better. We’ve got to make a start on learning about real alternatives to cars, etc., for a host or reasons – the environmental one being one of them. Further, cyclists should simply not give control of the road to motorists. We have a legal right to a lane on the road when we want it, and should not be forced onto the sidewalk, or into our cars. How will drivers learn this if we don’t cycle? I’ll say more about this in an upcoming post.

If I come by here in the evening, I’m always amused to see people pulling up and getting out in all their finery for some sort of fun night out at the local night club. This one is just a doorway. I’ve not been to any of these. I passed a lot of these on Sunset too, but I did not take any pictures. There’s another neighbourhood nursery of some sort (right). Everybody seems happy.

Oh! They’re resurfaced this lovely stretch of Rampart. It is an excellent and wide road, quite safe for cyclists (official cycle route in fact). Hang on, I’m going to coast down this lovely bit of road… I like this apartment building (right; just before the left turn onto Wilshire Blvd. I don’t know why.

Ok, here’s something you know: MacArthur Park. You know how it goes:

Mac Arthur’s Park is melting in the dark
all the sweet green icing flowing down

someone left the cake out in the rain
I don’t think that I can take it
’cause it took so long to bake it
and I’ll never have that recipe again
Oh, nooo!

If you know what that means, please let me know. (Btw, I’m thinking of the Donna Summer version, not the Richard Harris, version, ok?!) Lovely park. See families out there a lot. Yeah, sure, people will instead tell you about the drug dealers and such. I see families too (and the installation of video cameras has apparenly really changed it a lot too); kids feeding the ducks, etc. I’ll be boring and tell you about the good stuff for a change.

There’s a red line subway stop here, by the way. You can stop here and take the 200 bus a short way to USC if you’re near a red line subway stop, or within a bus ride of one. Swing around the park, right onto Alvarado (which later feeds into Hoover)… there are several blocks chock a block with people going here and there on their business. Yep, there’s a lot of walking about in some parts of LA, despite what you’re told. There’s any number of interesting store fronts and things all jumbled together here. I was playing tag with a bus and so did not take any photos, I realize now… (There are also several wonderful murals and other public art – see here for photos.)

Well, I’ll skip out some interesting bits here and there. We come pretty quickly to the Adams district now, and one of the main features is that there are fantastic craftsman houses of various sorts. I ought to do a tour of this ‘hood for you some time, for this is the very neighbourhood that people talk about when they tell you how dangerous USC is supposed to be. It is mostly ignorant twaddle. Sure there’s some crime -it is a city- but it is not the war zone people will have you believe. In the ‘hood are more excellent places to eat (e.g., Lucy’s), and you can even get your teeth looked after (I love that sign: Adams Family Dentistry)…

The cafe coverage is not as great as SilverLake, Echo Park and Los Feliz, but there are some nice things, such as the 29th Street cafe, where we sometimes take speakers for a beer. There’s a Starbucks, of course. (Won’t bother with a picture…) It is part of a whole shopping centre the university owns, which has a movie theatre, an international food court, and other things.

And then I am there … on campus. There are other cyclists, lots of activity, lovely trees, lovely people (faculty and students alike). Ah, yes, USC, where I work.

Thanks for joining me on the journey to work. Not so bad, eh? Not once did I come close to getting run over (this time, you say), it was rather interesting and colourful, and I got here a bit faster than if I’d used the bus, actually. Most times I cycle to the bus stop and take the bus most of the way to work (another route). That way I can read, and get to work fresh as a daisy. Ocassionally, I just want to see what’s going on in the various neighbourhoods for a bit of a change. Either way, I get to see real life on the way to work. I hope that you now agree that at street level, LA’s not so bad. (Maybe some time I’ll include more actual people in the photos – I don’t like sticking cameras in people’s faces you see – especially when I stand out like a sore thumb on an unusual-looking bike. Hard to be discrete.)

-cvj