Thrillist LA briefly posted an article by Alexandra Cheney called UNPOPULAR OPINION: THE SUBWAY TO SAMO IS A BAD IDEA. It was pulled, but a cache of the article was found, and I was able to jot down some notes.
The article, with my notes, after the jump.
As a born and bred Santa Monica local, I’m skeptical about the $1.5 billion, 6.6-mile extension of the Expo Line, which just arrived in what used to be my semi-private quiet beachside hamlet (well, OK, that may be a bit nostalgic) last week. Yes, I voted for the metro enlargement; I’ve always loved the idea of exploring Los Angeles by rail.
“semi-private quiet beachside hamlet”? How old are you? Were you born on a Spanish land grant? Do you have a Philosopher’s Stone?
But the idea has run perpendicular to the execution for me.
The arrival of the metro marks the first time that passenger trains have traveled the 15 miles between Downtown Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean in nearly 65 years — and I think we can all agree, a lot has changed in LA since the early 1950s, including an influx of crime in areas that seemed at one time to be totally safe.
I know what you’re thinking – there’s no way this is going to get racist. Also, Santa Claus totally exists.
There’s no question that this new train is going to be bringing new people to Santa Monica — and that raises the possibility of crime, accidents, and the pitfalls of mass amounts of tourists with access to a part of the city that was at least geographically difficult to access before.
Difficult to access? There are roads. There are busses. There’s an airport. There’s a fucking freeway that goes from Florida right to the pier. You’re not living in Maccu Piccu.
And once I started really looking into it, I started rethinking my “yay” vote.
First-off, a week before the line even opened, there was an underreported “train vs. car collision,” on the new stretch of track. Residents’ public safety is a major concern even without the new perils the train’s bringing in; this is just one in a potential sea of traffic disasters that could come from bringing the train through a new, highly populated area of people not used to Metro-style transportation. And if you thought that one accident was an outlier, well, think again: literally the first workday the new stops were open for business, a drunk driver crashed through the gate and onto the tracks. Luckily no one was hurt, but come on — it’s only a matter of time.
On 5/23, Santa Monica police responed to 12 traffic accidents. That’s 12 in an 8.5 square mile piece of land in one 24 hour period. But no, you’re right: Trains are clearly the dangerous ingredient here, not drunk people who drive their car through a fence onto train tracks. Yeah, there was a fence there. And the train’s path is marked by train tracks. Not being used to train travel, I’ll help you out – train tracks look exactly like those things that trains travel on.
And that’s not even mentioning overcrowding — which could lead to an increase in crime. And before you cry “privilege,” it’s not just me that’s worried about this. Santa Monica’s city manager Rick Cole says he’s expecting 4,000-8,000 new people per day to flood in via train; this first weekend, we saw a massive influx of people via the new train cars. If that didn’t worry the city, then why has the Santa Monica Police Department added nearly a dozen officers, and why is it looking to add another dozen?
I don’t know, maybe because it’s summer and people are going to want to use the beach?
The department has reconfigured its beats, or areas of patrol, based, in part, on the increased traffic expected from the new train — and according to Saul Rodriguez, a lieutenant for the Santa Monica Police Department media relations team — the two crimes police are most expecting to increase are bike and car burglaries, followed by a rise in traditional traffic accidents as well as train to car accidents.
I’m sorry, the influx of people ON A TRAIN is going to increase the number of traditional traffic accidents? I’m not a smart person (wait, yes I am), but this is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read.
And once again, let’s blame the train for the train-to-car accidents instead of the cars that have to go out of their way to hit a train.
I don’t know about you, but if they’d told me that in the first place, I’m not so sure I would have signed up.
Not only that, but there’s proof that the trains have assisted in crimes in other parts of the city. I talked to Detective Sergeant Robert Bartl of the South Pasadena Police Department, and he told me, although he lacks any “hard stats that would show the train has brought in more crime,” his department has apprehended several alleged criminals, who, when questioned, admitted the Gold Line — which opened in 2003 between DTLA and Pasadena — played a part in their crimes.
There are no hard stats? That’s ok, you can include it anyway. After all, you’re an honest-to-God journalist. You’re like if Woodward and Bernstein had a three-way with Nelly Bly.
The Expo Line terminates at 4th St and Colorado. That’s directly across the street from the Santa Monica Place, the heart of Downtown Santa Monica. With a route loosely mirroring that of the 10 Freeway, Expo Line officials say the full line will handle an average of 64,000 boardings by 2030. At present, the beginning piece of the line from Culver City to Downtown Los Angeles clocks about 30,000 boardings per day.
30,000 boardings in a metropolitan area of 13 million people? That’s .23%! I need to start digging a bomb shelter!
That’s a lot of people from a lot of places who didn’t previously have easy access to Santa Monica. And that makes the “what if” possibilities that much more frightening.
What are the “What if” possibilities? Really, I need you to spell this out for me. You do this shit for a living. You’re not allowed to just say, “Shit may happen” without detailing what specific shit may happen. That’s not journalism, That’s not even good writing.
Of course, there’s another side of the equation, too.
Oh, the “You’re a racist who’s afraid of everything” side?
“The public perception is, you open a new transit station, you bring along more crime,” says Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, a professor of urban planning at UCLA as well as the Associate Dean of the School of Public Affairs, Urban Planning. But according to Loukaitou-Sideris’ decades of research, “crime doesn’t travel. You’re not going to see any stolen big screen TVs on the train.”
Touche. But if crime doesn’t travel, how about those Gold Line criminals?
You mean the ones with no data to support them? I’m guessing they live in Journalistic Irresponsibility Land. It’s near Larchmont.
They could be handy outliers but personally, I’m voting that’s not the case. I get it, Los Angeles wants easier access to the beach. I certainly don’t need to sit in anymore traffic either. But what’s the cost?
To you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Your life will be in no more danger than it was before. Your ability to lay out on the beach will be no more difficult than it was before. Your time spent in traffic will be no more interminable than it was before.
To people who live inland and don’t have cars? They’ll get to see the beach. They’ll get to buy $7 sunglasses at a stand on the boardwalk. They’ll be able to get terrible fried clams at Bubba Gump. They’ll be able to see independent movies at the Laemmle’s on 2nd. They’ll have the ability to take day trips without dealing with the bus. They’ll get to enjoy all of the things you’ve been trying to hoard.
The train seemed like a good idea at the start — but now that it’s finally here, I’m just not that sure anymore.
That’s just because you’re a fucking idiot.
