I started my new job in Downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. I am working at an elite firm that does both Federal and State Criminal and Civil matters. Four former federal prosecutors, a former District Attorney, a former Public Defender, and several litigation specialists round out the attorneys. They are also great people. The casual atmosphere is a relief after hearing horror stories about what law firms can be like.
On Tuesday, I drove there. The traffic was awful – typical of what you hear about Los Angeles. This is really the first time I have encountered it in the total 4 years I have lived in Los Angeles. I know there is bad traffic – that’s common in every decent sized city in the world. Portland was just as bad at rush hour, if not worse, through some of the more congested areas like the Sylvan pass. But the idea of spending 3 hours (round trip) in that every day, accelerating and braking, was just insane. So I decided to take public transportation (Yeah, I know, this is Los Angeles.)
I got up early on Wednesday and went to the grocery store just down the street from my home. I bought a pass that lets me ride on both the bus, the train, the DASH (a downtown transportation bus), and a dozen other bus lines. For $70. And my office reimbursed me. Versus wear and tear on my car, $3.50 a gallon for gas, the stress, and the fact that we only have one car so my wife wouldn’t be able to go anywhere during the week. My company would have been paying $260 a month for parking so $70 for a bus pass benefits them as well. Plus it is good for the environment.
I caught a bus at 6:40 and transferred to the train/subway at about 7:05 am. I was off that and walking around downtown by 7:30. I went straight to my office since I wasn’t sure how far it was away. It is on Bunker Hill in the Bank of America building. It is a pretty steep hill. According to Wikipedia, Angel’s Flight is a:
landmark funicular railway in the Bunker Hill district of downtown Los Angeles, California, which claims to be the “shortest railway in the world”. The funicular has operated on two slightly different sites, using the same cars. The first Angels Flight operated from 1901 until it was closed in 1969 when its location was redeveloped. The second reopened nearby in 1996, and closed again in 2001 after a serious accident. The second funicular still exists but does not operate, and it is scheduled to reopen in Summer 2007
I climbed the steps to the left on this defunct railway and my thighs were killing me. They are a little to short from step to step, which just isn’t right. My office is a block past those towers in the rear of the picture.
There are tons of stairs, cool buildings, fountains, and other things throughout downtown. I’d always heard downtown LA sucked, but I have to disagree. It is very interesting. And pedestrian friendly.
It probably is dead at night and on the weekends but it is alive and exciting at lunchtime. I’ve walked around the Civic Center where the courthouse is, where the concert halls are, other buildings, impressive fountains, other things. I’ll take the camera and take pictures at some point. I’ve walked down through the Central Library. Over the the Macy’s shopping district. It is pretty amazing.
My commute on the train is pleasant. It is clean and quiet, I have always gotten a seat, there has only been one delay, and it comes every ten minutes so I hardly have to wait. My commute from the train home on the bus is pretty slow — lots of traffic on Ventura — but since I am reading or writing it isn’t a big deal.
All in all this is a great change. I miss my wife and kids though. So I’ll write more when they are asleep or at work. Later.
