It’s A Challenge To Take the LA Metro Train To Party In Los Angeles

Lack Of Public Transportation Makes It Difficult To Be Partying In Other Beach Cities

There’s a lot of partying to be had in Los Angeles. It’s just getting to it all that is the trick.

L.A. has to be the biggest city in the world with the worst public transportation. You can’t go anywhere, really, that’s out of your own neighborhood.  And that’s a shame, because I like to get out of the “South Bay bubble” as we call it, to go play in other parts of L.A. I wish Los Angeles had a better train and public transportation system.

What I like about taking a train is that I can do anything I like, alcohol wise, after I arrive. I don’t have to worry about driving. I can go to an event, drink beers, go to any neighboring bars that get a post-event party crowd, or to check out other bars in different places.

It’s okay in L.A., I suppose, if you live in Pasadena because you can get to downtown and even Hollywood with relative ease (but how late at night, and how safe!?).  From the South Bay Beach Cities of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach to anywhere else by public transportation is a major undertaking.

You have to plan it out as if you are going backpacking through Europe. And that is checking timetables, figuring out transfers, trying (uselessly, as it always turns out)  to time the train departures and arrivals to connecting buses, planning the return. You are also likely to spend at least as much time traveling as you spend at the destination.

And you had better be back before dark because the train either goes through Watts or Compton, depending if you are going north to downtown or south to Long Beach. If you are not familiar with Los Angeles, suffice to say Watts and Compton are not exactly places you want to get out and take a stroll around the neighborhood. No matter which way you are headed,  you have to get off the train and change platforms in Watts.

What the city needs is a train – or a monorail – that goes parallel along PCH to hit the beach cites. It should go from Santa Monica to Newport Beach and it should have just one stop in the each beach city. It should also operate on nightlife hours, not business hours. That is to say noon to 3 a.m.

Then, and only then, can Los Angeles claim to be a world-class city.

Oh, and while we’re at it, expand last call to 3 a.m., from this ridiculous 2 a.m.