Los Angeles Union Station and environs

[Cal H]

@joelkfla & @Traveller - I can't thank you enough for this heads up. I've put it on our itinerary and am really looking forward to it.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

LA City Hall also has a nifty open-air observatory up on top.
https://californiathroughmylens.com/la-observation-deck/

When I tried to visit the "observatory was closed." and the lady at the security desk was in no mood to give me any information on why it was closed or when it would reopen. Not sure if it was just that day, just that week, etc.

As has already been mentioned, the area around city hall is in pretty rough shape with lots of homeless. Was the same at Angels Flight railway but they were open and running. I loved Angels Flight - so much charm and history!

 

[Cal H]

That’s disappointing news C-Z, how long ago were you there?
A quick search on the net tells me that it sure isn’t promoted…

 

[Cal H]

That’s dissapointing news C-Z, how long ago were you there?

 

[crescent-zephyr]

That’s disappointing news C-Z, how long ago were you there?
A quick search on the net tells me that it sure isn’t promoted…

It was either last summer, or the summer before that. I was in LA both times, can't remember when I walked over to City Hall.

 

[Cal H]

We’ll be there in mid-Sept. Will post an update

 

[joelkfla]

I was there in Feb. 2023. The problem may be that you have to go thru the ceremonial room one floor below to get to the observatory, and when that room is in use or being prepped for press or other events, the deck is not accessible.

 

[Asher]

Los Angeles isn’t a walking city. Check out the Roosevelt Hotel across from Graumens (TCL)Chinese Theater. Hollywood forever cemetery is another interesting place to visit. The area around Crypto arena at night Is alive when their’s a function going on.
Uber

 

[railiner]

Denver (DUS) was real bad due to open drug use and homeless particularly in the lower level bus concourse luckily it has improved a bit. The station is nice though.

What period was that? I worked there from 1979-1989, and even though the area at the time was mostly a depressed area, we kept out the homeless, and didn’t have any open drug user’s or other loiterers.
If they did enter, they were quickly ushered out.
Since you mentioned the lower level bus concourse, it had to be long after I left…

 

[Willbridge]

What period was that? I worked there from 1979-1989, and even though the area at the time was mostly a depressed area, we kept out the homeless, and didn’t have any open drug user’s or other loiterers.
If they did enter, they were quickly ushered out.
Since you mentioned the lower level bus concourse, it had to be long after I left…

When the bus concourse opened in 2013, we had it set up so that it could be closed for a couple of hours in the night. This allowed for thorough cleaning and prevented move-ins. There were few problems.

Two subsequent changes resulted in the bus concourse being open 24 hours:

1.) swapping Rte 15 which has owl service for Rte 15Ltd which did not.
2.) moving Greyhound into the bus concourse (which gave an excuse for sleeping on the floor).

Then the city rousted campers from Civic Center Park on the other end of the 16th Street Mall and the pandemic resulted in a sharp drop of actual customers. So, in effect everything was done that could be done to create a bad situation. A further complication was that the homeless resented "their" lifestyle being interrupted by transit passengers when the pandemic eased up.

After the problems became notorious, security and police were beefed up. The city has put efforts into dealing with the homeless issue. I have used the bus concourse without problems before, during and after the pandemic. Most recently, children were playing in the fountain on the Wynkoop plaza. There are still problem people around there, however.

 

[BCL]

I'm sure it depends on specific areas - for me SF seems about like any other major city like New York, Chicago, etc. - LA seems way worse. But of course, down in Anaheim by Disney and the convention center, it's fine.

I've been there with the family or just the kiddo. Never felt unsafe, but man it can get interesting. Have taken the Metro 460 a few times between Anaheim and DTLA. Three times going north and once going south.

But I remember there being vagrants using the ART bus shelters to sleep. Never saw that at the Metro bus shelters, which weren't set up where anyone could lie down.

 

[BCL]

Perhaps it was this link, and thank goodness for the Wayback Machine. Click on "California" for L.A.: http://web.archive.org/web/20190304054014/http://www.harveyhouses.net/

I remember there was a restaurant that called itself "Harvey House" in Sacramento. It was in Old Sacramento across the street from the California State Railroad Museum but wasn't affiliated with it in any way. It wasn't open for long, but was trying to evoke that era with period uniforms. At the time it was open, I saw a Groupon style coupon for maybe a $20 value for $10, but didn't get it. I went to Old Sacramento a few times a year, but that would have been worthless after it closed. Not sure who was giving them a review in 2019 as they'd closed in the summer of 2012. But they were only open for about 4 months.

https://www.sacramentopress.com/2012/04/05/new-restaurant-serves-families-in-old-sacramento/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/harvey-house-sacramento-2
https://www.cowtowneats.com/2012/08/daily-dining-news-rip-harvey-house-in-old-sac.html

One of their employees posed with a kid in period style costume in front of the museum.