KCRW Examines L.A.'s Eastside/Westside Smackdown

KCRW is wading into Los Angeles' Eastside/Westside battles. According to the station's Which Way LA? blog, the radio show will enter the fray and devote an hour-long episode to our divided city on February 6. Details:

Which is better? The Eastside or the Westside? We want to hear from you and get your comments on air!

Venice, Santa Monica and Malibu used to be synonymous with West Coast creativity, and free-spirited living (think Venice artists, Frank Gehry and the Santa Monica architects, beach-inspired artists/surfers/musicians). But pricey real estate has driven creative Angelenos east, first to Silverlake and Echo Park, then to downtown, Highland Park, Eagle Rock and beyond. This has given rise to strongly held opinions and prejudices among a subset of Angelenos about which side is superior — from the perspective of the arts, multicultural relations, urban living, essential LA-ness and hipster levels relative to New York.

On an hour-long broadcast of Which Way LA?, airing on February 6, we are going to explore this Eastside-Westside rivalry with a knockdown, drag-out fight between listeners and invited guests from both sides of the argument, as well as a few voices from parts of town that are neither Eastside nor Westside and don’t know what the fuss is all about.

You know where our loyalties lie, as we proudly live East of the Los Angeles River and spend much of our weekends in either Eagle Rock or Atwater Village (or, lately, Highland Park). Viva la Eastside! (Well, particularly, Viva la Northeast Side!)

Downtown L.A. and Beyond: A Photo Essay, Part 2

More pics from a recent afternoon driving around Downtown -- including this shot of the Orpheum (above) -- taken from the back.


"Brown-Israel Clothing Company: CLOTHES ON CREDIT."


Fashion district crosswalk


Outside the California Market Center


Skullphone makes it to the East Side -- yes, the *real* East Side.


Tower Theatre


Come for the Hofbrau, stay for the Topless Dancers!


Fine's Foods


The several faces of Sears


Sears Retail Store -- original entrance

Riding the Rails: The Gold Line's Eastside Extension

A few weeks ago, the Franklin Avenue Foursome (yes, including the baby) finally took the full tour of the Metro Gold Line's newly opened Eastside extension. (Hey look -- an actual correct "Eastside" reference!)

The line now continues after Union Station -- past Little Tokyo and on to Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles.

We took a pit stop at Mariachi Plaza to walk around and have a late lunch at La Serenata de Garibaldi; then, it was back on the train, and all the way to Atlantic -- the final stop, in East Los Angeles -- and then back.

A few sights along the way:


Mariachi Plaza


Entrance to the Mariachi Plaza subway stop.


Turnstiles line up at the train stop.


The Gold Line subway tunnel


La Serenata -- possibly the best-known and revered restaurant on the Gold Line in East L.A.


My favorite part of this mural, of course, is the skeleton's moustache.


Jim's in Boyle Heights


Here comes the train... at the underground Mariachi Plaza stop.


Art at the Indiana stop


East L.A. Civic Center stop


All aboard the Gold Line!


Sunset from a Gold Line stop


24-hour King Taco


I love this Metro house ad -- but wish it included one more scene: The moment where the tagger beats the crap out of the tipster, having spotted him making an anonymous call.

This Is What It Takes To Get Everyone to Ride Mass Transit

Apparently, all it takes is free rides -- too bad the Metro wouldn't be able to withstand such an economic model for long.

But just like it has on opening day for all of its lines (including the original portion of the Gold Line in 2003), Metro went fare-free on Sunday to celebrate the launch of the Gold Line extension into the real Eastside.

We got on at our usual Gold Line stop -- the Mission station in South Pasadena -- and realized this may not have been the best idea. We had the baby and stroller, which were tough to navigate on a train packed with riders.

Then, the dealbreaker: As we approached the Chinatown station, a voice informed the crowd that the elevator was broken at Union Station -- and that we'd have to get off there anyway and then reboard the same train going to East L.A.

I guess that was the only fair way to get people on the Gold Line a shot at getting on the train. Otherwise, anyone who didn't board in Pasadena would have been stuck without a seat on the packed trains.



As much as we were interested in checking out the new Metro stops, and perhaps grab a tamale or lunch on the Eastside, it was just too much. The Gold Line extension isn't going anywhere --so we've decided to check it out and plop down a few bucks to ride it in the coming weekends. Piece of mind comes at standard fare.

Instead, it was margarita time (for me) and lunch time for all of us, on Olvera Street.

Introducing... the Gold Line Extension, Opening This Sunday

The Franklin Avenue crew (now four strong!) will be riding the rails this Sunday, taking advantage of the Metro's all-day free entry to the Gold Line.

The long-awaited Gold Line extension to the Eastside now makes it even easier to head over to spots like Boyle Heights and attractions like the Mariachi Plaza (now a stop!) and La Serenata de Garibaldi, one of the best Mexican restaurants in the city.

We're already huge fans of the Gold Line -- we'll frequently take it down to Union Station, for example, for an afternoon strolling around Olvera Street, or for French dips at Philippe's. And of course, the South Pasadena Farmers' Market on Thursday night, located right next to the train stop, is a favorite.

We were also there on day one in 2003, when the Gold Line also offered free rides for its grand opening. Now it's time to celebrate again!

Meanwhile, the always informative Militant Angeleno has put together quite a nifty Guide to the existing, Union Station-to-Sierra Madre portion of the Gold Line. Check it out before hitting the rails on Sunday.

More guides to the new Gold Line extension:

-- Streetsblog takes a tour and review of the new Gold Line extension by bike.

-- The L.A. Times surveys the eating options along the Gold Line.

And here's the official Metro site on the extension.