The Bus Bench

How to ride the bus to South Central.

Every time people bring up South LA or as I call South Central it’s always some miserable slice of life that’s brought up.

I was just reading in the LA Times how kids in South LA are depressed. In the homicide blog I read how people get shot on a regular basis. On LAist on the neighborhood project the editors couldn’t even be bothered to get out of their moving vehicles to take pictures of the graffiti.

But South Central isn’t actually horrible. There are some horrible aspects, but South Central isn’t horrible 24/7 or even 12/4.

South Central is quite entertaining.

A press release from Damien Goodmon of Fix Expo

From Damien Goodmon of FixExpo.org

SOUTH LA LEFT OUT ONCE AGAIN AS MTA INCREASES EXPO LINE BUDGET $54 MILLION

On the same day the MTA increased the Expo Line budget $54 million for an overpass in Culver City, a South LA community group announced they're going to court represented by Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal.

Los Angeles, CA – On Thursday April 24th, the MTA Board voted to increase the Expo Line budget by $54 million for a Culver City overpass, increasing the project budget to $862 million dollars for the 8.5-mile light rail line from Downtown LA to Culver City.  $4 million of the $54 million came from the City of Culver City, while the remaining $50 million came from State Proposition 1B, the $19 billion transportation bond that was passed by voters in November of 2006.  $218 million of the bond has gone towards the increase in the Expo Line budget, which was just $640 million six months ago.

"Prop 1B is the same resource we've been requesting MTA go after for grade separations in South LA since the day the bond was passed, yet they keep telling us there's no money," said Damien Goodmon, the Coordinator of the South LA community group the Citizens' Campaign to Fix the Expo Rail Line.

"They found the money for the Figueroa underpass at USC and they found the money for overpasses in Culver City," said Carol Tucker of the Baldwin Neighborhood Homeowners.  "They find the money for everything and everywhere except South LA.  Have they no shame?"

Do you not have a car? I want to interview you.

I'm moving AGAIN!!! I get annoyed and have to be somewhere else. I don't know what that is.

I think I'm a nomadic person.

I'm probably only saying that owing to a recent article I read in my favorite magazine the Economist. There was the article on people who just wandered around working from Blackberries, not developing personal relatinships, but having more time.

I don't know if this is good or bad, but I never was a team player, so this works for me.

I keep my life simple by not owning anything, except a retirement plan, because one of things I fear is having to eat dog food when I get old. I tasted it, it's very salty.

I saw the movie Heat in high school and unfortunately this movie had a big impact on me, probably because I moved all over the place as a kid and lived with all various types of relatives in various countries.

I lived in Canada, the UK, India, and of course here, anyways in this movie Robert Deniro's character said this:

""Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."

For some reason I thought that was a great way to live life. To me having to upkeep a car would seem to keep you more trapped. A car seems to give you freedom, but actually it doesn't.

If you had to move across state you'd have to get it registred and get a new license.

If I move I don't have to do anything.

Anyways...I'm not into putting up just whatever, so did this post have a point???

Yes!!!

I want to link and interview everyone in LA who has a blog, but doesn't own a car. I don't care what political slant you are or if we got into online, if you don't own a car email me and I'll link you and we'll talk.

There's going to be a little special section for you on this blog.

But you can't own a car. You can't have access to a car by a significant other. You have to be carfree, like X-rated car free, which means completely naked of a car. No, "but I eat fish" car people.

browne@shametrainla.com

You can survive in LA without a car. Seriously.

Grosses bises,

Browne Molyneux