If you want to have your say in the renaming of the Blue Line Transit Mall Station to the Downtown Long Beach Station, attend the service council meeting this Thursday or write in to servicecouncils@metro.net.
Here’s the press release from Metro with more information:
The Metro Gateway Cities Service Council will receive a presentation, and accept public comment, on the potential renaming of the Blue Line ‘Transit Mall’ Station to the ‘Downtown Long Beach Station.’ The Service Council meeting will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 11 at Salt Lake Park Community Center, located at 3401 East Florence Avenue in Huntington Park.
The City of Long Beach has requested the new station name following a community survey they conducted. Metro’s station naming policy includes a procedure for seeking community input on station names, and requires that any changes to an existing station name be authorized by a two-thirds vote of Metro’s Board of Directors. Metro’s Board will be presented with this request for information purposes only later this month. They could act on the request as soon as their September meeting.
Jon Hillmer, Director of Metro’s Regional Service Councils, is hopeful that the public will attend and participate in this meeting. “We are always appreciative of the public’s comments on Metro service and programs. The Service Councils present an excellent opportunity for the public to share their thoughts and ideas about Metro, and we welcome the public’s involvement and thoughts about the proposed new station name. If anyone cannot attend this meeting, but would like to comment on the proposed station name, they are welcome to submit comments in writing by e-mailing to servicecouncils@metro.net.”
The Metro Gateway Cities Service Council is one of five Metro Service Councils representing different regions of Los Angeles County. The other four Service Councils represent the regions of: San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, South Bay, and Westside/Central.
Metro Service Councils review and take action on staff recommendations for service modifications, receive public input on Metro bus and rail service, conduct public hearings, evaluate Metro bus programs, and make policy recommendations to the Metro Board about service in the area they represent. For more information about Metro’s Service Councils, visit their website http://www.metro.net/about/local-service-councils/.
Categories: Feedback, Policy & Funding
I have always wondered where the Gold Line’s terminus “Atlantic Station” is.
Is there an area called Atlantic that I don’t know? Or is it that Atlantic Blvd in SGV… so is it San Gabriel, Monterey Park, East LA or something else?
Even with knowledge of the region, I still can’t figure out what the heck the “Atlantic Station” really is.
This ain’t “wayfinding.”
There are so many station names that need to be changed. Anaheim Station, anyone? How about changing “Long Beach Boulevard” to “Lynwood,” and “Lakewood Boulevard” to “Downey?”
There really needs to be a better way and some form of standardization WHERE THE TAXPAYERS AND THE COMMUNITY has the ABSOLUTE FINAL say in naming stations, not Metro Board and their political friends. As it stands today, there is nothing like that.
Why is Wilshire/Western/[insert some obscure politician’s name no one has ever heard of] Station named after an intersection instead of being called something more obvious like Koreatown Station?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know, we know, “there’s several Koreatown Stations, blah-blah-blah” excuse whatever that Metro constantly tries to use in order to shove the issue aside.
Rename Wilshire/Western/[some politician’s name] Station to Koreatown West then, and the other Koreatown Central and Koreatown East. Problem solved. Sheesh. What’s so difficult about that?
And in very sharp constrast, why is Little Tokyo station named after an area instead of being called after an intersection like Alameda/Temple?
Who really has the final say that Koreatown stations should be named after intersections rather than the regional area versus that Little Tokyo will be named after the area instead of an intersection? Does a guy sitting in an office at Metro just draw paper out of a hat?
So if the Regional Connector is built and Little Tokyo gets another station on 1st/Central, will the two stations be called Little Tokyo West and Little Tokyo East respectively? Or will it become 1st/Central and Alameda/Temple? Who sets the standard of station naming conventions? There’s like little to no serious approach from Metro to the community and the voters who are paying for this, and instead, seem to just leave the real station name and constant changes up to themselves and their political backscratching buddies.
Metro, from past articles about station names, you’ve already figured out that people hate politicians’ names on stations and that naming stations after intersections is a stupid idea that does not reflect the regionality of the area the stations are serving. Names like Wilshire/Western are dumb when Koreatown West or West Koreatown does the job fine and most people actually want it that way.
I hope Metro takes these seriously because we’re the ones that are actually paying out of our taxes taken out of our paychecks for these stations.
How much tax dollars do we keep wasting whenever there’s a station name change?
Pick one and stick to it. These things aren’t free you know!
May I suggest we alter the entire Blue Line name to the Don Knabe Memorial Line? Yeah!
(and if Metro doesn’t see through the sarcasms that people here are sick of politicians’ names on stations and lines like political remembrances, they are clearly out of touch with the public)
Can I play?? Sunset/Vermont should be Los Feliz Station. I’d like to see Koreatown East, Koreatown Central and Koreatown West, but Wilshire/Vermont/Normandie/Western aren’t too difficult 🙂
Maybe with some improved pedestrian/bike connections, Santa Monica/Vermont can be renamed Silver Lake Station. I just like place names more than intersection names.
I agree with the change. Good idea.
I agree that better naming on the Silver Line is needed if Metro wants to market transitways as “rail equivalents” on the Go Metro map. Silver Line stations should follow a similar naming standard to the rail system, meaning that one or both “Slauson” stations should be renamed as should the ambiguously named Harbor Fwy Station.
Despite the naming practices in Chicago, I think it’s generally a bad idea to have duplicate names for stations. While it may not bother frequent transit users, it can prove quite perplexing for casual riders and tourists alike. There are many intersections and micro-neighborhoods in Los Angeles offering myriad options for naming stations. 🙂
Hmm. The only downside to the change is that it might be construed to mean that it’s the only stop in downtown Long Beach, when in fact, First, Pacific, and Fifth are certainly also in downtown, and so, arguably, is Anaheim, and maybe even PCH.
As to there being two Slauson stations on two different lines, well, (1) one is a bus stop, while the other is a trolley stop, and (2) the CTA “L” system has no problem with confusion even though it has multiple repeated station names (e.g., “Chicago” on the Red Line is at Chicago Ave. and State St, while “Chicago” on the brown line [and the Purple, when it’s running all the way to the Loop] is at Chicago Ave. and Franklin St., and “Chicago” on the Blue Line is about a mile West, where Chicago Ave., Ogden Ave., and Milwaukee Ave. come together; there are also multiple “Grand,” Addison, Western, Kedzie, and Pulaski [4!] “L” stations).
Since some transit aresa are named after politicians (e.g. Kenneth Hahn station and Tom Bradley terminal), how about calling it the HUEY LONG BEACH station?
What about renaming the Slauson Silver line station? According to the system map, there are currently two Slauson stations?
^ And while we’re at it, does anyone know how the Lincoln/Cypress Station got its current name? If I recall correctly, it used to be more accurately called Lincoln Heights/Cypress Park Station. “Lincoln/Cypress” sounds like a intersection that doesn’t really exist.
Along with the move to the “Downtown Santa Monica” station name, I think this is a great idea. “Transit Mall” station is a touch on the vague side, unless there’s some mystery shopping mall in LB that sells only transportation-related goods. 🙂