Somewhat understandably, there has been a lot of attention focused lately on the return of rail service to a certain city-by-the-sea. While that is a very exciting thing, there are also some other communities that are very pleased to have a new Expo Line stop.
One of them is Palms, which is part of the city of Los Angeles and is the neighborhood north of Culver City and south of the Santa Monica Freeway. The neighborhood is heavily residential, with many apartments, and is now an easy train ride to downtown L.A. (31 minutes), West Los Angeles (six to nine minutes) and Santa Monica (11 to 16 minutes). There is also connecting bus service to Culver City and — significantly — up the hill to Century City.
The very good location and the upcoming Expo Line are two reasons that Palms’ is already being targeted by those looking for a new place to live, as well as developers. Palms has also seen a resurgence in its business district, which is centered around Motor Avenue and National Boulevard, a .4-mile walk from the new Expo Line station at Palms and National. The area is part of Los Angeles’ Great Streets effort and has a nice pair of parklets, a community garden and Woodbine Park, which includes a playground.
“For a long time Palms had been a through way between Fox and Sony. It got to the point where a lot of us in the community said we want to have an impact,” said Lee Wallach, director of the Motor Avenue Improvement Assn. “This is one of the densest parts of Los Angeles and we wanted to have more of a sense of place. We’ve been surprised to see how much passion people have for Palms.”
Palms will be hosting one of the station celebrations on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — expect a very big crowd. There is also a popular farmer’s market every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Motor and National.
Here is a Google map to help you get around — zoom for more detail and to see all businesses in the area. If you live in the area or are a frequent visitor, please feel free to leave drink and food recommendations.
Categories: Go Metro
I don’t see the stations marked on this map!
Yeah, Google Maps isn’t doing a good job of updating their transit layer. They still don’t show the Gold Line Foothill extension, even though that has been open for nearly three months.
I lived in Palms last year (on Keystone) and was really looking forward to the new line opening. Sadly, a new job took me out of Los Angeles entirely. But I’m happy that the neighborhood will finally have the transit options it so deserves, that I didn’t get the chance to enjoy.
Steve:
I believe that the Palms Expo Line station seems to be the ONLY one in the entire Metro rail system that has TWO (2) mutually ADJACENT elevators at a single end of the platform?!
The Coop pizzeria across the street from Palms station is good. One of those place “that’s been there since time began. El Nopal on Motor is also a well know Mexican eatery since 1974
Thanks Russ! It is always good to chronicle TOMF; transit oriented Mexican food!
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
The owners of Coop were very anti-rail, given the numerous distractions and forced early closing times due to rail construction activities. Let’s hope increased business from the station changes their minds.