Between L.A. & DLR By Rail?

[mikedoyleblogger]

So long story short, has anyone done the trip by rail between L.A. and DLR and how did it go? We'll be spending a long weekend at DLR in late summer, and we plan to take one day to head up to L.A. and tour potential neighborhoods (we'll be moving to the area next spring.) Our home base for the whole trip will be GCH. The plan is to take ART to the Anaheim Amtrak/Metrolink station, Amtrak to Union Station, and then Metro to go exploring. (Basically Pasadena, Los Feliz, and Hollywood via the Gold Line, Red Line, and 780 Rapid bus.) On paper this seems totally doable and affordable as long as we give it an entire day. For background's sake, I'm from NYC and my partner and I currently live in Chicago, so traveling across a region on bus and rail is second nature to us. I'm interested in getting others' take on this. Many thanks in advance!

 

[Disney Dreams]

So long story short, has anyone done the trip by rail between L.A. and DLR and how did it go? We'll be spending a long weekend at DLR in late summer, and we plan to take one day to head up to L.A. and tour potential neighborhoods (we'll be moving to the area next spring.) Our home base for the whole trip will be GCH. The plan is to take ART to the Anaheim Amtrak/Metrolink station, Amtrak to Union Station, and then Metro to go exploring. (Basically Pasadena, Los Feliz, and Hollywood via the Gold Line, Red Line, and 780 Rapid bus.) On paper this seems totally doable and affordable as long as we give it an entire day. For background's sake, I'm from NYC and my partner and I currently live in Chicago, so traveling across a region on bus and rail is second nature to us. I'm interested in getting others' take on this. Many thanks in advance!

So... your subject line has one question and your post has a different one. I will answer both.

LA to DLR via rail is easy. You seem to have that part figured out. The Pacific Surfliner from Union Station to Angels Stadium (Anaheim Amtrak station) and then ART --- or a short taxi ride --- to go across town to DLR. It's about a 45 minute train ride.

As for touring around Pasadena, Hollywood, Los Feliz without a car... that seems a bit daunting and very timely, BUT I have never done that part with public transportation. I've lived in So. Cal. almost my entire life and would never try it, to be honest. I would say look online at the public transport timetables and map, but the real question to me would be: Will you really be able to see what you want? Do you want to go into various neighborhoods? Do you just want to see the major streets/routes? Do you want to check out specific houses? Shops? Schools? I might suggest renting a car from Union Station to tour around and take the train to and from LA/DLR.

HTH some,
Dreams

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Thanks for the response! Sorry about that, I didn't really mean to end up with two questions in the post. I know the Metro part is feasible. I was more curious if the ART/Surfliner trip was easy or awful, if that makes sense. We deliberately don't want to rent a car because I don't drive (my partner does) and we want to build how I would experience L.A. as a transit rider into our exploration of potential neighborhoods.

 

[sheetz]

You might want to listen to the April 24 podcast where the host uses Amtrak to get to LA Union Station so he can catch the Megabus to Vegas.
http://www.disunplugged.com/2014/04/24/dis-unplugged-podcast-042414-disneyland-show/

 

[LisaT91403]

I have lived in the Los Angeles area since I was a young child, and I can tell you that it's very difficult not to have a car in LA. It's a car city. Public transportation is the opposite of the way it should be -- slow, cumbersome, and inconvenient. I often look at schedules because I think it would be fun to take my son somewhere via bus or train. Once I do the research, I inevitably abandon my plans because it would simply take too long to reach the destination.

For example, I used to work with someone who needed to do a 19-mile commute to work. We lived in the same neighborhood. With LA traffic, it took me 30 minutes (sometimes 35 on a bad day) to get to work in the morning. It took my co-worker 2 hrs and 40 minutes on the bus. No joke. He gave up, and asked me to carpool

Having said that, I am not a public transportation person here in LA. When I visit NYC or San Francisco, I'm all about public transportation...but not here. I suppose it can be done, especially if you are just going to work and back (and you live near where you work).

Just my two cents

 

[zanzibar138]

FWIW I think it's a great idea doing your research visit on public transport, especially if you will be relying on it once you live there. Sometimes I find a neighbourhood can look nice out of a car window, but sometimes it's a whole different vibe once you get out into it.

 

[tstidm1]

I say the best way to take a look at how to get there after you get to Union Station is by using metro.net (LA Metro's website). The Gold and Red Lines meet at Union station. Do some trip routing through their website. Gold line will take you to Pasadena, but I don't know which buses connect there. LA transit system isn't Chicago's, but from what I heard is better than it used to be. I've used it once and it was pretty decent in my experience with it.