I lived in Long Beach (South LA) for a year and I don't remember my apartment very much. I do remeber all the time wasted in traffic and on the blue line.
LA has a pretty serious subwaytrain that is 95% above ground. I acutally chose to live in LA because I wanted to live on a beach where a subway/train could take me into the city quickly was within walking distance.
Unfortunatly getting on that line meant 2 or more hours to get anywhere.
But that's ok, leaving Long Beach in your car mean tthe same thing! And you better plan on coming back during work hours, or you'd have to pay to park in your own zip code.
Ok, I'll tone down the rant for a moment.
LA has nearly infinate busses, since the insurance rates are extremely high there (the nation's highest by far) the city is somewhat divided by class. Car owners and bus riders.
I owned a car but since I lived a block from the beach without my own garage, I might as well not have. I could only park it within walking distance during work hours.
Their train/subway system is extensive, since this city is so incredibly spread out it is quite impressive how much of the sity it serves. There are different lines (blue, green, red, yellow, and gold) that cover different parts of the city and run late into the night every day. There are two prices to get anywhere, a $3 one-way and a $4 day pass. I bought a monthly rail pass for $60 and got it's value out of it easily.
The Trains/subways were much cleaner than the busses, but even the busses had many different standards.
In long beach and some of the other beach communities, there are these great little, extremely clean busses that are sometimes free and at most $.90 cents to ride. I used those every day around Long Beach but they served a very limited pair of routes. If staying near the skyscrapers (downtown Long Beach) and just wanting to see the tourist stuff nearby like the Aquarium, the Queen Mary, and the Pike, you'll never have to spend a penny. Heck, I could ride that thing almost from home up to WalMart for free.
Taxis are everywhere, but only reasonable for short hops. Most of the Taxis are mini-vans now. As if our Gas problems weren't bad enough.
If going to Catalina island or another point along the beach (Santa Monica, LAX, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Long Beach, Orange County Beaches, etc.) then you could take a short helicopter flight for around $125 or a Catalina Express Ferry ride for around $70. Since those go longer distances, like the 22 miles out to the Island, they're actually economical.
All in all, if you're going to the LA area and haven't planned for traffic, then you're planning to be stranded or at the least miss half your intended destinations.
Check out the metro rail site at mta.net to plan any journey. I couldn't have gotten around without it.
Going to Disneyland? Rent a Car, plain and simple. The Drive from LAX to Anaheim will take you a bit over an hour if done late at night, but up to three hours in traffic. (even on weekends) A cab fair would be less than the cost of the car rental and there is no train or line that goes all teh way to anaheim.
In fact I believe there are no less than 12 major highways you have to change onto in route!
LA is a beautiful place and I highly reccommend both Hollywood and Catalina Island. But no matter where' you're staying, think of them both as all-day trips.
Hope this helps!
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