I’m Calling It The Gold Line

April 24, 2009 at 2:12 pm in Mass Transit, Politics

goldline

By now, you’ve probably heard about Metro’s board giving the new Eastside Gold Line extension two different names. One in English: Edward R. Roybal Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension. The other in Spanish: La Linea de Oro, Edward R. Roybal. Both of which will prove to be a useless political move, as normal human beings will revert to the shorter, easier “Gold Line.”

The fact that Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina has forced this down our throats without any public input from the actual citizens who will have to pay for all of that new signage – twice – has already been hotly debated on sites like Curbed. And while the stupidity of some out-of-touch policitian making such a move will cost us millions in wasteful spending, there is a bigger issue here.

Instead of unifying the unique ethnic enclaves that make up this great city, Los Angeles is segregating them. Isolating them further into their own little pockets by the ever-growing language barrier. And for what purpose?

Sure, the Eastside extension runs through a part of the city that is 95% Spanish-speaking. Maybe this serves to ensure quality of life for citizens who only know Spanish. What will they do when the train arrives at Union Station and the signs are in English? Turn around?

Maybe this is more of a symbolic gesture. Maybe Molina feels like she is paying tribute to those who call the Eastside home. If that’s the case, let’s pay tribute to everybody.

The Orange Line runs through a large Jewish community.
The Red Line tunnels the way to Russian and Armenian delis.
The Purple Line winds its way through many Korean establishments.

Maybe Molina is onto something. Maybe this is the economic stimulus we need. Maybe this is our “shovel-ready project.” Let’s rename every segment of every Metro Rail line in honor of that intersection’s ethnic roots. New signs in different languages means more jobs for translators and sign-makers. More graphic artists will be needed to center bilingual titles in Photoshop. More tour guides will be required to keep tourists from far away places like Arkansas from getting lost.

Actually, this seems like a lot of work. And a lot of money that we do not have. Money that could be better spent on… well, more rail lines. If only there were a language that we could use to keep things consistent…

Tags: gold line, molina
16 Comments »

http://la.metblogs.com Lucinda Michele

“Actually, this seems like a lot of work. And a lot of money that we do not have. Money that could be better spent on… well, more rail lines.”

Nail. Head.
Burns!

Amen.
http://seanbonner.com Sean Bonner

Actually I really don’t like gold, I think it’s kind of tacky. Can we jump back a step and call it the Silver line, or the Platinum line or something else? Hell I’ll even go for the Tungston line but we’d need some education outreach spending put aside for that one since a lot of people aren’t familiar with Tungston.
http://www.wildbell.com WILL CAMPBELL

In related news freshly minted Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas has proposed calling an as-yet-determined section of Los Angeles “The Angels.”
http://www.chanfles.com/blog EL CHAVO!

Jajaja! Pinchi haters. How is it “renaming” if the stations aren’t even open?
http://davidmarkland.com David Markland

I think we should just stick with primary colors, unless the MTA is going to print its map with actual gold. Let’s just call it the “yellow” line.
http://frazgomeanders.blogspot.com frazgo

I like “yellow” too, but it might be offensive to all the Asians in the SGV which is lobbying for an extension through my corner of LA.
http://seanbonner.com Sean Bonner

Markland your plan is already flawed, there’s a Purple line and Purple isn’t a primary color.

Maybe we could all it the Yella line, which would be more LA apropo.
http://www.superluckycat.com bromike666

Lets just split the difference and call it “The Stupido Gloria Line”
http://www.darleeneisms.la darleene

Actually I like bromike666′s suggestion.
http://www.thebusbench.com browne

Those who you who have a problem with the new name through the Eastside do you ride the Goldline and will you ride it through the Eastside?

And I don’t know, I’m sort of going to assume you don’t really ride it on a regular basis and if you do I’m sure you won’t be getting off before Pasadena, so why do you even care?

Browne
http://www.chanfles.com/blog EL CHAVO!

I’m calling you a jerk.
http://laeastside.com/2009/04/la-linea-de-odio/
http://www.thebusbench.com browne

El Chavo what I really admire is that the regular commenters/posters that are people of color are actually much more vile and open about their ignorance than the white commenters.

That’s some real progress. I’ve always tried to demonstrate in general racism isn’t a thing that a particular race does, it’s a mindset that can transcend race. Isn’t that beautiful?

I think that’s a little different than on the other blogs that have complaints about this.

Browne
evan

“Sure, the Eastside extension runs through a part of the city that is 95% Spanish-speaking. Maybe this serves to ensure quality of life for citizens who only know Spanish. What will they do when the train arrives at Union Station and the signs are in English? Turn around?”

Psst…Union Station is across the street from the Plaza, where I think someone that ONLY speaks Spanish (and really, people that primarily speak Spanish typically can get by in English) would be okay.

Really, this isn’t a big deal.
transitcph

“Linea de Oro” would be fine in Spanish language media and announcements. I hear the prerecorded announcements on the Red Line telling people “transborde al Metro Blue Line” (rather than “Linea Azul”) and it just sound clumsy.

I just don’t care for Molina (or any of the Metro Board members) pushing through a bunch of phony-baloney feel good stuff that doesn’t really make life easier for transit users (and often makes it worse, like gating the light rail stations)
http://la.metblogs.com/2009/05/07/gold-line-gets-a-boost/ Gold Line Gets A Boost | Los Angeles Metblogs

[...] advance on our allowance, he did not mention a specific preference for what the Eastside Extension should be called. Related posts:Metro’s Runaway Gold LineI’m Calling It The Gold LineHoly Transportation [...]

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