The New York Times Rode The Expo Line And Wrote A Pointless Article

When the brave journalists at the New York Times discovered Los Angeles way back in 2015, it ushered in a dreaded new era. Every couple of months sees an eye-rollingly bad trend piece on normal things people do in the city, like eating breakfast, walking, and other stuff we Angelenos are honestly way too chill to care about.And they've done it again! In its latest exploration of the southland's urban jungle, the New York Times sent Jennifer Medina, a Southern California native herself, aboard the new Expo Line extension who discovered some truly groundbreaking things about the journey from downtown to Santa Monica such as: you can see bougainvillea from the train! And: people use it for a variety of reasons!

At least in the article from a couple of months ago in which a New York Times writer wrote about Going Metro himself, we were able to mock the yurt he stayed in.

But after reading this latest piece several times, we're still not sure what the point of it is. Nowhere in the article are there any ridership statistics, comments from public transit officials or experts, or suggestions on how the route, now two months old, can be improved. There are only a few choice anecdotes from a few riders sprinkled amidst cliched platitudes about Los Angeles that manage to hit several squares of Curbed's "How the New York Times Gets Los Angeles Hilariously Wrong" Bingo Game.

Even Metro responded to the piece, calling out a few of the stereotypes employed, which is surprising, coming from a SoCal native.

Anyway, let's begin:

Ok, for one thing: the Expo Line extension is not the "so-called subway to the sea." That phrase was coined by former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and refers to the Purple Line extension, which is slated to extend from downtown to Westwood via Wilshire Boulevard.

And two: the Expo Line is not the Disneyland Monorail! The intention of public transportation, as we understand it, is to move people from one place to another as cheaply and conveniently as possible. This isn't to say that it can't be enjoyable; but that the "workaday concerns of daily commuters" is kind of the point!

Medina goes on to describe the "sprawling city" seen from the windows of the Expo Line:

And later:

Wow. L.A. truly has it all. Auto body shops next to yoga studios next to art galleries next to juiceries... all speeding by past the windows on the ride train.

But this point, which could have been interesting gets brushed over in favor for an interview with a couple who said they take the train from their new home downtown to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market every week, and "to find new places [to] shop or to get [a] hair cut."

So what about people who actually need the Expo Line to get to work, school, et cetera? Not much about that gets discussed, really. Honestly, this bit below might be the only mildly interesting bit from the article, if only for providing a possible new tagline for the train. As nanny Magdalena Placencia said:

We can see it now: "Go Expo. Barf Less."

In May, we spoke to many Expo Line riders who cited the swiftness of the train as far preferable to a plodding bus. But despite the speed-related benefits of the Expo Line, it's not necessarily conveniently located to everyone, as the New York Times, again, too briefly notes:

As we reported, there are many reasons why Angelenos don't take public transportation; the fact that many commutes are multi-leg is just one of them.

Public transportation in Los Angeles has a complicated history, a messy present, and a daunting future—it's far too dynamic and important to be reduced to an 850-word trend piece ultimately about nothing.