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By Johnny, November 11, 2009 12:06 am

I remember about 2 years ago I was oblivious to the Metro network in and around Los Angeles. I was chained to the day to day grind of driving back and forth to work from my parent’s home. Ever since I started riding my bike, I slowly found that not only is bicycling great but the Metro network of buses and trains are an enjoyable way to travel around town. I am still picking up new routes even to this day. Combine both the Metro and bicycling, you can practically get anywhere in Los Angeles. That is why I am excited that the Metro Gold Line will be opening up the expanded route from Union Station into East LA on November 15th.

If you had told me 2 years ago that this was happening, I would have easily dismissed this as anything significant. Why would I care about an expansion of a Metro train? I would not have realized that this opens up a way of getting to a part of LA in which I would not have gone in any other circumstances. This was true about a year ago when I took the Gold Line from South Pasadena to Highland Park. I definitely wouldn’t have been comfortable going there in previous scenarios. I now hang out at that area more frequently than my own town. This new expansion means more business to each of the local communities that is fortunate to have a train stop at their neighborhood. It allows people to be able to mobilize easily between East LA to Pasadena which connects multiple cultures, a multitude of different wealth class, and open up opportunities for the people in the communities that line up against the path of this train track.

If you find the time on Sunday, try to get to a station on the Gold Line and see for yourself. I heard you will be able to ride free that day and may even get to attend a block party to see a Mariachi Festival in Boyle Heights. Heck! They promised a special appearance of Santa at one of the stops. What better way to kick off the holiday season than with Santa?

Photos provided by waltarrrrr on Flickr.