Qantas Crews Still Not Fans of Downtown

I just found your blog, which I love, and saw this story, and I had to post a response. This kind of talk about downtown is just so irritating to me! I lived at 2nd & Figueroa (about 2 blocks from the Bonaventure) and worked at 5th & Figueroa (right across the street from the Bonaventure), for about 5 years in total and I absolutely loved it. I really miss the area now. I moved in 2001 and it's possible that the area has gotten a lot worse since then, but I doubt it.

The Figueroa corridor is really not at all a bad area, even at night (although the streets are pretty deserted after 6 pm). I (a young woman) spent a lot of time walking around that area alone, at all times of the day and night, and never once had a problem or felt in any way intimidated. And I never saw a single person I suspected of being a drug dealer. Yes, there are homeless people living downtown, and yes, sometimes people talk to you on buses and say unpleasant things. It's part of living in any big city, in my experience. I've certainly never had any experience that approaches what they're describing with regard to assault or drug dealing/taking, or "aggressive vagrants stealing food." (!!) What this sounds like to me is an isolated incident or two, which we don't know the real context for, and which are being blown out of proportion by people who probably have been told that the downtown area is "crime-prone" and are unhappy with their hotel being switched as a result. Anyway, to hear this area maligned just really irritates me!

Yeah, sounds like hyperbole to me, but I must say a lot of this is in the mind. If you enter the area with a assumption that Downtown is full of "threatening locals" and homeless, than any encounter at all is bound to freak you out. Having said that, a single woman (in a foreign country) being sexually propositioned by anyone, never mind an unwashed street person on a bus, is bound to be intimidating. I think they do have reason for concern, but they seem to be blowing it out of proportion to aid in their labor dispute.

I get asked for change at least once EVERY DAY, but I'm a large man (6'5") so it doesn't bother me, and 99% of those who ask for money say please and thank you, and act very humbly. I even do give change to some of them. I just tell people, be aware of your surroundings, stand your ground (i.e. you have just as much a right to be walking down the street without being bothered as they d0), and don't walk around alone at night unless you have to. Just common sense advice, not only here, but in any large city.

I have a hard time believing Aussies would be afraid of anything. They are probably angling for something else, a preferred spot closer to the airport or to what they would perceive as nightlife, Westwood, Hollywood, Santa Monica.

Downtown Los Angeles is universally understood to be scary because of its use in countless action movies as the location of danger. We should be proud ; )

I think the quantas employees are full of crap.

The Town Crier has spoken

Well, compare Melbourne or Sydney to Downtown LA, I must say the Aus cities are much more desirable and friendly. Pasadena is a bit more pleasant and closely reminds them of Melbourne, with places to go and a good night life. It is no doubt why they're complaining about downtown, they want a better area. Downtown LA just isn't there yet as much as people try to say it's wonderful.

Oh, saying that they shouldn't be bothered because of their penal colony heritage is quite absurd. If you think with that logic, then I guess it can be said Americans should not be bothered by racism because the country has a history of slavery. You must also consider that Australia is a multicultural country, just like the U.S. and so saying that they're proud of their penal colony heritage can't apply to everyone.

People have different experiences in downtown. Just because you hardly encounter any does not mean others will not.

""in one incident, a female flight attendant recounted how she was "absolutely terrified" after being victimised on a bus with sexually explicit threats including: "I'm going to give you venereal disease".

You know i see stuff like this happen all the time on teh city bus. I watch how caucasians or asians will do anything to get as far away from sitting next to someone who may be african american or even latino.

Sometimes after the passenger insults the other passenger by putting a handkecheif over their face , even if the other passenger does not stink at all or is not dirty in any way, the passenger who felt insutled will say something like what was said above. On city buses and the train we have to stand and sit close to each other and teh grimaces of someone who would rather stand than sit next to someone else who may be of a different color , it is upsetting and sometimes people go ahead and say things like what was said above.

Frankly, if I had to choose between spending the night at the Bonaventure or a hotel in Pasadena, I'd pick Pasadena. Although the City of Roses does offer better amenities and a more thrivant nightlife, we Angelenos can agree that these depictions of life in Bunker Hill are not accurate. The way the Qantas crew tells it, you'd think their heartless employer had set them up in a flophouse in Skid Row. The area around the Bonaventure may be boring, but it's hardly dangerous.

I can understand how riding a bus in L.A. can be intimidating, especially if you a single woman traveling alone, but is riding a bus in Pasadena inherently safer? I have to agree with others that such unpleasant experiences are a necessity in any large city. While I am not nearly 6'5", I have to agree with Scott that the key is to be aware of your surroundings and act confidently and self-assured. If you enter a situation with a fearful mind, you're bound to be frightened.

Hey Qantas! Maybe this will change your mind. It's a guide to Downtown nightlife.

I know the crew pretty well and yes, it's all in their heads. They are use to sun South Pas and only know of Downtown through the horror stories that the old-timers bring with them from the past. Most of them end up at the Grove everyday anyways...it's all in their heads.

Perhsing Square isn't great. Moving to Downtown from Pasadena is a drop in quality. WHile I gree they are blowing this up a bit bigger than it should be, it probably has more to do with the labor dispute than a condemnation of everything downtown LA.

> Frankly, if I had to choose

between spending the night at the Bonaventure or a hotel in Pasadena, I'd pick Pasadena

Moving to Downtown from Pasadena is a drop in quality.

Hardly surprising, therefore, that downtown has the lowest hotel occupancy rates in the city and county. I know the Bonaventure hotel's owner has said for some time that his place has been been hurting for business for years.

Hey , I wouldn't mind staying at the bonaventure , it might be a fun vacation. SO if those quantas employees don't want to stay there , send me there . No problem if quantas wants to pay for it