[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

Looks like somebody wasn't walking the streets during New Years to see all the tourists staying in downtown for a football game played in Pasadena. Think about it. By the way, the rallys for the football teams were at LA Live! and not Pasadena. Again, things are changing. This will most likely be our central gathering spot until Expo Line opens up convenience to Exposition Park from downtown LA and Santa Monica for huge gatherings (100,000 people).

Some tourists look for convenience when making their way to LA. Prior to 2003, most of that convenience were in the beach cities. Now, with the growing Metro rail system, some people look at a map of LA and say "well, the subway station is a block away, I'll stay at the nearest hotel there". Whenever I go to foreign cities, I always ensure their is a nearby Metro rail stop for convenience. So what if they don't know it doesn't go "everywehre a tourist goes" (i.e. venice or santa monica), but they'll see a Metro rail line and think instantly, that helps.

It's like Italy, we stayed by the Metro rail but then realized the Metro doesn't even go into the heart of Rome where the famous tourist attractions are (you think LA misses things, wait until you see Rome!).

This. Seeing as how downtown was flooded with people (tourists) days before
an event in PASADENA, should tell you something about how things are turning around.