Obama's motorcade brought LA rush hour traffic to its knees!

[Liberal_in_LA]

Yesterday rush hour and this morning. It took people 3 hours to get to home and work. OMG.

[gratuitous]

1. How horrible!

Traffic is never snarled in LA. It's all Obama's fault!

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. Traffic is bad. Obama's motorcase made it a nightmare. People were getting off buses because

it was faster to walk.

[DevonRex]

14. It's always faster to walk in LA. Always. nt

[SargeUNN]

3. that is the way it is anytime any President comes to an area

just imagine the situation when Bush came to the Mississippi Coast after Katrina and we didn't have many roads in use due to Katrina then add it the usual problems with a Presidential visit. Sorry but I can't feel too sorry for you on this one.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Yeah, well, it's uppity when Obama does it.

:crazy:

[Donnachaidh]

4. oh please -- a well placed accident brings the rush hour to it's knees

:eyes:

[Posteritatis]

24. Doesn't rush hour bring rush hour to its knees there? (nt)

[Donnachaidh]

28. pretty much.

There was a missile launch north of the city when I lived there, that made my usual hour drive home turn into a 6 hour crawlfest. And that was just the northbound lanes of the 405.

[Brickbat]

6. Um, so?

[Cleita]

7. Los Angeles traffic sucks any time of the day.

That's when I made up my mind to leave one day when I found traffic to be bumper to bumper during the day, every day, as well as during rush hour and parking non-existent most of the time.

Whenever an important dignitary visits, not just the President, it makes it worse. It's not fair to just blame Obama for what happens at other times as well. Try driving in that part of town around Dodger stadium when there is a Dodger game in town.

[DevonRex]

13. Amen to that. I can take LA for about 2 days and then I'm done.

The only way I could survive there would be if I had my own helicopter.

[Cleita]

29. The problem is then everyone would want their own

helicopter and you are back into congestion.

[DevonRex]

31. Dammit!!!!

You win. I'll stay here. :)

[Cassandra]

8. My father said...

Wilshire Blvd was the emptiest he's ever seen it. He was delighted!

[NeedleCast]

9. Try Living in D.C.

[Arugula Latte]

19. I used to love it when I lived in DC and motorcades went by

Very exciting, no matter how often you see it.

[Carolina]

22. I know

:-( I grew up in DC and lived there for 40 years. When I go back to visit now, I am astounded by some of the changes (the traffic, the costs!) in my beloved hometown. Even worse are the restrictions on the monuments. Tourists have to wait in lengthy lines to see a very limited part of the Capitol whereas my friends and I would roam the halls freely in the 1960s and 1970s. Of course the squatters who occupy Congress have changed for the worse, too. Hard to beieve that growing up politicians were my heroes, but then we had JFK!

C'est la vie, but it's really rather sad to me.

[arbusto_baboso]

10. It was the same whenever Reagan came to "The Ranch".

And when the Clintons came out to visit their friends in Summerland.

So what's your point?

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. No point. Just looking for emotional support. Took 1.5 hours to drive 15 miles

[arbusto_baboso]

17. That's pretty much my experience whenvere I go to LA.

Which is why I avoid it like the plague and stay in Ventura County as much as possible.

You know how fond I am of someone by whether or not I am willing to pick them up at LAX.

[snooper2]

20. emotional support?

:eyes:

[jberryhill]

21. It's Los Angeles

If you break your shoelace, there is a crisis hotline for that.

[dixiegrrrrl]

32. More than emotional support support, I offer you...alternatives.

I dragged Mr. D from SF traffic to this:

3 cars here is a traffic jam.

[MadBadger]

11. Well, thats what happens whenever the President travels anywhere

Nothing he can do about it.

[DevonRex]

12. Last time we were in LA it took us 3 hours to go 5 exits

starting at 11:00 a.m. I never have figured out how there's always that guy who manages to go 90 MPH anyway through all that. But there always is that guy.

[Winterblues]

15. LA Rush Hour

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

18. The President noticed no traffic problems

the motorcade zipped right along.

This is small stuff, compared to LA air traffic being halted while the Clenis got a haircut on Air Force One while parked at LAX. That one made heads explode.

There are times when "Fighter Pilot Diapers" make a whold lotta sense.

:hi:

[devilgrrl]

23. A bad accident on one of the local highways can cause the same kinds of delays. Your point:?

eom

[bigbaddan]

25. This White House is clueless when it comes to public perceptions.

When are they going to stop giving the Limbaugh's of the world ammo?

[Posteritatis]

26. Rice's motorcade when she was in Halifax still breaks my head

The times presidents have been in town - or, a couple months ago, Queen Elizabeth - their motorcades were a fraction of the size of what that one paranoid cabinet secretary had. Fifty, sixty vehicles for a photo-op.

[GReedDiamond]

27. I've been marooned in Los Angeles for almost 35 years...

...I know which freeways to avoid at what time, and how to get around using multiple alternate routes. As long as I am moving forward, even slowly on a surface street, I am happier than being trapped on a stalled freeway in the middle of a "sig-alert," with no way to do anything but wait for the obstructions to be removed.

With some knowledge of local traffic patterns and a little strategic planning, I usually avoid getting stuck in L.A. traffic.

On edit: To address the topic of the OP, any Preznit coming through town would create the same type of traffic congestion, it's not an "Obama" thing. It also happens when there are such things as high-profile funeral processions (i.e., Michael Jackson), street closures for special events, maintenance/construction work in high-traffic areas, etc. It's all part of living in a high-density population center with a lot of shit going on all of the time, like Los Angeles.

[Cleita]

30. When I lived there, I seldom did freeway too. I was

pretty adept at the alternate route solution too, but it was still congested. I once beat my husband back home, Santa Monica, from Glendale using surface streets while he used the freeway. It left him scratching his head.

[mnhtnbb]

33. We left L.A. in 1988 and have never looked back. Every visit I am glad I no longer live there.

[truebrit71]

34. I left after the Northridge quake...been back twice...both times reminded me of why I left..

..24 hour gridlock, graffitti everywhere, rude, self-absorbed assholes, smog and hot as Hades...

You couldn't PAY me to live there again..

[mnhtnbb]

35. You couldn't pay me, either. I've been back a lot since I still have relatives in Pasadena

although my aunt died in May and my uncle is 91...don't know how many more trips we'll make to L.A.

[tallahasseedem]

36. So?

:nopity:

[HopeHoops]

37. How is that different from any other day?

Commuting from NH to the inner loop of the Boston beltway could easily take 3 hours in each direction with absolutely no reason other than too many fucking cars. Other days, it was more like 1 1/2 hours. At 3:00 in the morning, I could make it in 45 minutes.