[Asis-l] Packing for Long Beach??

[Marcia J. Bates]

Dear Attendees of ASIST Conference,

	Here's some advice for preparing to come to Los Angeles, and 
how to get around once here.  I'm writing this for both U.S. and 
overseas visitors, so I may cover some things known to some of you.

	* Climate:  Summer starts and ends late on the entire U.S. 
West Coast.  In Southern California, that means that summer doesn't 
really end until the beginning of October, and even in later October, 
we might have quite warm weather.  So we may have weather ranging 
between about 65°-85°F  (19°-30°C) in the daytime.  All year round, 
evenings in California are almost always much cooler than the 
daytime, by as much as 20°-30°F (10°-15°C).   So plan for both cool 
and warm temperatures.  Rain isn't very common in October, but it is 
a possibility.
	The conference will be in an attractive section of Long Beach 
that is right by the ocean, and the climate is pleasant just about 
all year around.

	* Getting around the LA area:  For those of you accustomed to 
the relatively compact center cities of the East Coast or Europe, 
it's vital to understand that the Los Angeles/Long Beach area is very 
large and spread out.  The county contains just under 10,000,000 
people, and covers 4,000 square miles.  That is half the size of the 
state of New Jersey, or a quarter the size of Switzerland.  That's 
more people, however, than are in all of New Jersey or Switzerland.
	The city of Los Angeles has just under 4 million people. 
Long Beach is right next to the city of LA, but in such a densely 
populated area, it all looks like one continuous city.
	All this is by way of saying that it is unwise to think 
you'll just hop in a taxi to go from one part of the city or county 
to another.  You  have to be aware of whether you are going someplace 
truly nearby or not.  This is my guess, but it would probably cost 
about 50 dollars (45 euros) to go from Long Beach to downtown LA or 
Hollywood by taxi.   Sharing a taxi can cut costs, of course.  The 
distance to the LA airport is shorter.  Check with cabs and 
shuttlebuses about price.
	You can also go into central LA on the the "Blue Line," an 
above-ground subway train that ends close to the hotel in Long Beach. 
In downtown LA, you can connect to subways that go to other parts of 
central LA, including Hollywood.
	If you have a day or two available and want to sightsee, the 
easiest way to do it is either to take organized tours, or to rent 
your own car.  The latter may sound difficult and expensive, but LA 
is, above all, an automobile city.  Public transportation other than 
the subways is slow and not nearly as frequent and easy to use as in 
many cities elsewhere. (And the subways are new and don't go all over 
yet.)  The price of car rentals is not high  (40-50 dollars a day, or 
35-40 euros), and you can go exactly where you want when you want.
	All those people mean traffic.  Other things being equal, try 
to avoid the morning and evening rush hours for freeway trips.
	As in all big cities, take precautions about protecting 
yourself and your possessions.

	* What the city is like:  LA is a world city, with over 120 
languages spoken, many cultures, delicious ethnic food of every 
imaginable type, and many different customs.  Don't assume that 
anyone you are dealing with shares exactly your culture, that is, be 
explicit and unambiguous in stating what you want and expect.   The 
area of Long Beach that you will be in is pretty and upscale, and the 
hotel is near the water.  There is a path to walk along the water for 
a good distance, as well as shops, the aquarium, and other 
entertainments.
	Have a great time in Long Beach, and I look forward to seeing you!

				Marcia Bates
				Program Chair



-- 
Marcia J. Bates, Ph.D.
Professor
Dept. of Information Studies
230 GSEIS Building
Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1520 USA
Tel: 310-206-9353   Fax: 310-206-4460
Email: mjbates at ucla.edu
Web: http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/

SOME THINGS ARE REAL...
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.asis.org/pipermail/asis-l/attachments/20031012/ea692e33/attachment.html