{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"SGV Connect Episode 143: A Line Extension Tour","description":" In this special episode of SGV Connect, your hosts SBLA SGV Reporter Chris Greenspon and SBLA Editor Joe Linton take listeners on a tour of the newly opened Metro A Line (formerly Foothill Gold Line) extension. The trip begins at the new Glendora Station, where we walked to Finkbiner Park. From there, we go east to San Dimas for lunch at the cozy Rail Side Caf\u00e9. Then in La Verne, we take in Bonita Avenue's elaborate Halloween decorations. Try to see these for yourself before they're gone (photos below). The journey concludes in Pomona at the Pomona North, for now the end of the line, where commuter rail and light rail make for a key working-class transit hub. Along the way, we reflect on walkability, local character, and how to enjoy this side of the SGV without a car. Plus more recommendations in each town. A copy of the transcript is available below. SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new Gold Line Stations across the Foothills and Commuter Express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit Foothill Transit. \u201cFoothill Transit. Going Good Places.\u201dSign-up for our SGV Connect Newsletter, coming to your inbox on Fridays! Chris Greenspon: Welcome to SGV Connect episode 143. I\u2019m Chris Greenspon. Damien Newton has the day off for this episode because it\u2019s a special tour of the Metro A Line extension with our editor, Joe Linton, and me. We want to keep the spotlight on this new part of the light rail system in the 626. But first, a reminder that SGV Connect is supported by Foothill Transit, offering car-free travel throughout the San Gabriel Valley with connections to the new A Line stations across the foothills and commuter express lines traveling into the heart of downtown L.A. To plan your trip, visit foothilltransit.org. Foothill Transit\u2014going good places. Now, of course, the Foothill A Line connects SGV residents in the foothills to Pasadena, downtown L.A., and Long Beach. But did you know you can also ride it east? To give you a feel for what you can get up to in the area, we took a ride on the train and got out at each stop to explore and talk about what there is to see and do. Joe Linton: My name is Joe Linton. I\u2019m the editor of Streetsblog Los Angeles. I\u2019m here with\u2014 Chris Greenspon: Chris Greenspon, reporter for the San Gabriel Valley region, SGV Connect. Joe Linton: We\u2019re here at the brand-new Glendora Metro A Line Station. It\u2019s one of four new stations. Today we\u2019re going to take a sampling tour of the four new stops on the A Line\u2014the former Gold Line, or Foothill Gold Line as they called it\u2014and see what you can walk to near the stations, what\u2019s interesting about each one, and get a sense of what you can expect when you ride the new train. Chris Greenspon: Glendora, of course, is known for The Donut Man with its seasonal strawberry and peach donuts. But there\u2019s also The Hat\u2019s classic pastrami and JPM Comics, all within a short bike ride of the train. We walked past downtown Glendora\u2019s charming gumdrop trees and historic houses to reach the real center of Glendora life\u2014Finkbiner Park. It\u2019s a nice green space with volleyball, a skate park, pickleball courts, basketball, and a band shell. But remember, it\u2019s Finkbiner, not Finkbinder. Joe Linton: Okay, Finkbiner Park\u2014it\u2019s not a hop, skip, and a jump from the Metro station, but it\u2019s what, a 15- or 20-minute walk? Not bad. There was probably a more direct route. It\u2019s one of those things with transit\u2014I tell people, \u201cOh, I like this restaurant or this park,\u201d and it\u2019s not like I\u2019d drive across town to get there, but because it\u2019s within a few blocks of a Metro stop, it\u2019s easy for me to go. It\u2019s easy to take my daughter there. It\u2019s not always the most incredible destination, but it\u2019s close and pleasant. Chris Greenspon: That was a big reason why I started reporting on the San Gabriel Valley in the first place\u2014even before anyone was paying me\u2014because it\u2019s nice that there are regular, local places to go, things to do, and people to see. It\u2019s not like going to Griffith Park where you\u2019ll see 400 tourists from Norway getting off a bus. You can actually have some breathing room here and hear yourself think. Speaking of journeys that aren\u2019t just about the destination, next we headed to San Dimas Station. Get off in San Dimas if you\u2019re looking for trails or a bigger regional park like Bonelli. Check out the Antonovich Trail leading into San Dimas Canyon and Cataract Falls\u2014a great place to watch the sunset. This wilderness between freeways must have inspired the carved walking stick art back up at the Metro station. These wildlife pieces are great\u2014I like the salamander back there and the skunk right here. Our stop included a one-block hike for lunch at Railside Caf\u00e9, right beside the San Dimas Metro Station, where we even had train-shaped breakfasts\u2014just kidding. Joe Linton: It was yummy. I\u2019m a sucker for muffins and gravy, whatever\u2014it scratched a certain itch. Not something I should eat every day, but very good, and it\u2019s just a block south of the San Dimas Station. Chris Greenspon: Yeah, with ample patio seating. Moving on\u2014with Halloween on the rise, we took to Old Town La Verne. Every October, the million-dollar homes on both sides of Old Town get decked out with awesome Halloween decorations. On All Hallows\u2019 Eve, Bonita Avenue is partially closed to vehicles, and trick-or-treating begins around 5:30 p.m. There are also some great restaurants there if you want something besides candy afterward. Joe Linton: This one\u2019s got stuffed animals, blood-splattered sheets, and a sign saying \u201cFree Horror Show.\u201d It\u2019s been taped over and rewritten\u2014it\u2019s kind of awesome. Chris Greenspon: Yeah, I don\u2019t even know what game this is supposed to be\u2014maybe you\u2019re supposed to throw baseballs at dolls or something? Joe Linton: Creepy\u2014not just dolls, but creepy dolls, like the kind that might inhabit your nightmares. Chris Greenspon: This is the pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance\u2014the Jaws-themed house with five screaming sharks coming out of the grass. Joe Linton: Life-size\u2014what, seven or eight feet tall? Sharks with mouths open, sharp teeth, severed limbs in the mouths. So how does it look at night? Chris Greenspon: It looks great at night. See our pictures at la.streetsblog.org on the post for this episode. And while you\u2019re there, click the link to read about the pedestrian bridge that the City of La Verne is building over Arrow Highway to connect the Metro station to the Fairplex. Now, back on the train. This is your Metro. Let\u2019s keep it clean. Chris Greenspon: Pomona is the end of the line for now. For that reason, it\u2019s by far the most-used of the new stations, and it has great art paying tribute to everyday Pomonans\u2014but it feels like something\u2019s missing. Joe Linton: We\u2019re not in the heart of Pomona. The station is called North Pomona. Downtown Pomona has the museums, caf\u00e9s, City Hall, good food, and music. Here, we\u2019re at the north end of town\u2014more of an industrial rail corridor, not much housing or retail. Chris Greenspon: There is some newer, more upscale housing on this side\u2014it\u2019s a quieter part of town. This is the part of Pomona that people tend to associate more with Claremont or La Verne. Joe Linton: Yeah. So Pomona North doesn\u2019t have a lot to walk to today. The city is building new housing along Garey Avenue, and there\u2019s more in the works. There\u2019s also an old depot building the city hopes to turn into a caf\u00e9 or coffee shop. So there are efforts to activate the area, but there\u2019s not much open yet. Let\u2019s walk over to the Metrolink Pomona North Station, which is about 40 feet from the A Line platform. Chris Greenspon: This connection between light rail and commuter rail makes Pomona North decidedly the most working-class stop on the A Line extension. Joe Linton: It\u2019s on the San Bernardino Line, which runs about every half hour during the day on weekdays. You can get to San Bernardino\u2014all the way to Redlands via another connection. There\u2019s not much to do right here, but it\u2019s a worthwhile connection. You can get to Claremont, Montclair, and points further east on the Metrolink train. Chris Greenspon: There\u2019s also a shuttle here that takes people to Cal Poly, so it\u2019s a great connector. Joe Linton: Yeah, it\u2019s an end-of-the-line commuter station with a lot of parking. The hope is to extend to Claremont and Montclair, but that\u2019ll take a while. This is the end of the line for now. Chris Greenspon: And that\u2019s our little tour of the new A Line stops and their surroundings. Hopefully it\u2019ll get extended to Claremont before too long, but in the meantime, you can bike there from Pomona North. Some system info: trains run from 5 a.m. to midnight, and fares are $1.75 with free transfers. During peak hours, trains run about every six minutes, a bit slower in between. That\u2019s all. I\u2019m Chris Greenspon\u2014thanks for listening to SGV Connect.   ","author_name":"SGV Connect","author_url":"http:\/\/damientalks.libsyn.com\/podcast","html":"