Parking, Public Transportation and Profits at Staples Center

Will Staples Center revitalize L.A.’s downtown? (“Taking Center Stage,” Oct. 10.) Not with the current emphasis on driving and parking. It doesn’t matter where the center is located. You drive there, park in one of the vast lots and then drive back to where you came from.

The huge parking lots defeat the kind of intimate, bustling urban atmosphere necessary to encourage extended stays. The preoccupation with car-based transportation is a form of dementia worn like a badge of honor in these parts.

The notion of visiting downtown in any other way is considered so outlandish that the Blue Line is never mentioned as a way of getting to the adjacent Convention Center, even though the train stop on Pico Boulevard is only a block away, undoubtedly closer than the parking lot.

Paul W. Rosenberger

Manhattan Beach

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The planners and local politicians have failed to induce the MTA to provide public transportation to and from Staples Center. The mind set of those who fail to address this problem is what ultimately stands in the way of reviving downtown.

The article said that numerous buses serve the area but that trains stop running after 11 p.m., which “could be a problem.” It indicated that the MTA is “considering extending” its hours. The facts are that after concerts, buses run only about once an hour from the vicinity of the center, and there are no trains whatsoever. Since I’d not even consider standing on a street corner for an hour at midnight, there is no way I can use the public transportation there.

Did the great minds who shepherded the center from concept to opening achieve this result by design, so that the parking lots, ranging “from $8 to $15, depending on proximity,” would be kept full? Or was it because no one thought that public transportation to the center should be provided?

Elizabeth Koen

Los Angeles

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As a crazed Laker fan who has missed only a handful of games in person or on TV for 20 years, I always understood that ticket price increases simply were the cost of enjoying winning teams and all-star players. I didn’t even object to reducing the number of games I attended as the years went by.

I don’t even mind the new prices at Staples. They aren’t much different from the Forum’s, and I appreciate that the toll isn’t being raised much for the regular fan who sits up in the rafters.

But after sifting through all the articles about the glitz designed for the rich and famous, I came across the tiny diagram showing the height of the upper concourse at Staples. The lowest row of this section is higher than the top row at the Great Western Forum, and half the section is higher than the Forum roof.

If I have to sit atop a three-story building full of rich people to watch a basketball game, I’ll have to get stronger contact lenses and treatment for my acrophobia.

Larry Altman

El Segundo

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Often on the pages of The Times, I find criticism of sports teams, television stations and politicians for foolish and self-aggrandizing actions. So it is only appropriate that I question your motives regarding the 168-page advertisement for Staples Center that you called “The Los Angeles Times Magazine.”

Clearly the line between editorial and advertising has been blurred to the point of nonexistence. This issue has eradicated that line completely. The Times is a founding partner at Staples Center, so it begs the question: Was this an effort to boost the paper’s own financial investment in the new arena?

Craig L. Byrd

Los Angeles