Los Angeles Metro has recently begun work to foster "transit-integrated communities" in the areas immediately around their stations, so what better time than now to take a look back at how the neighborhoods that have Metro stations have changed around the transit hubs over the years. Over at The Source, they've assembled before and afters, mostly from 1989 and the present day, to see how much has changed in the mile and a half or so around stations including North Hollywood (on the Red/Orange Lines), Little Tokyo/Arts District (Gold Line), and Wilshire/Vermont (Red/Purple Lines).
The areas around some stops have changed more noticeably than others. North Hollywood has gone from being dominated by car repair shops to having quite a few transit-oriented amenities in the 15 years since the Red Line was finished. (More development could be on the way at four plots near the station.) At Wilshire/Vermont, the change is a little harder to notice, with a few big exceptions right by the station, including the mixed-user on top of the station itself and the luxury residential towers across the street at The Vermont. Otherwise, changes are kind of minimal, at least in a big-picture sense; "there's still a lot of parking in the area, but not quite as much as pre-subway," The Source notes.
North Hollywood, 1989 and 2015 (Red, Orange Lines):
Little Tokyo/Arts District, 1994 and 2015 (Gold Line):
Pico, Seventh Street/Metro Center, and Pershing Square, 1989 and 2015 (Blue, Purple, Red, Expo, Silver lines):
Wilshire/Vermont, 1989 and 2015 (Purple Line):
· Twelve communities in L.A. County before and after transit [The Source]
· The Seven Spots Where LA Metro Wants to Create "Transit-Oriented Communities" [Curbed LA]
· Metro Looking to Develop Huge Site by the North Hollywood Red Line Station [Curbed LA]