SoCal 2005 (Whose Coming?)

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

Time to move the regional to the Anaheim Convention Center...

The Regional committee has tried, but FIRST has this thing about competitions being in "diverse" neighborhoods. The Forum also gave a really good deal cost wise. I'd prefer the Long Beach convention center myself, as they don't have a huge distraction directly across the street, it is much closer to home, and there are more teams in the area.

On to the real question:

The LA Regional visitor guide is due out within days. It is probably being printed as I type. Once it has been mailed a pdf version will be posted in the White Papers section here and probably also on the BeachBots website. Yeah I know you could have used it weeks ago, but this is a new venue and we had to start practically from scratch. It has an extensive discussion of hotels, how to get from them to the Forum, and areas to avoid.

I've never heard of any problems at the Forum itself. They have gate security and high fences all around the property. Just outside is another story. "Downtown" Inglewood (near Manchester and La Brea) is OK. Hotels on either Manchester or Century will probably be OK if they are in the AAA book. Those are tourist areas and the city works hard to keep things relatively safe. The FIRST hotels are in OK areas.

If I was making arrangements I'd look at hotels in El Segundo, Hawthorne, or Lawndale. They are likely to be cheaper than the FIRST hotels, they aren't too far away (10-15 minutes), and the neighborhoods are pretty good.

Last year in Phoenix we had a shootout IN our hotel during the practice day. A couple of our moms who were hanging around the hotel literally had to take cover and one of our rooms wound up with bullet holes. I wouldn't expect any such excitement at the LA regional.

ChrisH

[Cactus_Robotics]

Oh i can totally agree w/ that area of Phx but for the most part its a great city, like every city's they all have there pockets of crime and bad neighborhoods. It wont discourage our team from coming the only problem now is convincing our teacher sponsors. but thank for your suggestions

[Donut]

That teaching convincing thing didn't go so well. They think there's too much paperwork we'd have to fill out and there's not enough time. Looks like LA's out of reach this year...

[Cactus_Robotics]

maybe.... only time will tell... lets just say sometime mentors have the in's w/ people

[EricH]

If you go to LA, ignore the FIRST directions. 405 to Manchester- not a good idea, especially from the west (like the airport area). Take the 105 to Prairie instead, left at the end of the ramp, first street after the racetrack and its high fence. From the east, same way but turn right at the end of the ramp (I think...never been on that particular ramp). Or contact a local team for directions.

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by EricH

If you go to LA, ignore the FIRST directions. 405 to Manchester- not a good idea, especially from the west (like the airport area). Take the 105 to Prairie instead, left at the end of the ramp, first street after the racetrack and its high fence. From the east, same way but turn right at the end of the ramp (I think...never been on that particular ramp). Or contact a local team for directions.

Better yet, read the Visitor Guide, which will tell you that the Prairie ramps from the eastbound 105 and the westbound 105 merge. The result is you need to make a left turn at the end of the ramp no matter which way you were headed on the freeway.

But you really do want to avoid the 405 to Manchester route in the FIRST directions. Why turn a 10-15 minute trip into a 20-30 minute trip if you don't have to? I think they picked that route because they like the street name

[indieFan]

Just curious if we will have to pay for parking this year, and if so, how much per day? (Have to know how much I need to make in Vegas this weekend to afford it. 8-D)

indieFan

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

I haven't heard specific instances about Inglewood and I'm not sure if I've ever really been there but I've heard that it generally is not a great place but I have heard that once you are inside the gates of the forum you are good. Supposedly the forum is a better place than the sports arena.

Also, please don't let Inglewood scare you away from the LA regional. We need more great teams to make this a great regional once again.

Those who live in the South Bay sometimes refer to it as "Ingle-watts," because Inglewood is next to South-Central L.A. and some think it's just as bad. The Sports Arena is not in the best neighborhood, and neither is the Forum. Especially in the opinion of those who live in Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes, and places like that.

I've traveled through Inglewood a few times recently. People try to keep their homes looking nice, and there are a lot of businesses, some of which look ratty, but I didn't notice any boarded-up hulks. I think the people of the city are really trying to improve its image. But you can never guarantee the behavior of all the people in ANY city.

On the whole, I think Inglewood looks more respectable than the area around the Sports Arena--more greenery, for one thing. And the Forum is near such venerable institutions as Hollywood Park race track (which won't be meeting until after the Regional), Daniel Freeman Hospital, and Inglewood cemetery. Certainly the occupants of the latter place won't harm you!

[Rick TYler]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

Time to move the regional to the Anaheim Convention Center...

Originally Posted by ChrisH

The Regional committee has tried, but FIRST has this thing about competitions being in "diverse" neighborhoods.

From the US Census, for the city of Anaheim, total population 328,014:

Hispanic or Latino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153,374
White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179,627
Black or African American . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,735
American Indian and Alaska Native . . . . . . . . . . . 3,041
Asian Indian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,986
Chinese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,780
Filipino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,303
Japanese. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,346
Korean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,160
Vietnamese. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,025
Other Asian 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,711
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. . . . 1,393
Native Hawaiian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Guamanian or Chamorro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Samoan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690
Other Pacific Islander 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Some other race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,427
Two or more races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,480

The census racial data are confusing because they count "Hispanic and Latino" separately. For example, "White" and "Hispanic or Latino" are not mutually exclusive. This means that if you add up the racial totals above, they do not equal the total population, because, for example, a person can be both White and Hispanic.

In any event, it looks like a pretty darn diverse city to me. And you can walk from your hotel to the arena without armed guards.

[Cactus_Robotics]

Well its official 498 will not be coming to the socal regional this year. (not that anyone cared) after long debating the team decided not to pursue it any farther. Good luck to all the teams going though! have fun!

[SuperDave]

Well, i wish we could go to L.A. but the Vegas regional is the same weekend. Sorry, priorities to the home regional. SO happy i the first LV Regional is my senior year. I am one of the very very very few Las Vegas residents involved in FIRST since it started in Las Vegas and my HS (4 years ago).



2005 AZ Regional Finalist! YEAH, not too shabby for us.