Englishman in LA (boo to Magic Mountain)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(blackbag @ Oct 8 2007, 07:21 AM) [snapback]522683[/snapback]</div>

Magic Mountain is not so much a theme park as it is an amusement (roller coaster) park.

It has been years since it was open mid-week during the school year. It has nothing to do with construction. The demand is simply not there and they lose money in the off season if keep it open all week.

The park used to have a huge gang violence problem in the past. I think that they have it under control nowadays, as every visitor has to pass through a metal detector on the way in.

If your time is limited, Universal Studios is a better attraction with more unique rides.

 

My parents live right near MM and my sister worked there for a while as a security guard. If you don't like thrill rides/roller coasters, MM isn't your best option.

There was a gang problem, don't know if it's completely under control now but I do think it has been getting a little better.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(blackbag @ Oct 8 2007, 10:34 AM) [snapback]522784[/snapback]</div>

Wishful thinking.

Take a look at this LAPD site.

Everyone who enters Magic Mountain is screen for weapons (guns and knives). In recent years, gang activity and violence at Magic Mountain was limited to the parking lot (before the visitors undergo the security screening). I don't recall reading of any incidents this summer, so perhaps they have overcome the problem.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Oct 8 2007, 04:20 PM) [snapback]522834[/snapback]</div>

My daughter goes pretty regularly, and says it has been cleaned up a lot in recent years. They have quite a bit of security now, and the "petty thuggery" that you saw a lot ten years ago ... line hopping, pushing matches, etc. ... is now gone. Someone who "line hops" is removed from the park and their tickets (even annual passes) suspended.

Even at the height of the problem it was pretty much a night time thing. The "angry young men" would start showing up around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, so we would go in the morning and stay there until then, and leave as the gang bangers were coming in to the park.

It is the park for the best coasters in Southern California; Knott's doesn't come close, and Disney has a couple of good ones, but if you've been to Orlando, you've seen the Disney fare like Space Mountain. I prefer Disney myself, but then I grew up there (it opened the year before I was born, and we lived in Costa Mesa just a few miles away).

 

I have heard that it has gotten better, gang-wise.

BTW - it's Santa Clarita, not LAPD who would have the most recent info. I didn't see anything on their web site but I imagine you could call them and ask straight up what the gang problem is like.

 

Don't worry too much about it. What you see on TV isn't at all like the reality. The majority of places in the US are quite safe, and you'll probably realize if you're getting into an unsafe area if you keep your eyes open.

The crime rate in the US has actually been going DOWN over the past decade or two, but to watch the news you'd never realize it. They sensationalize everything. If there isn't a good juicy murder or gruesome death in the vicinity, our news will do a segment on a murder elsewhere, just because they believe it's what the public wants to see.

I teach in an inner-city high school and I feel quite safe. I'm sure there are crimes going on in the area, but I have never once in 13 years felt at risk. It's not all like the movies and tv shows, as your personal experience has shown you.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pyccku @ Oct 9 2007, 06:01 AM) [snapback]523058[/snapback]</div>

I am well aware that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is the policing agency for the Santa Clarita Valley, however, the LAPD website has the most up to date gang information and it is comprehensive of all the gangs that are active in all of Southern California, not just within the city limits of Los Angeles.

 

No offense was meant - I just want to send the OP to the people closest to the issue. While the LAPD site has lots of gang info, they aren't going to be as in touch with the specific and most recent status as the people who actually work there.

 

Hey I don't think the streets are quite dripping with blood.
A friend of mine in Burnley Lancashire told me each morning when she looks out the window all she can see is blood and sick, however when I went to visit I never once in 3 weeks saw blood on the ground near her home or anywhere.

Relax, have a good holiday.

 

From the Los Angeles Business Journal (albeit, from a couple of years ago):

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(blackbag @ Oct 9 2007, 06:23 AM) [snapback]523066[/snapback]</div>

You'll be OK. Remember that California has over 37 million people, and LA alone has about 4 million people. Most of the violent crime here is either from family members, or within ethnic and racial groups. There is very little cross-over crime or crimes against tourists.

Universal City where Universal Studios is located is fine; you shouldn't have any problems there. Less than you would in Kissimee near Orlando. Magic Mountain is much better than it was a few years back, and it is worth going if you like thrill rides. Go during the day, and keep an eye out for the crowd. If you start feeling uncomfortable, you can leave like we used to at the "height" of the gang problem here. I think you'll enjoy it, and wonder what the heck we were all talking about.

Note that the population in California is very diverse with a lot of Hispanics (about 30% or so) and about 10% blacks. Most are regular family folks, and the "bad guys" here dress the part (if they look like a rapper, they are probably bad guys). Anaheim, where Disney is, is very safe, but you'll see the same mixture of people (it might be disconcerting to you; I don't know what the ethnic make-up is where you are, but there is much less "separation" of the ethnicities and races here in California than even in our eastern cities).

We also love Brits, by the way. So I'll warn you about the really bad stuff. I'm ashamed to admit it. We put ice in everything. We have iced cappucino now, for heaven's sake. But at least they put "ICED" in the name on the menu. Here's the point: If you ask for a scotch or whiskey, order it "neat" if you don't want those pesky ice cubes melting into it. I've seen many a Brit frantically tossing ice cubes out of their whiskey. But alas, the damage is usually done by that time.

One other very important point: Guinness here is NOT GUINNESS - DO NOT BE FOOLED! IT IS SOME AWFUL AMERICAN BREW USING THE SAME NAME. We don't put ice in our beer, but what they serve here as Guinness might be better with ice in it!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(blackbag @ Oct 20 2007, 10:12 PM) [snapback]528360[/snapback]</div>

Sorry Magic Mountain wasn't good for you, but it is a distant third among the locals too. I had heard they improved the maintenance on things like the toilets, but obviously they are back to their lower standards again. There is talk about selling the park for residential home development, but that will be on hold with the current home mortgage crisis.

The scoring on the roads is to help traction in wet conditions ... we don't get snow here, and few really violent storms, but its normally pretty dry. The usual refrain is that the first rain floats oil up from the roadbed making the streets slick. We get obsessed with rain when it happens here. Our local news stations send reporters out to the intersections to film cars going through the puddles. The news stations use fancy graphics and hype the storm with titles like "Storm Watch 2007!", and have live feeds of the wet streets .... "Now, we check in with Jim, who's live at the intersection of 5th and Grand, where Jim has some news" .... "Thanks, Tanya. The rain is really coming down here now, with more than a tenth of an inch, and quite a puddle in the road ..." (camera pans to extreme close up of car tire going through an inch of water) ... "as you can see, its a mess out here at 5th and Grand. Jim Roberts, reporting Live! from 5th and Grand." "Thank you Jim. Stay safe out there!"

Enjoy the rest of your stay here!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(blackbag @ Oct 20 2007, 10:12 PM) [snapback]528360[/snapback]</div>

The grooving of concrete roadways is designed to reduce hydroplaning at speeds greater than 50 mph.

Better Roads