Mexico Meets Eastside: Ruminations on Buses, Metro, Bicycles and Swap Meets
It's a copout to compare my travels in Mexico and Guatemala to anything on the Eastside. But, I can't help it. It's one of the biggest things on my mind the entire time.
1:52 PM PDT on June 7, 2013
It’s a copout to compare my travels in Mexico and Guatemala to anything on the Eastside. But, I can’t help it. It’s one of the biggest things on my mind the entire time.
Every time I saw a bicycle in Mexico City selling flowers, or taking water canisters to businesses, I would think of the mobile bike vendors with chips and junk food I saw once riding down First Street a block from the Pico Aliso Gold Line Station. Every tiangus, or marketplace, whether the size of a small neighborhood or an outpost outside of a metro station, I recalled stories of the Breed Street market.
So, here’s what I saw, the similarities, and the things I think could help the Eastside:
How many ways can you say bicycle
Metro
Bus
Now in Theaters: La Camioneta, The Journey of One American Schoolbus
Parklet
Others
Streetsblog California contributor, covering news in Orange County.
Read More:
More from Streetsblog Los Angeles
Thursday’s Headlines
ICE, Bike Oven, Measure HLA, Measure ULA, Pasadena, Boyle Heights, WeHo, Metro G Line, charter reform, Pomona, pothole, car-nage, and more
April 9, 2026
La Verne Approves Protected Bike Lanes to Pomona North Metro Station
With this, the city will play a part in building safe facilities west-to-east across the entirety of its neighbor, Pomona.
April 8, 2026
Wednesday’s Headlines
ICE, K Line, Exide, Santa Monica, Pasadena, RV removals, smog, D Line, Burbank Airport, car-nage, and more
April 8, 2026
Tuesday’s Headlines
ICE, Venice, Metro policing, Metro board, air quality, Burbank Airport, Warner Center, Amtrak, car-nage, and more
April 7, 2026
Monday’s Headlines
Metro computer hack, K Line, Culver City, CicLAvia, Pico Union, speed cameras, restrooms, car-nage, and more
April 6, 2026

Comments Are Temporarily Disabled
Streetsblog is in the process of migrating our commenting system. During this transition, commenting is temporarily unavailable.
Once the migration is complete, you will be able to log back in and will have full access to your comment history. We appreciate your patience and look forward to having you back in the conversation soon.