Mexico Meets Eastside: Ruminations on Buses, Metro, Bicycles and Swap Meets

Metro would never go for this Guatemalan styled bus, but it would sure turn heads. Con Clase shown in reverse translates to "With Class." Kris Fortin/LAStreetsblog

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

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Metro

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Bus

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http://www.remezcla.com/2013/latin/in-theaters-la-camioneta-documentary-guatemala-nyc-los-angeles-san-diego/

Parklet

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Others

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Open streets at Mexico City's Ángel de la Independencia monument. All photos by Joe Linton/Streetsblog L.A.

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