[J3] (SC22WG5.6247) 2022 WG5 meeting

[Van Snyder]

On Sun, 2020-06-21 at 06:34 +0000, Bill Long via J3 wrote:
> We have debated the Pasadena option several times and every time it
> was rejected. 

We haven't "debated" Pasadena. I offered Pasadena, including a
description of the Hilton hotel, meeting rooms at Caltech, distances,
Pasadena amenities, etc.

Nobody asked any questions. There was no discussion or debate, at least
not in my presence. The offer was not accepted.

> Difficulties included poor (or very expensive) transportation to/from
> the airport

Transportation from LAX is neither poor nor very expensive. The Flyaway
Bus from LAX to Union Station is $9.75. The Gold Line fare from Union
Station to Pasadena is $1.75. Walking time from the Pasadena Memorial
Park station to the Courtyard or Marriott Resident Inn entrances is
five minutes (on flat ground). Couryard and Residence Inn are on
diagonally-opposite corners of the intersection of Fair Oaks Avenue and
Walnut Street (in case you care to look at a map). Estimated time is 1h
10m.

Shuttle services to Pasadena vary from $20.00 upward. Estimated time is
33m, depending upon day and time.

For the Hilton, Hyatt or or Sheraton hotel s, one would get off the
Gold Line at either the Del Mar or Memorial Park stops. Then walk to
the corner of  Raymond Avenue (or Arroyo Parkway) and Green Street . 
Green Street is halfway between the Del Mar and Memorial Park Metro
Gold Line stops. Walking time is about 4 minutes (on flat ground). Take
the Pasadena ARTS bus #10 eastward on Green Street to Los Robles
Avenue. The Hyatt hotel is on the corner of Los Robles Avenue and Green
Street. The Hilton hotel is halfway between Green Street and Cordova
Street. The Sheraton hotel is on Cordova Street just west of Los Robles
Avenue. Walking time to the Sheraton is four minutes; the Hyatt and
Hilton are nearer.

The ARTS bus fare is $0.25.

See 
https://ww5.cityofpasadena.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/08/Ped_Plan_VOL_1_APPX_A_FIG_2-12_F.pdf
for ARTS routes. Check the inset at the top right corner for the Del
Mar and Memorial Park Metro Gold Line stations, Green Street, and the
Courtyard Hotel.

Walking time from the Del Mar Metro Gold Line Station to the Sheraton
Hotel is nine minutes (on flat ground); Hyatt and Hilton are about 12
minutes.
 
If you rent a car at LAX, getting to Pasadena is easy. Go east on I-
105, then north on I-110. I-110 ends in Pasadena at Glenarm Street and
Arroyo Parkway. Continue north on Arroyo Parkway. For Courtyard or
Marriott hotels, continue on Arroyo Parkway until it ends at Holly
Street. Turn left at Holly Street, go west two streets to Fair Oaks
Avenue, and turn right. Courtyard is on the right, Residence Inn is on
the left. For Hyatt or Hilton, turn right from Arroyo Parkway onto
Green Street. Hyatt is on the corner of Green Street and Los Robles.
Hilton is just south of Green Street  on Los Robles Avenue. For
Sheraton, turn right from Arroyo Parkway onto Cordova Street. Sheraton
is halfway between Marengo Avenue and Los Robles Avenue.

Any of these is easier than getting to the Millenium Harvest Hotel in
Boulder from DEN.

All the hotels are in Pasadena Old Town, where there are dozens of
excellent restaurants within easy walking distance.

> long distances between the housing and meeting locations, 

For Caltech meetings, one would use the ARTS bus #10 line, which has
stops on the north edge of the Caltech campus. The Hilton Hotel is one
mile from the northwest corner of the Caltech campus. Walking would
take about 20 minutes (on flat ground). Other hotels are farther. None
of them are farther from Caltech than the Coen Hotel in Delft was from
the meeting rooms. None of them are farther from Caltech than the
Fairfield Inn in Fairfax was from the George Mason campus (and there's
no snow in Pasadena). None of them are farther from Caltech than the
Millennium Harvest Hotel was from the Mesa Lab in Boulder (and Pasadena
downtown is flat).

Farther in Pasadena from a hotel to Caltech than for Minneapolis or
Lawrence Berkeley Lab (if you stay at the 1-star guest house).

See https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1445922,-118.140558,16z. Zoom out
one click. Courtyard is top left, Caltech is bottom right. Hilton is
near the center. Residence Inn, Sheraton, and Hyatt are not shown.


> and the mid-summer weather (though Las Vegas also has this last
> problem).  

June weather in Pasadena is nothing like Las Vegas.  Low today was 63
F. High was 80 F. Humidity was 50%. It doesn't rain in Pasadena in
June. I've lived in both Pasadena and Minneapolis. I prefer Pasadena in
June (and February).


> Personally, I like the Caltech campus.  But decisions need to be
> driven by hard facts. 

Not Bill's speculation about Pasadena.

> I understand that Pasadena is convenient for people on the West
> Coast. But Berkeley Lab is even more centrally located and has none
> of the 

imagined

> primary defects of Pasadena.  And for the goal to promote increased
> diversity, Berkeley would be a lot more welcoming and appealing than
> Pasadena.

And your evidence that Pasadena is unwelcoming, unappealing, and isn't
diverse is what???

>  Indeed, the last WG5 meeting at Berkeley Lab had the most diverse
> attendance of all the meetings I’ve attended. 

Getting from SFO to Berkeley Lab on BART was much more difficult than
getting from LAX to Pasadena. The most-convenient train didn't operate
on Sunday. I had to go around to Oakland to get a train that went to
Berkeley. I usually arrive on Sunday.

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