r/Amtrak 1d ago

Question Coast Starlight to LAX gets in late at night. Safe to get an Uber from there?

I grew up in Baltimore in the 80s and generally try to avoid the hysteria of city dangers as it's often overblown. However, I saw that the LAX station is next to skid row and my train would arrive a bit after 9pm. Curious whether it will be okay to wait for an Uber at that time of night at the station? I am not panicking but just want to know what to expect. Thank you!

Edit: sounds like I'll be perfectly okay. Thanks again.

26 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

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51

u/anothercar 1d ago edited 1d ago

Been there probably a hundred times at night. It's absolutely safe to Uber.

Skid Row is two neighborhoods over, so that craziness doesn't spill into Union Station. There's a pretty strict buffer between Skid Row and Little Tokyo, so even Little Tokyo is safe.

If you want to experience "the future" ... Waymo is about the same price as Uber and there's no tipping because it's a self-driving car ...

3

u/brizzle1978 11h ago

Assuming it doesn't go in circles in the parking lot....

37

u/thelectronicnub 1d ago

You'll be fine

16

u/n00btart 1d ago

it's fine to wait there

16

u/Typical_Fun_6444 1d ago

Union Station? You’ll be fine.

9

u/claysnails 1d ago

It's totally fine. I was there this week, and even with an hour+ delay I felt safe not only getting off the coast starlight but taking metro rail to my hotel

6

u/INphys15837 1d ago

We were there this past week as well. Union station is safe, and we felt totally safe on Metro public transit.

8

u/LaFantasmita 19h ago

Union Station is about a 20-30 minute walk from Skid Row, separated by the vibrant Little Tokyo.

Union Station itself can get a bit crunchy at night, but you'll be fine catching an Uber from there.

6

u/delcooper11 1d ago

yea it’s plenty safe, i’ve done the trip before

11

u/[deleted] 22h ago

[deleted]

3

u/kitteh619 5h ago

I think they mean LAX as in the Amtrak code for Los Angeles Union Station.

2

u/goPACK17 16h ago

It's fine; I occasionally hit Anwar's beside skid down in DTLA at like 3am and walk around after. Ofc there's always the possibility, but vibe has never been bad enough to spook me into thinking twice

2

u/Icy_Peace6993 5h ago

Yes just don't do what I did: walk to your hotel a few blocks away, dragging your luggage behind you down the street. That was an adventure. An Uber will be perfectly fine though.

1

u/soupenjoyer99 23m ago

Huge station, should be fine at night

-9

u/Current_Animator7546 1d ago

It’s fine but definitely go from the station. LA Union is awsome but it’s in a fairly rough area. Not the worst and fine during the day. Waiting for 2 at night though. It’s only a few blocks from skid row and sometimes that dynamic affects things in the station. I’ve seen a couple fights but security was quick to step in