To: J3                                                     J3/18-232

From: Van Snyder
Subject: Invitation to meet in Pasadena in June 2020
Date: 2018-June-15

I invite WG5 and J3 to meet in Pasadena in June 2020.

There are numerous hotels in Pasadena.

JPL usually recommends that visiting scholars take accomodations at the
Courtyard Inn on Fair Oaks Avenue near Walnut Street.  Diagonally
opposite, at the same intersection, there is a new Marriott Residence
Inn.  Both are within easy walking distance -- about 200 yards -- from
the Metro Gold Line Memorial Park light-rail station at Arroyo Parkway
and Holly Street.  Both have free parking for guests.  The Marriott
Residence Inn is slightly more expensive than the Courtyard Inn.

Several years ago, Caltech offered free meeting rooms.  To take
advantage of that offer (if it is repeated), other hotels nearer to
Caltech might be preferred.  The distances from Gold Line stations to
those hotels are slightly greater (about 0.5 mile).  The distances from
those hotels to Caltech are similar to the distance from Hoyacker Hof to
Leibniz Rechenzentrum (1.25 miles). The journeys between those hotels
and Caltech are on level ground.

A Pasadena Area Rapid Transit System (ARTS) bus line passes near those
hotels, with stops about two blocks from Caltech, and at the Metro Gold
Line Del Mar station.  Pasadena ARTS is distinct from the Los Angeles
area Metro system.  Fares are $0.75, or $0.35 for seniors (60+).

One-way Metro fares are $1.75; they can only be paid by buying a tap
card from a machine at a Metro station or online at taptogo.net.  I
think the card costs $1.00; it is reusable.  Transfers within two hours
of initial boarding are free.

The climate in Pasadena in June is not very different from the climate
in Berkeley in June.  There is frequently a "marine layer" of light
overcast that usually dissipates before noon.  Rain, cold, heat, high
humidity, dense fog, and strong wind are very unusual in June.  Smog is
generally no longer a problem in Los Angeles, and especially not in
June.  Mosquitos are essentially never a problem.

There are many excellent restaurants in Pasadena within easy walking
distance of any of the hotels we might choose.  The Metro Gold Line
provides easy and economical access to downtown Los Angeles, including
Chinatown and Little Tokyo.

A social event consisting of a group tour of JPL can be arranged.  JPL
is 4.3 miles distant from the Courtyard Inn or Marriott Residence Inn,
significantly less than the driving distance from Lawrence Berkeley Lab
to Lake Chalet (8 miles from the main LBL gate).

Getting to Pasadena from LAX is not difficult.  To travel by car, go
east on Interstate 105 to Interstate 110, and north on Interstate 110 to
Pasadena (about 27 miles).  Navigation is very easy in downtown Pasadena
because streets are on a Cartesian grid.  Shuttle prices are reasonable,
from about $13.00 to $30.00.  As is the case everywhere else, taxi would
be very expensive.  Metro does not go to LAX, but there is a free
shuttle between LAX and Metro.  Even so, Metro from LAX to Pasadena is
undesirable because four changes are necessary:  Shuttle to Green Line
to Blue Line to Red Line to Gold Line.  There is a "Freeway Flyer" bus
from LAX to Union Station (about $9.00), from whence one can use the
Metro Gold Line to Pasadena ($1.75).

Los Angeles is of course an alternative to Pasadena.  There are hundreds
of hotels.  Several years ago, the New Otani hotel in Little Tokyo
(which became the Kyoto Grand hotel, and is now a Double Tree by Hilton
hotel) proposed to host a meeting, and offered free meeting rooms.  This
is slightly more expensive than the Marriott Residence Inn in Pasadena.
The Double Tree by Hilton hotel is not far from Union Station (about
fifteen minutes' walk) or the Little Tokyo Arts District Metro Gold Line
Station (about seven minutes' walk).

I can inquire in several hotels in Pasadena (and the Double Tree by
Hilton in Los Angeles if there is interest) what group rates they would
offer, and whether they would offer free meeting rooms, and have results
available well before the October 2018 J3 meeting.