Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 10

This week, I read Rebekah Fitzgerald's blog post from week 8, in which she visited her sister in a neighborhood near Koreatown. The following is a copy of my comment:

Hi Rebekah,

As I read your blog post, I realize that it conjures up several readings and lecture topics from class over the past couple weeks. When you mention that your initial impression of Koreatown was that there were not many Koreans, I found that interesting; I'm sure many people would assume that in a place called Koreatown, that the majority of the population would be Korean. This has to do with race as an axis of social difference--as Stuart Hall suggests, race is a floating signifier, meaning that it can signify various ideas and beliefs that people hold. In this case, the floating signifier of Korean race was that of a geographical implication, that Koreans would be drawn to live in Koreatown. In reality, you said that the majority population you observed was Hispanics, which is interesting as well.

Another idea that came to mind when I read "the streets had a lot of trash littered on them... [and that] the area is mainly composed of low-income Central American/Hispanic families" was that of Majora Carter: environmental justice in minority neighborhoods. I realize that the area you described is probably nowhere near that of the South Bronx, but it still represents that lower income neighborhoods lack access to environmental justice, in that the streets are not clean, and there is a lack of nature sites, which are necessary for one's physical health.

However, the fact that your sister "would walk home many times alone after she got off work after midnight and was never once bothered" implies that crime rates are low in the area, which is interesting because it has been shown that low income neighborhoods have high crime rates. It would be interesting to figure out why this is, and to figure out ways to transform other low income neighborhoods to also represent these proposed low crime rates.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 9

After searching through several LA Times articles, I finally found one that interested me: "Archstone buys apartment complexes in Venice and Marina Del Rey" by Roger Vincent. Admittedly, my initial attraction to this article's title was the location, because I've always been fascinated by Venice, although I have not been there many times, nor do I know a great deal of information about the area. I figured this was all the more reason to incorporate this article into my post, and follow up by visiting Venice. Prior to my short journey to Venice, though, I conducted some preliminary research on the demographics and found that, according to Movoto (which gets data from the Census and the FBI Crime Database), the population of Venice consists of 71% white, 12% 'others', 7% African American, 5% 'mixed races', 4% Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1% Indian. I also found that the majority age ranges from 25 to 39 years old, most people are well educated and employed, and there are primarily one person households. Marina Del Rey is an equally affluent seaside city southeast of Venice. The unincorporated suburban community has similar demographics to that of Venice. For the purpose of this post, I will only be focusing on Venice.

Historically, Venice has been a great attraction to all, as it provides amusement to the public with its eccentric people, beautiful beaches, canals, and most importantly, its two-mile long promenade featuring performers, fortune-tellers, artists, and vendors. One important geographical aspect shared by Venice and Marina del Rey is their locations in relation to nature. In Southern California, seaside communities are generally more affluent areas. Beach cities are residence to high-income households in addition to popular tourist locations. Venice is an example of how socioeconomic development can be influenced by geographical location. The desirability of the seaside location has impacted the social differences within the community, in that the two extremes--the upperclass and homeless people live in very close proximity of one another. The upperclass can afford the beachfront properties, while the homeless also desire this beautiful location, yet they sleep on the streets. The value and real estate potential of the location is evident in Archstone's high purchasing price of the two properties; over $100 million in total. Archstone, "which operates upscale apartments in coastal markets, bought the Frank, a 70-unit complex on Rose Avenue in Venice, for $56.2 million" (Vincent). In class, we discussed nature as aesthetic value, in relation to the symbolism of wealth and status. Clearly, the beaches are beautiful, and living in such an area symbolizes one's wealth. 

While visiting Venice Beach, I noticed the gap in social differences in both residents and homes. As stated previously, upperclass and homeless reside in the same space. When I went to the Frank, renamed Archstone Venice, located at 512 Rose Avenue, I noticed that there is a clear divide between this new complex and its immediate surroundings. The Archstone Venice is an upscale place that "integrates sustainable living with community and culture, connecting people to place" according to Caroline Boneham, a blogger and interior designer, who's blog, Natural Beauty, can be found here. It's wonderful that this new complex is working towards sustainable living, while integrating people in the area because I realized that the houses surrounding the block where Archstone Venice is located seem to be less up-to-date, for lack of a better term. The new complex boasts an onsite food production, which I saw while observing the area: Cafe Gratitude. 

The complex also shares its space with other little shops:

This brings the community together in a way that integrates all kinds of people, including those who can afford to live in the upscale complex, as well as those who live in the surrounding houses. I found it interesting that the Archstone Venice incorporates 'green living' with the community, bringing nature to the area:

Overall, it seems that this new complex is working to better the community as a whole in various ways, including sustainable living, art, culture, connectedness, and the quality of life. This is bringing a new meaning the "floating signifier" of nature, wherein it was once viewed as a place far away from the centrality of a city, and now can be found all throughout a city, such as Archstone Venice. At the same time, though, they are not trying to change the area from its roots, as it also incorporates several art pieces, since art was one of the original characteristics of Venice. Instead of the idea of nature being a scarce resource, the Archstone Venice invites the larger community to come enjoy its piece of happiness in green living. 

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 8

Old Town Pasadena

Over the weekend, I visited an area I've grown quite fond of over the past several years while visiting my aunt and uncle who live in Pasadena: Old Town. Old Town Pasadena boasts a shopping mall, upscale restaurants, a movie theater, night clubs, outdoor cafes, pubs, and comedy clubs. The architecture is attractive (lots of brick), and there are cute courtyards within Old Town, which gives the area an inviting type of vibe. Every time I go to Old Town, I find that everyone is very happy and friendly as well. Overall, Old Town Pasadena is an appealing place for nearly anyone to go for whatever reason they desire. The following few pictures show the nice architecture of the buildings in Old Town, on Colorado Boulevard specifically.

Due to its many attractions, Old Town Pasadena a popular destination for both tourists and locals. Because I know that shopping can be quite busy in this area, I used SimplyMap, a web-based mapping application for geographic research, to get some data from the 91102 zip code based on "Clothing and Accessories Store Sales". In my research, I found that LA County had the highest value of money spent on clothing and accessories out of all US counties:

I found it interesting that California has three counties out of the top ten highest monetary values regarding clothing and accessory sales in the United States, while states such as New York and Texas have just two counties each, and Illinois, Florida, and Arizona have one county each for high values. Another way to look at this data is within a map, which shows the map of the US in different shades of color to demonstrate the amount of money spent on clothing and accessories in stores in each county:

The map above shows once again that California, as a whole, spent the most money per county in 2011 on clothing and accessory sales (demonstrated by the darkest shade of red). The reflection of this had been my thought going into the research, and the data I found confirmed my theory. However, when I went to Old Town Pasadena, a place that is highly esteemed for its shopping, I was surprised at how few people were making purchases in the stores I went in to observe. I figured that mostly wealthy people go there to shop (or at least people who are willing to spend money on clothing and accessories) and that there would be plenty of people enjoying themselves in the area. But when I went in various stores to observe the amount of people buying clothing/accessories, I didn't find many at all, which was very surprised to me. I assumed that since we are nearing the holidays, it is a new season, and because it was over the weekend, that it would be very crowded. Below are pictures I took in several clothing and accessory stores, demonstrating the small shopping crowd.

J. Crew cash register counter

Small group of people shopping in the women's section at J. Crew

Very few shoppers in Kate Spade

Kate Spade

Very few people in Kenneth Cole

Clearly shown above (I apologize for the messy-looking array of photos; I'm having formatting issues), there were not many people making any purchases in any of the stores I went into in Old Town; it seemed that there were just a small amount of window shoppers and such. After being confused for quite a while (walking in and out of stores) I realized that Black Friday is right around the corner, and that many people are waiting until then to do major holiday shopping. 

As far as types of people go, there is a good amount of diversity in the area: as usual in the LA area, there are homeless people along the streets, asking for money and the occasional performer. For the most part though, the people that frequent the area seem to be middle to upper class that can afford to maintain the lifestyle held in Old Town Pasadena: shopping at high-end stores and eating at nice restaurants, as well as entertainment. Some ideas from lecture tie into my experience in Old Town Pasadena: axes of difference. Social difference has a lot to do with class, and this is evident in Old Town, as class has to do with socially stratified groups, and the main stratified group here seems to be mostly from the same class. According to Marxian definition, classes are determined by what they own. While by this definition, Marx is referring to the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, a more contemporary meaning of "what people own" can be applied to Old Town Pasadena (or any city for that matter), in that people flaunt their wealth by wearing expensive clothing and accessories, as well as shopping in high-end stores and eating at nice restaurants.

Another idea from lecture that relates to Old Town Pasadena has to do with the Marxist view as well, with regard to factories that are now a thing of the past, where offices have taken their place ("pastoral capitalism"). Above several of the stores and restaurants that line the streets here, are offices and apartments. As stated in class, factories still exist today, just updated and nicer-looking (and these offices are nice looking, as stated and shown previously in this post, the architecture is very attractive). We also discussed the city as a tool for reproducing labor, in which employers strive to make their workers think their lifestyle is sufficient in order to keep them working. The apartments above stores is a perfect way to add convenience to workers' lives, as well as keeping employees entertained with the many things to do in the area. Marx's ideas from lecture were based on factories and capitalism in the past, but the concepts still apply today, in a more contemporary and seemingly less-exploitve way.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 7

The following is a comment response to Amanda's blog post from week 5, when she visited Redlands, her hometown. The blog post can be found here.

Like several cities, Redlands seems to relate to Olin, Kling, and Poster's "The Emergence of Postsuburbia" in that suburbs now house various classes, races, and family types. In addition to the types of people that inhabit these areas, the suburbs are "characterized by a land-use pattern that is dominantly residential and a transportation pattern that is dominantly one in which people commute to work outside of the area", which you say relate perfectly to Redlands. This type of area, as described above, also relates to an idea brought up in this week's online reading: David Harvey's "The Environment of Justice" with reference to the "standard view" in which "concerns for environmental justice (if they exist at all) are kept strictly subservient to concerns for economic efficiency, continuous growth, and capital accumulation" (Harvey 7). In your post, you go on to mention that Redlands offers "a very popular (and quite large) outdoor shopping area called Citrus Plaza." According to Harvey, this shopping center simply serves to maintain economic efficiency without concern for the environment. To build this shopping center, much of the original environment of Redlands surely had to be at least slightly damaged, if not severely. And this is all to serve the purpose of economic growth.

Furthermore, relating back to Olin, Kling, and Poster's "transportation pattern that is dominantly one in which people commute to work outside of the area." This idea continues to relate to the standard view with respect to the environement (or the lack thereof). It is widely known that automobiles do a disservice to the environment, and this, still, is all to keep the economic profits flowing. Your mention of the architecture and design of Citrus Plaza that is meant to attract people relates to an idea discussed in class having to do with keeping people at just the right level of satisfaction to believe that their lives (with respect to their jobs) are sufficient enough to continue working at an unsatisfactory wage. In short, this has to do with the belief that if people feel that their entertainment in life is at a high enough level, they feel that they are living a happy life. Just as you note, the area has a "going out" type of atmosphere, and this is precisely the intention.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 6

The following is a comment on Kathy's blog entitled "Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 3", which can be found here.


Hi Kathy, I have never even heard of Boyle Heights, no less been there, so I enjoyed reading your blog post and learning a little bit about the area. I like how you chose one particular block in the area so that your analysis could be specific. Your depictions of the murals you observed seem accurate, and I think you are correct in your presumption that the "tagging on the walls and floor can be related more to lower economic communities" since it has often been associated with those groups of people. However, I'm not sure whether you are referring to the picture you posted when speaking of the tagging, but it seems that those words don't resemble to tagging that is usually done on walls/buildings; instead, those words seem more positive and hopeful than most of the graffiti/tagging I have seen.

It's great that you had the opportunity to interview a friend from the area (and even more advantageous for the purpose of understanding more about Boyle Heights) that he has lived for over two decades. I find it interesting that 90% of the community is of Hispanic decent, and this brings up the topics from class having to do with class and race. From this week's reading, "The Continuing Causes of Segregation", Massey and Denton consider the idea of segregation having to do with racism. While I do not know the history of Boyle Heights or its class, it seems as though those who live there would fall under a lower social class category according to the small information I have collected from your post, regarding the education system. That being said, I do not mean to imply that racism exists in Boyle Heights; rather, I am trying to get the point across that is brought up in this reading: that is, segregation from the past relates to living patterns spatially in a city. In this sense, the vast majority of Hispanics in Boyle Heights seems to demonstrate this idea.

Furthermore, according to the Marxist view, the fact that your friend's school was "too populated" implies that the community is trying to use the city as a tool for reproducing labor (and it's working; in fact, it's over-working, if you will). In Marxist's view, virtually everything within a city can be related back to the production of goods, and therefore, labor to produce the goods. In class, schools were described as "factories for producing labor" and when your friend says that "some [students] had to be transported to an occupational center in order to get an education", this is in correlation to the 'schools as factories' idea, in that education must remain organized in order to effectively continue the production of labor.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 5

Miracle Mile and Hancock Park

This week I visited the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, which is "an area in the mid-Wilshire region of a 1.5 mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Highland Avenues. It may also refer to the surrounding neighborhoods (including Park La Brea)" (Wikipedia). Prior to my trip to the Miracle Mile, I did some minor research on my destination since I had never been there before. According to Wikipedia, "in the early 1920s, Wilshire Boulevard west of Western Avenue was an unpaved farm road, extending through dairy farms and bean fields... Developer A. W. Ross saw potential for the area and developed Wilshire as a commercial district to rival downtown Los Angeles...[he] saw that the form and scale of his Wilshire strip should attract and serve automobile traffic rather than pedestrian shoppers." According to our lectures, these instances throughout history mark some significant changes in the urban revolution: this area went from agricultural and fairly underdeveloped, to a more industrial metropolis. Similar to the ideas in "The Emergence of Postsuburbia" the Miracle Mile's development constructed by Ross had to do with enabling the automobile transportation rather than pedestrians. In Orange County, Rob Kling, Spencer Olin, and Mark Poster claim that "specialized residential, commercial, and industrial zones were difficult for pedestrians to navigate, designed to accommodate the automobile driver" just as Ross had planned to do to the Miracle Mile. While Orange County (which is different from almost any other area of its time, with regard to rapid development) demonstrates all three main types of cities, or areas, the Miracle Mile accounts for a commercial zone. When I went to the Miracle Mile (on a Saturday afternoon) I was surprised to see that there were hardly any people walking about the streets (as there are in most areas on the LA area). Evidently, "Ross had invented the car-oriented urban form...the moves also contributed to Los Angeles's reputation as a city dominated by the car" (Wikipedia). So I guess we have A. W. Ross to thank for the wonderful LA traffic that many of us have to deal with on a daily basis.

A picture I quickly snapped while driving into the beginning of what marks the 'Miracle Mile'

After visiting the Miracle Mile and walking up and down a few blocks, I found that Ross's vision still stands: He had "ordered that all building facades along Wilshire be engineered so as to be seen through a windshield. This meant larger, bolder, simply signage; longer buildings in a larger scale, oriented toward the boulevard; and architectural ornament and massing perceptible at 30 MPH (50 km/h) instead of walking speed" (Wiki). I observed mostly large buildings that were not particularly appealing to the eye while walking. I did notice that there were various small (mostly chain) restaurants, but I didn't come across many stores that invited pedestrians to walk up and down the boulevard casually, to stop into and shop. I didn't get any pictures that exhibit the themes that Ross had originally intended for (and succeeded in doing so), however I did take pictures of the few restaurants I came across, which, to me, almost seemed out of place.

It seems as though this area is slightly abstracting away from Ross's initial plan for this area by implementing a means of commercialization that is more inviting to people in order for them to gain attraction to the area. In addition to these chain restaurants displayed above, a noticed an art theme. After realizing, quite frankly, that this so-called 'Miracle' mile didn't seem so miraculous, I happened across a park that I decided to explore.

"Hancock Park, La Brea Pits"

The park had slightly more people than did the streets, but the crowd was still sparse. People were casually strolling around the peaceful park, looking at the Tar Pit exhibits, statues, and museums (one of which was the LACMA, which I wanted to explore but couldn't due to a private event). It was interesting to me that there were so few people at the park on a Saturday afternoon, and I can't think of any reason for this, other than the private event (since LACMA is likely the main attraction of Hancock Park). There were also two performers that I saw: one man sang and played jazz-like music, while another man had set up several chilled glasses with different amounts of water to play music with. Both of these musical men took song requests from passersby. These performers differed from those I had seen previously at 3rd Street Promenade last week, in that their performances were more personalized to their audience since there were few people, and requests for songs could easily be made.  

One of the tar pits, with elephants 

Some statues outside of the Page museum

Some statues outside of the Page museum

A panoramic view of the park.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 4

Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade 

Today, I went to 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica to observe social difference. This is definitely a good place to go for people watching, as there is no lack of entertainment, which ranges from singing and dancing to plate balancing to comedy. One of the main wonders I had today was the difference in reasoning for why these performers go to 3rd street promenade (or any area like it for that matter) to show their talents. The reasons I came up with included wanting to be "discovered" to get famous, seeking attention, boredom, and of course, earning money. I have been to the promenade several times before, and I have seen some real talent there, which provides great entertainment for the public. Here were some of the people I saw today (I apologize for the lack of quality):

A dancer setting up her "stage"

Another dancer balancing some sort of basket on her head

In addition to the performers and entertainers of 3rd street promenade are several other interesting people. Having to do with social difference, I saw a gay couple walk by happily and proudly holding hands. They were both broad-shouldered and fit men, one black and one white. I thought that this was interesting because the stereotypical gay couple includes one "masculine" partner and one "feminine" partner, while these men both came off more masculine. Another important thing to note is the racial difference: for some, it is seen as strange or even wrong for a couple to be together that doesn't share the same race. So I liked to see these people proving these stereotypes and narrow-minded thoughts wrong. Another man I saw who sparked my interest was in a wheel chair, and was missing his right leg, and he had a little Beagle that was also missing one leg. I wondered what had happened to each of them and I thought they were an adorable pair. I tried to get a picture, but there were a few people blocking my view because they were paying them attention as well:

Throughout the time I was there, I observed all types of people, which proves that social difference is evident: there are wealthy people who mainly go to the promenade to shop (as there are several great stores there) and on the other end of the spectrum are homeless people. And apparently, some "normal" looking people are homeless, according to Carson (ScriptShadow). Carson warns, "Santa Monica is the homeless capital of the United States... Be careful, since LA's homeless crowd is the best dressed in the nation, they often look like normal people. I once thought I’d made a new best friend only to have him screaming at me five minutes later that I was working for the government." I read this after I had gotten home from Santa Monica, so now that I look back on my time there today, I can recall a number of people who may have been these so called homeless "normal" people. Here are three men that sat on the benches across from where I sat, who may fit Caron's description:

What was most striking to me during my observational experience today was seeing the extreme social difference between the wealthy and the poor. This is an idea that relates back to a topic from lecture, with regard to the common ways inequality (or difference) is thought of as being natural. Admittedly, I am one who has held the same ideology about homeless people: they're everywhere, sleeping on the streets, begging for money, and appear often to be drunk or high. Not until I took a step back today, and thought about this idea critically, did I realize that this idea directly relates to our lecture. In class, we talked about unequal pay for women as opposed to men, as well as racial and ethnic differences (and these are evident as well, but homelessness was my main focus today). With regard to homeless people, we often think of them passively, knowing "that's just the way it is" and we don't question it. Today made me realize that this inequality should be acknowledged. Many people often say that homeless people live on the streets because they screwed up their own lives, when in reality many of them may have been born into the homeless lifestyle, which I imagine is nearly impossible to get out of, while others may have lived “normal” lives before events altered that, and they ended up on the streets. Although it is true that several homeless people do get themselves into that position, it's unfair to assume that all circumstances are the same among homeless people we see. It's important not to jump to judgmental conclusions, and instead be compassionate knowing everyone is unique, as are their circumstances, and when it comes down to it, we're all human, and deserve the benefit of the doubt.