Week 10: Final Response

For my final blog post, I responded to Logan’s last post about the urban/beach setting of Santa Monica and some information about homelessness in the city. 

http://uclangelino.blogspot.com/2012/12/blogging-social-justice-in-los-angeles.html?showComment=1355104090794#c446393263664104322

Hi Logan,  

I found it very intriguing that you said that Santa Monica is a beach amongst an urban landscape, which differs how one would normally think a typical beach town would be. When one visits Santa Monica on Ocean Ave and Third Street, it does seem very touristy and laid-back. This is different than most urban cities along the coast because they are located there due to ports for large scale commercial activity and trade. This relates to our Megacities lecture because heavily populated areas are more susceptible to environmental hazards (as we have seen with Hurricane Sandy and Katrina.) The fact that they are situated as metropolitan areas such as New York is rather important and any major damage can be detrimental to large, populated cities. However, as you stated it is interesting how this urban beachtown is different than most other cities along the coast. It differs from New York or even New Orleans. California is known for its beaches, therefore I think that the city wishes to have the best of both worlds. Many offices are located in Santa Monica, but it is also very famous for the pier and heavy tourism. Many people visit the metropolitan Los Angeles, therefore when they come to Los Angeles, Santa Monica offers the idealized beaches as well. 

 When I have gone to Santa Monica, I also notice a very different route than when I go to downtown Los Angeles. If I take the Big Blue Bus and head west, I stumble upon the federal building and other high-rises, but the setting gets less metropolitan and turns into the beach town and shopping center as it hits the coast. I believe that Santa Monica is probably a beachtown that urbanized as Los Angeles did, because it is now part of metropolitan Los Angeles. What I found very intriguing about your blog post was how you related a positive aspect of an urban city. It was surprising to see that the reason there are so many homeless people is because of programs and assistance that the city offers. I think that is interesting, because it must differ from the downtown Los Angeles area. Often times, homeless are looked down upon, but there definitely are programs to help in the dense metro areas. I could not relate this aspect to any of the readings because they did not really  point out anything truly positive about the urban city, which I would definitely like to read more about. 

Week 9: 3rd Response

I responded to Antonio's blog post about his bus ride down Wilshire.

http://afigueroageography151.blogspot.com/2012/11/blogging-social-difference-in-l.html

Hi Antonio,

I enjoyed reading your blog post and I thought you had a unique viewpoint on certain aspects of the Wilshire area. The 720 is always an interesting experience for me as well. It is not just interesting by the diversity of people on the bus, but at the large differences one sees within blocks. I like the fact that you stated that the roads suck even though it was a minor detail to you, because they really do! I have also wondered that, because east of Westwood Village is supposed to “Millionaire’s Mile,” but the roads are full of potholes.  (I also noticed this coming to UCLA as a freshman on Sunset Boulevard. I noticed potholes, uprooted cement and narrow roads. I thought, if these people are millionaires I am sure they have the power to influence construction on these streets. ) The metro 720 usually goes too fast for me to recognize the significance of the people tending the buildings, parking, and gardens closely, but I have observed the people from time to time.

I also do not find it surprising that this area of millionaires with their fancy cars, hotels, and buildings has a high influx of minority workers, as you stated. It is very prominent in areas like this to have minorities work in these jobs. What is interesting to me, is that on the Metro 720 we see these people that are most likely heading East for work every single day. I see how vital it is for people to work these jobs. They take the jobs that other (mostly non-minorities) would never take, in order to provide little but something to their families. In a way, I think these might be embedded in Durkheim’s idea of morality. From what I have seen, Hispanics taking these low income jobs is because they lack resources for highly qualified jobs, but also culture. The Latin American culture is big on hard work and the ideal that working in itself, is something that is necessary, regardless of how difficult it is or how low the wages are. That’s where specialization comes in the urban fabric, density allows people to fill these positions and contribute to organic solidarity, as people rely on minorities to work these jobs. 

Week 8: Simply map

This week, I chose to do a project on simply map and see the distribution of white and black population in the a small radius of the 90024 zip code and 90007 zip code. With UCLA being the heart of this map, I thought it was important to see the population percentage (as of the 2010 census) of the 90024 comparatively with student demographics. As seen on this map, the West Los Angeles demographics of black and white population are significantly different. On the white population map, it is especially apparent that there is a large percentage in the area. About one third of this map looks to hold a percentage of whites of about 85-93% in the Bel Air, Beverly Hills, and Brentwood areas. Another large percentage (72-85%) covers another third of the area such as East Santa Monica, Century City, and Beverlywood area. The remaining areas are south of Santa Monica Blvd, with a 55-72% population of whites and a very small area that is less than 50% white. The black population map tells another story. Here, the population scale is very apparent that there is little black people in this area. There is less than 1% of black people in the areas that are 72-93% white. The areas that have a higher black population are southeast Santa Monica and Crenshaw area that vary from 6-100% black. It makes more sense when compared with socio-economic factors that this area is very affluent and has a large disparity in white/black populations.

Comparitively, I did the same for the zip code around our rival USC campus. Though by visiting both places, it is apparent that there is a great racial difference in the areas, and even more so compared to the student body. The white population around the private USC campus is almost non-existent.There is 30-62% white population in USC's fraternity row, where many of their students live. East of Alameda and a small part of downtown LA also have this percentage of white population. The rest of the area is below 30% white. On the other hand, the black population around the USC campus is more than 2/3 of the area 20-100% black. Other areas are at least 2-20%. Although this is a high population, it is not as significant east of USC because of a high population of Hispanics in the area, that are not taken into account on my maps.

After comparing both of these maps to each other, it is evident that the USC area boasts a much larger black/minority population than the surrounding UCLA campus. The type of real estate and area must be large factor in determining the obvious racial difference between the areas of two prestigious schools in Los Angeles. The fifteen mile difference in the city produces a much different demographic picture. However, I also found it interesting to compare the student body distribution of black and white populations on both campuses. I found that UCLA actually has a higher percentage of white non-hispanics (32%) compared to USC's 23.8%. Both schools have about 3% of the student population as self-identified black students. From this sample, I found it interesting to see how little of the large population of black people in Los Angeles attend USC/UCLA. This information seemed to disregard the area because both schools had a very similar  black population percentage even when the black population in their areas were much different. I compared this finding to Douglas Massey's article on the "Continuing Causes of Segregation." Black populations are much more highly confined to poor areas as compared to other groups. I could only imagine that this large disparity is due to racially discriminative factors and unequal resources. I believe that with unequal education and resources in areas, there is not as much progress as there could be with talented black students attending prestigious black universities and we must educate people that this is not due to any lack of intelligence (far from that), but discrimination that persists to this day.

Week 7: Bus Trip along Wilshire

              Last Sunday, I took a bus trip to the LACMA museum. I have passed the museum many times before, but never had the time to go and check it out. Although touring the museum was a great experience, the bus trip there and back was what I found most appealing. Since we have been discussing in class what social difference is, I paid close attention to the different people on the bus. As soon as I stepped in the metro 720 on Wilshire/Westwood, I knew it would be an interesting ride. The huge bus was crowded as always, with a multitude of people sitting very close to each other, but mostly minding their own business. I was not surprised to see that I would have to stand for the entire bus ride, but I did not mind. I looked around me as the bus made me bump into people.  I held onto the pole and tried my best not to stare at people while I observed them.

                The people on the bus were ethnically diverse. I saw many Asians, Latinos, African-Americans, and just as many white people. It was a multi-cultural setting. While people were neck and neck, bumming into each other standing up, I was careful to observe any animosity or racial conflict, but there was none. I also observed the diversity of not only race, but class identity. Divisions that occurred on the bus were racial, but not very important because people of different races sat together closely. Class was not what separated the people either, it is what brought them together on this means of transportation. Most of the people on the bus seemed to belong to the 'lower' class, seeming to commute to and from work places on a Sunday afternoon. The sole idea that they worked on a Sunday afternoon, was telling of the people on the metro. It reiterated that class was not the issue anymore, and neither was race.

                The issue I observed on this trip was about age. There seemed to be very different age groups on the bus. There were college students, couples in their late twenties, early thirties, middle-aged women and men, and even more senior citizens. I listened in on the conversation of some veterans that were in the front of the bus. They started a conversation about how younger people in the city have a lack of respect for elders. They were discussing how sometimes they come on the bus and it upsets them to see that younger people are sitting down while the elderly are standing up. They said the elderly should have priority and are more fragile and prone to pain than younger people.  One man stated that the children were not always the problem, but how they were raised. I thought it was interesting to hear them, because I too feel that there is a lack of respect for elders in the city. However, was it really the parents upbringing or the city?

                One of the men was complaining about a young kid he saw on the bus one time. The kid would not give up his seat for an elder, and the old man said he made the kid stand up. I compared this to social difference and how customs are affected by the fast-growing urban metropolis, as we can see this throughout generations on transportation networks. While I think this aspect is cultural, it is fueled by the post-metropolitan city because commutes on buses are long, so it is a first come first thing.  The density on the bus can make people, even younger generations, vie for a seat ignoring the expected courtesy. This idea was very new to me, as I did not find age as a mode of social difference in any of the readings.

Week 6: 2nd Response

I responded to a post about a classmate's daily bus commute.

http://uclageography.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-4-not-so-decentralized-la.html

Hi Laiza,
I enjoyed reading your blog because it had a lot of personal character to it! You experience the hassle of riding public transportation for long hours every day in order to make it to school. Not many people I know would make this sacrifice in order to attend this university, and I found it very interesting to see how you personally attributed how public transportation serves you but is also difficult. I cannot relate taking public transportation every day like yourself but I have also ridden this bus line and can understand the ‘gradient’ nature of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region.

As you stated, the center downtown area and East part of Los Angeles differ greatly from the west areas. I too, have seen the poor, polluted areas of downtown and have related it to our previous reading by Friedrich Engels, “Great Towns.” The way he describes the center of Manchester and all of its industry, reminds me slightly of how the downtown area is not well maintained and sort of a dangerous area. I have family that lives in East LA, and where they live is what I pictured of Los Angeles before I came to UCLA. However, I was glad to see how fortunate I am to live in a nice area that is still crowded, but with much lower crime rates and no gang activity.

You made a good point attributing the Chicago School Model to Los Angeles and its counterparts. I think Downtown L.A. is where most people think of L.A, and the surrounding neighborhoods revolve around it as people commute to and from their work places and homes. However, I think throughout time and with the wide-use of automobiles and public transportation, Los Angeles has been more separated from the typical city model where there is a prominent political center. What I would call the center, would not be what someone from another part of L.A. would call it. The city of Los Angeles is similar to New York, where it has diverse neighborhoods and boroughs that might be spatially close, but very dissimilar in terms of demographics, wealth, and appearance. Because of this, each borough has its own center, and that is why I think Los Angeles is more of a decentralized large area, than a centralized Metropolitan city. However, transportation networks have helped to connect these diverse areas after the third urban revolution we learned about in lecture. Trains, buses, trolleys have been essential in Los Angeles to make the area function as a decentralized post-modern region. 

Week 5: 1st Response

My comment this week was in response to James Lee's post about Koreatown. He did a great job in depicting the social difference he saw on his way to Koreatown. It was very similar to what I wrote about in my previous blog post therefore I could relate my observations to his.           

http://jimmyinlosangeles.blogspot.com/2012/10/blogging-social-difference-in-la-week-4.html?showComment=1351909947173#c8233621634510183901


I enjoyed reading your blog post about your bus ride to Koreatown. I too, took a trip there last week on my way to Korean BBQ and saw the rough conditions of the neighborhood, but also the contrast of neighboring Beverly Hills. You made a good point that Koreatown developed as a commercial place because it is still pretty industrial and has many commercial shops. From this information, it is easier to understand how this area is underdeveloped compared to Beverly Hills. I also thought it was interesting how you identified the type of architecture in the area and how it is important to see this as a prominent aspect of social difference in close metropolitan areas. What most caught my attention about your blog is your statement on how Koreatown is not just concentrated with Asians, but many Latinos as well. Contrary to what I previously thought, I was surprised to see Latino people in the restaurant and Latino businesses next to all of the Korean shops, but race did not seem to be very important, at least with my experience. 

Although Koreatown may seem to follow the Chicago school model, I think the borough relates more to the post-metropolis idea. The postmetropolis in the fourth urban revolution consisted of more segmented centers. For instance, Koreatown and Beverly Hills each have their centers, therefore it makes sense that these neighborhoods are so different. Transportation networks, such as automobiles, buses, and subways help to connect these parts of Greater Los Angeles and makes social difference more evident than a centralized model would. 

Week 4: Koreatown

 On Saturday, I took a trip with some friends to Koreatown, a place I had never visited before. I was the “co-pilot,” helping my friend from out of town navigate through the streets of Los Angeles. We drove down Wilshire Boulevard, passing the luxurious skyscraper hotels and multi-million dollar company buildings. It was night time and the streets of Beverly Hills were lit up, looking pricey as expected. We drove less than half an hour until we hit the edge of Koreatown. Driving along the streets in the residential area, not far from million-dollar residential areas, were small homes and much older looking apartments. We passed many liquor stores, contrary to what we saw in Beverly Hills. Koreatown had many different shops,restaurants and one thing my friend pointed out was the huge signs on their churches There were several Korean barbecue places and shops that had Korean lettering on them. The buildings in Koreatown looked very narrow and tightly spaced. The shops were cramped together in an l-shape and had very little parking for the massive amount of vehicles there were. The roads were in-tact, but definitely did not have as many lanes as they did on Wilshire. The vehicles were also different because most of them were compact and middle-class vehicles such as the ones shown on the picture below.  There was a mix of Honda's and mid-class SUV’s. The borough did not have any sky-rise buildings, but only one-story shops that looked outdated. There was not much vegetation, which was not surprising in this urban setting.  It was a very different ethnic place, but once we got to the all-you-can-eat Korean Barbecue restaurant, it looked a little more familiar to what I am used to.

                On the side of the restaurant there was a familiar ethnic scene, a 711 with men of differences races standing around outside. I saw a billboard (picture below) that was in Spanish, advising mothers to be precautious about what they feed their children. I found this particularly interesting because there was a Spanish billboard nestled in the middle of Koreatown. There was also a ‘Los Amigos’ market close by and a Guatemalan restaurant. I found this peculiar because as we were waiting outside the restaurant, it was mostly an Asian demographic.I think I was the only Latina in that shopping center as we were waiting outside to be seated. The only time I saw other Hispanic people was inside the restaurant, where they worked as cooks. Although I saw many Asian people in Koreatown, it had a mix of people and their roles seemed specific, but not confined. The Korean people were the business owners, and the Hispanic people were the workers and cooks of the restaurant. From what I saw, the people outside were mostly Asian families, groups of teenagers,and groups of college students. What I learned from observing all of these aspects of Koreatown and the people there was that race was not a major division in this metropolitan neighborhood. Latino & Korean businesses were conglomerated into this substandard neighborhood.  That reinstated the idea that ethnic divisions are not as great as class divisions. People could relate more to people off their own class than people of their same race and different class.  The stark differences between Beverly Hills and Koreatown were more outstanding than the fact that there are many Latinos living and working in Koreatown.

                This idea relates to this week’s reading, “The Truly Disadvantaged.” The reading acknowledged the term of ‘underclass’ that incorporates people living in disadvantaged neighborhoods, such as Koreatown. It also clumps together those individuals in this area as being the unfairly charged ‘ghetto underclass’ as they have similar minimal resources at hand. Therefore I suggest that the socially constructed “underclass” is very prominent among those living in poor neighborhoods and has more to do with economic difference than race. 

Week 3: Place 60 miles from LA

Over the weekend in my hometown of Oxnard, California I took a short drive to two places near my house that were a clear contrast of one another. I went to Silverstrand, which is an affluent beachfront community a few blocks from my parents’ house.  At Silver Strand, my city seemed like a whole other place. The demographics were an anomaly from the rest of the city, because the city is 73% Latino (US Census Bureau) and by judging the looks of residents, they were mostly white. The structure and look of the area was especially significant. There was no center of the neighborhood, just a few markets and surf shops. The houses were all very large and very well maintained. Some of them even looked like mansions. There was hardly any vegetation, except for the landscaped front yards of the multi-million dollar beach houses on the strand. The vehicles in the area were mostly all luxury cars. The area definitely showed where the rich have their summer homes or getaways from the central district of Oxnard. It was on the outskirts, surrounded by a base and a beautiful beach with a long stretch of sand. The social groups that I saw were surfers and older people. What most stood out about going to Silverstrand was that the residents/locals looked at me as if I did not belong. However, when I went just a few miles away near downtown it was a completely different story.
I went to a street named “La Colonia” just on the other side of town. It is where my mother grew up, but also notorious for a violent street gang and as one of the ‘ghettos’ of Oxnard. It is considered one of the worst places to live in my hometown because of its substandard housing, crime, gang activity, and general poverty. Passing through Colonia, I noticed the people outside were mostly all Hispanic. The structure of the neighborhood was poor and most of the buildings looked poorly constructed and crowded. Along the street, there were walls infested with graffiti and substandard facilities. There were a lot of children playing in their front yards and many liquor stores located on that street with men hanging around. The housing was dramatically different from Silverstrand. The houses were one-story, small two bedroom homes with many cars parked in front of them. The people of this neighborhood were an entirely different demographic than the previous location. These people were mainly Hispanic, working class, and living in substandard housing.

Social difference is clear when comparing both of these neighborhoods that are within miles of each other. Their inhabitants, class, ethnicity, occupations, and lifestyles separate these places and show the unequal areas of the small town of Oxnard. It is false to assume that the people that inhabit the rough neighborhood of Colonia are anything less than the people of Silverstrand. Most of the people of Colonia were immigrants and assumed work in a Sunkist factory of citrus, a factory without windows that remains there to this day. Low wages working in factories stalled these immigrants, many of who do not speak English, from attaining the resources offered to people who grew up elsewhere. The inferior schools, gang activity, and general neglect from local government of the area permitted the misallocation of resources between the two neighborhoods. While there is an obvious economic difference, it is more tremendous that there is such a large disparity between lifestyles in such this city. I relate this to the David Sibley reading 'Mapping Pure & Defiled.' Although the differences from these two neighborhoods are not as extreme, it reiterates the idea of spatial difference and inequality. Cities are reshaped to keep 'others' (minorities) at a disadvantaged central location (such as Colonia) from harder to reach places such as Silverstrand. 

Silver Strand is located west on this map next to the beach. Colonia is located in the center (more or less skewed northeastern.) 

Week 2: Car Trip

I drove from Westwood to my hometown of Oxnard, California this weekend. As soon as I drove away from my apartment, the first things that caught my eye were the tall skyscrapers along Wilshire. I also noticed the dense traffic and luxury cars such as Mercedes, BMW, Jaguars and Range Rovers. The drivers in this traffic seemed to be coming from the downtown area to West L.A. and the more suburban part of town. I noticed many of them talking on their phones and preoccupied with other things throughout the daily grind of driving through the infamous Los Angeles traffic. On the other hand, I also observed the people out on the street. I observed a white homeless man asking for change right before the entrance of the 405. Yet, I saw a Hispanic man selling roses around the traffic. While one man was working hard and struggling, another seemed helpless begging for change. The stark differences in class, race, and occupation were very apparent just outside of my apartment.

 As I was driving along the narrow roads of the 405 North, the types of vehicles started to change. I saw a lot of work trucks and every day Toyotas, Fords and ‘middle class’ cars. Classism was apparent with the types of cars on the road, the people in them, and the quality of buildings along the freeway. The size of the buildings became smaller, but seemed to look a lot less modern than the skyscrapers on Wilshire. The traffic along the freeway was crowded, but not as much as the city was. Also, the roads were narrow and dense with traffic on the 405, but became wider and had a newer looking surface on the 101. That astounded me because the 405 area besides Brentwood, Santa  Monica, and Westwood seemed to be much more affluent than Reseda. I had driven past there many times but never stopped to notice these details. The social differences between West Los Angeles and Ventura County were very prominent on my car trip because of the vehicles and preoccupations of the people on the road.  

My car trip back home is related to this week's post-suburban article because it includes the greater Los Angeles area as part of one of the “major metropolises of the world.” The infrastructure and easy access of highways allows for these areas to contribute to the greater Los Angeles area and be a part of its economy. Not only does it tie these areas together economically, but also by the diverse people, landscapes and architecture seen on the freeway. It also relates to the chapter on the ‘Growth of the City’ on how expansion and transportation, as I saw this weekend, allow for people to commute back and forth from Los Angeles to the suburban cities close to it. Although I think my car trip was similar to how busy, diversified, and expanded city life is throughout the Los Angeles Metropolitan region, the article clearly shows a greater distinction between ethnic groups that were not as apparent on the freeway. 

Week 1: Intro

Hello everyone!

I want to share with all of you my understanding of "social difference" in this melting pot of a city! "Social difference" to me is the separation of the population by various factors that shape the role people play in society. For instance, people are inherently distinct in terms of culture, customs, race, class, gender, and most importantly social mobility.  However, their collaboration despite these differences maintains the functionality of the urban city, but also causes conflict, segregation, and inequality.

This blog will include photos and most importantly my view on urban city life and social difference. I am interested in learning about the mix of people in densely populated areas. Growing up in southern California, I feel as if I have a good understanding of the conflicts and divisions between race and class in a dense urban context.  I hope to discuss and also learn from all of you about what makes a metropolis such as Los Angeles, function with great diversity of race, class, and gender.

Some places I would like to visit would be the coastal areas of Los Angeles, such as the Port of Long Beach, Malibu, and Venice Beach. I am familiar with those areas but I would like to explore them with the ideas of this class in mind. I am looking  forward to traveling around L.A. and really getting to explore the city I live in. :)