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.