Blogging Social Difference in L.A. Week 2

The Grove and World Famous Farmer's Market

When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was so excited to be driving by all these different neighborhoods, seeing all these different restaurants, shops, and sights that I had never seen before.  That's the thing about Los Angeles.  It has something for everyone; forests, beaches, concrete jungles, and suburban neighborhoods.  I've noticed though, that in my 6 years of living here, I no longer focus on what landmarks I'm driving by, as the rush to get where I need to be overwhelms me and the desire to look for openings in the traffic become my focus.  This class has made me realize how living in Los Angeles makes you forget about the beauty of it all, and the magic that comes when you just open your eyes to it. 

The Buildings on the beach at Santa Monica

Powell Library at Night

The Corner of Figueroa in Downtown Los Angeles

 After opening my eyes to it all, I promised myself I was going to make more of an effort to delve into the culture of Los Angeles, and catch up on lost time.  I started on my drive to work.  I work in The Grove, which has become synonymous with the World Famous Farmer's Market.  To me, it's nothing more than a place to work, but to those who live in the surrounding areas, it is a hub of multicultural life that is as dependent on the locals as it is on the millions of tourists who visit it each year.

What I find most fascinating about The Grove is the areas that surround it.  The Grove is located in the middle of the Mid-Wilshire area.  The areas that neighbor the grove are interesting in that they house a large proportion of the city's ethnic population in microcommunities.  These microcommunities: the Fairfax District, Little Ethiopia, Museum Row, and Korea Town.  Each of these communities maintains a significant concentration of the city's Ethiopian, Jewish, and Korean communities.

When you immerse yourself into these areas, everything changes.  The language on the billboards, the types of food, and the people you see.  These microcommunities take on the challenge of maintaining a culture that would otherwise be lost to mainstream influence. After visiting these places, I was able to gain perspective onto the concept put forth in some of our readings.  Our readings describe a city as if it consists of a set of rings, with the center ring being the industrial, or business class. Moving immediately out from that ring, the reading claims that the next area is an area of deterioration.  However, looking at LA as a whole, I don't really see these claims of different zones to be true.

I think the reason that you don't see these zones as prevalent as it might be in some cities is because the zones overlap.  The overlapping of these zones doesn't allow for the typical formation of the different area of the city.

This next week go out and discover how phenomenal it is, that despite all of this theory about how a city should work, Los Angeles tends to break the mold.  Frank Lloyd Wright said it best,

"Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles."

Although individually we may be the loose ends from the corners of the world, together we become something greater. Together we become a city, a dream, and a future.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 1

"It's the city I live in, the City of Angels..."

My name is Boo.  I was born in Los Angeles, and I was practically raised here as well.  To those who are unfamiliar with Los Angeles, there is a picture that is painted that completely misrepresents life here.   Most people see the side of Los Angeles Hollywood allows you to see; a depicted life where actors and actresses come to succeed.  In the six years that I've lived here, I've lived in 4 different neighborhoods, and I've seen what Los Angeles has to offer, from the good to the bad.  From Westwood to Downtown, there are good neighborhoods, and bad neighborhoods.  There is an active night life, and  places where the elderly can find their niche.  Los Angeles is home to some of the best food in the world, and houses some of the most creative minds.  More than that, however, is the incredible diversity that this city has to offer; cities within cities where communities thrive and cultures are maintained.  Korea Town, China Town, the Fairfax District, Little Jalisco, and Little Ethiopia represent only a small amount of the micro communities that are present here. Within each of these regions, everything changes. These changes aren't simply the people who inhabit the communities, but the physical characteristics that come together to structure these areas of culture. 

Over the next ten weeks, and possibly longer, I plan to venture Los Angeles and document, both through written word and photography, the difference between these neighborhoods, and the different means that the city's inhabitants use to make it from point A to point B.  I plan on documenting the differences between social status, the architecture of the building, and how it may correlate to the history of the area.  I will talk about the vegetation, the cars, and every aspect of the area that can distinguish itself from another part of the city. 

I will officially start next week, but I wanted to start with a story of a bus ride I once had.  I had locked myself out of my apartment while on my way to work, I was without my house keys and car keys.  When I finally realized what happened I knew I needed to find a new way to get where I needed to be.  I had never used the bus before, but I needed to get to work, so I rummaged through my pockets, and counted out the amount of change I would need to get where I was going.  After gathering my change, I walked the half-mile from my door to the bus stop.  I could see the bench in my view, and I saw people waiting for the same bus I was going to be taking. When I arrived at the station, I saw a man sitting on the bench, wearing a long black trench coat with tears and green corduroys that had been cut into shorts.  The gentleman had a Styrofoam cup, with "change" scribbled within the malleable surface.   I stood next to him, and as he looked up at me he SCREAMED "You're one of THEM!"  I had no clue what he was referring to, but I was sure that there was some instability there.  I tried to ignore it, but he continued to mutter things as we waited. When the bus finally arrived, I decided to separate myself from him, and sat a couple seats back from the front. To no surprise at all, the man sat across from me.  I started on my 1.9 mile bus ride through East Culver City into the world famous Grove and Farmers Market.  These are two completely different neighborhoods, with completely different people and socio-economic status. But I will touch on that at a later date.  As soon as we started the bus ride, the man grabs my tie, and slightly pulls me down to his eye level.  I had no idea what to do.  My heart was racing, and as he peered into me, he calmly told me that my tie was a representation of everything and everyone who had ever oppressed him.  By wearing it, I was giving into my corporate identity, ad I would become nothing more than a number when I died.  After that, he released the grip he had on my tie, and I fell back onto my seat.  I sat motionless for two, maybe three minutes before realizing that the bus isn't for me.  I pulled the 'next stop' cord and walked the rest of the way.  Even though I was late for work, for some reason, I didn't mind.

I want to try and make more than one post a week, to tell you about restaurants, restaurant life, school, and things that I do in this crazy city. 

"At least I have her love,

The city she loves me"