Week 10 Blog Post

            Last night, as I began to fall asleep I heard something out my window. At first I thought it was the flow of drunken college students that march across my streets yelling and laughing. I suddenly changed my opinion when I began to hear blatant threat’s, leading me to inspect things further from my balcony. To my surprise, there was a man smashing his hand on another man’s car window while he was attempting to drive away. The driver, looking very scared, hastily pulled out of his parking spot and the other aggressor began to open the car. Fortunately, the driver was able to get away and the aggressor was only able to smash a bottle on his trunk as he darted off. After, I looked up facts about the safety of Westwood and ran into an interesting article recently published by the Los Angeles Times; in pursuit to better understand social difference. The article was titled “Crime alerts for Westwood and 7 other L.A. Neighborhoods” and can be accessed via the following link http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/11/la-crime-alerts-768.html. The most interesting quote I read was  “Five neighborhoods reported a significant increase in violent crime. Westwood (A) as the most unusual, recording four reports compared with a weekly average of 0.5 over the last three months.”

            This was the first time I had ever witnessed a criminal attempt to rob someone and what a quick and strange experience it was.  I often forget the interesting location Westwood is in the general context of Los Angeles. Snuggled up in-between the lavish houses off of sunset and the skyscrapers on Wilshire; Westwood is a combination of a college town, family suburb, and young professional hub. Also, being so close to the 405 freeways allows for easy access to anyone in the greater L.A district. When trying to define the identity it is truly hard, considering the cultural mesh that is going on. In the course of walking from my apartment to class I saw Hispanic Gardeners, Asian students, and Middle Eastern businessmen speeding by me in their sports car. When trying to asses the true colors of Westwood, one may find it is not very easy.

            When looking at Simply Maps it shows how Westwood is an island of economic difference on the Westside, and this truth is aesthetically supported. When driving into Westwood the property is much different than really anywhere else within a 2 miles radius. This made me curious as to why this area was the most diverse out of the Westside. Also, considering how over priced rent is for college apartment living it baffles me as to why anyone would want to live here if they were not associated with the university. It is not cheap, not luxurious, not safe, not quiet or necessarily accessible in comparison to the entire Westside. It seems to be a monopoly the landowners have on the renter’s who needs to live there for U.C.L.A; leaving much room for extortion. 

            In the pursuit to understand Los Angeles and the cultural fabric that made it up, I found the most interesting to be Westwood. It is a pocket of diversity within a greater pocket of homogeneity, which is something harder to find in Los Angeles than one may think. Often times the cultural pocket’s of L.A. are lined up against each other in a grid, each fitting the historical stereotype embedded by others.  This blog has given me the opportunity to create my own history about the specialized, diverse, and modern city that LA is. 

The land created me. I'm wild and lonesome. Even as I travel the cities, I'm more at home in the vacant lots. 

We do not look in our great cities for our best morality.
Jane Austen  

When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
Thomas Jefferson

Week 9 Blog Post

For this weeks post I responded to a post from Sasha, here is the following link.

http://sashageschwind.blogspot.com/2012/11/blogging-social-differences-week-7.html#comment-form

Week 8 Blog

For this weeks blog post I decided to explore the picture-perfect coastline of Malibu. I wanted to check out this part of Los Angeles because I heard it was one of most desirable locations to live in and it’s property value reflected this rumor.

            When I first started driving northbound on the PCH through Malibu I instantly recognized all the view’s considering how many Hollywood films and commercials have been shot around the area. Next, I pulled into the shopping mall on the corner of Cross Creek and PCH. Once I entered the mall I felt a completely different vibe than driving along the coast. Surrounded by expensive clothing boutique’s, gaudy cars, and overpriced meals I felt like I was back in Brentwood or Beverly Hills. But I knew there was more to Malibu than this aspect…  so I continued to explore. I ended up taking a hike up the backside of Coral Canyon to engulf myself in the aesthetic pleasures Malibu has to offer. It was truly something special, rolling hills speckled with mansions and beautiful ocean views; one could almost forget they are living in a city… until they looked southeast. Malibu is fortunate to be secluded by the Santa Monica mountains, a very geographically and special mountain range.

            When reflecting on what I saw in Malibu I could not help but think about what we recently read and talked about in class; the environmental inequalities and overall problems that seem to be facilitated within cities.  To begin with I would like to address the tragic relation Malibu developer’s have with the land they are given. For much property in Malibu is in jeopardy of being destroyed due to landslides and the ocean. Often times the homes are designed to be on top of a mountain and are built on a semi-stable foundation. This means that the house is prone to and almost guaranteed to be destroyed in the future by natural phenomena. Also, all of the beach houses are tightly packed in-between the ocean and the PCH, leaving them to be eaten away during big storms and the sea level … assuming it rises.  It seems that the residents of Malibu took no real consideration of their present actions and how they would affect others in the future. In 100 years the dynamic of Malibu could be completely different due to environmental changes and no one, despite their love for the area, made valiant efforts to change this.

            Another interesting thing I was thinking about was how most people I saw in Malibu were in cars that were not fuel-efficient. Due to the wealth and excess of nature most people are driving sports cars, which value speed over gas efficiency, and SUV’s so they can hall around their surfboards or bikes. It seems ironic that this land is valued so high in economic terms, but is treated very poorly in terms of the environment. After pondering why this is happening, I talked to some local’s that I know that cleared things up a little. They stated how Malibu has residents that have lived there for generations, before it was really incorporated with Los Angeles, and that there are also new residents. These newbie’s seem to have recently gained wealth and decided to move to Malibu just because they can, disregarding the meaning behind the natural beauty. I believe this ability for new residents to come and change the general culture of an area is common in cities, and inherent to the dynamic nature. I am interested to see which part of the community will prevail in the future, eventually dictating the spatial manipulation of the geographically special location.

            I left this trip with mixed feelings, curious about how people assess their actions and how places can change so much over time.

Week 7: Bus to Beverly

            For my most recent adventure, I decided to take the MTA bus from UCLA  to Beverly Hills to have dinner on the edge of Korea Town. I was very curious to see who exactly used public transportation in this part of Los Angeles, considering most people who live in this area can afford to drive their own car. When I first stepped on the bus the following quote from Fredrich Engel’s Great Towns seemed to resonate with me “poverty often dwells in hidden alleys close to the palaces of the rich; but in general, a separate territory has been assigned to it, where, removed from the sight of the happier classes, it may struggle along as it can.”  In this case it seems that the separate territory creating inequality is the difference in transportation. There seemed to be a racial and economic difference’s when I looked inside the bus at the individuals compared to the individuals driving their car’s next to the bus. Also, I gained an interesting perspective because I was on the bus at the end of the workday, so all of the residents on the Westside were coming home while all the worker’s maintaining this nice area were leaving on busses. I have traveled from Westwood to Beverly Hills a million times though never on the bus, this new experience shed light on the way individuals share space in a city. It almost was upsetting, seeing the stark contrast in lifestyles, so close together yet so different.

            When I arrived to Beverly Hills I walked the rest of the way to Genwa, on Wilshire, which was the restaurant I wanted to eat at.  After stepping off of the bus, I was entering a completely different world. It seemed that the bus suspended the reality of the westside of Los Angeles, leaving the contrasting lifestyle’s ignorant to each other. It was a strange feeling because I went from sitting next to a bunch of hard working people leaving the Westside on the bus to sitting next to a bunch of hard working people arriving to the Westside.  Despite their similar commitment to work, I still wonder why their lives are so different.  For dinner I was served some of the highest quality Korean BBQ that I had ever had, all the while wondering if the workers who made this food actually lived near by.

            I found this adventure to be more interesting than pervious ones because I was able to see how individuals in the city are so close yet so separated from each other. The bus ride really made me evaluate and consider every individual that made up the restaurant I ate at, I was really trying to put myself in the shoes of the waiter and the obnoxious man at the bar. Ultimately ending the night with many questions.  Is this the way the city should be organized? Do individuals who make up a city consider the greatest good for the greatest number? Do stranger’ in the city care about each other or is everyone jaded from the crowds ? I hope these are questions I will be able to answer by the end of my blog.

Week 6 Blog Post

For these weeks post I am responding to the following blog for Laiza-http://uclageography.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-4-not-so-decentralized-la.html#!/2012/10/week-4-not-so-decentralized-la.html

Hey, Laiza my name is Patrick and I am a fellow student in Geography 151. To begin with I really enjoyed your post and also am impressed as to how busy you were as a freshman and sophomore at U.C.L.A.

            In the begging of your post you thoroughly explain your experience on the redline bus. I found it interesting how you were able to take advantage of what the city has to offer, for instance a top-level university and vast selection of jobs to choose from, but also felt the disadvantages of public transportation in a city. Los Angeles is well recognized for their failed public transportation and the fact that it takes a total of 8 hours to travel 30 miles in a day is outrageous. You also touch on how this transportation network connects segregated communities, which is an aspect talked about in the Chicago School model. While I acknowledge this similarity in Los Angeles’s urban planning, I still do not agree that L.A demonstrates that stereotypical “Concentric Zone Model” seen in the Chicago School model. I feel that maybe 100 years ago when the city was less crowded, dense, and developed that it resembled this, but now it seems to exemplify more of a ‘grid’ like layout that is commonly associated with metropolitan cities like Los Angeles.

            Unlike the previous commentator on you blog, I do agree that to an extent the center of Los Angeles has/does organize the periphery. The core of downtown L.A has caused much succession and relocation of business and residential area’s, but in a fragmented manner not concentric.

            Overall I really enjoyed the visual aspects and your opinion on the greater Los Angeles area.  

P.S. If anyone wants to read about some interesting facts and myths about public transportation in cities, and in specific L.A., take a look at this pretty cool website - http://www.freakonomics.com/2009/03/03/los-angeles-transportation-facts-and-fiction-transit/

Response to Marina Magana: Blog Post Week 5

 I was not able to post my comment directly to Marina's blog post, but the here is the link to her  post http://mmaganageog151.blogspot.com/2012/10/week-4-koreatown.html?showComment=1351312844692#c3759727834094375993 and the following is my response.

-Hey Marina, my name is Patrick and I am a fellow student in Geography 151. As I read through your blog I really enjoyed the personal voice you used and photo’s you took to construct your post. I myself have driven that stretch of Wilshire to Korea town and recognized much of what you talked about.

            A thing I found to be interesting about the location you visited was the drastic change in architecture and consumer choices. In a matter of minutes you were driving through multi-million dollar skyscrapers filled with high-end businesses and modern apartments. Next, you passed through the residential areas in Beverly Hill’s with quiet streetlights sidewalks. And finally, passing through a denser with liquor stores, apartments, and narrow roads until you reached Korea town. Your ability to see so many different zones in such a small amount of time exemplifies the fragmented city layout that Los Angeles has; as well as other post-metropolis cities. Also, while reading your post, a concept we learned in class recently popped up. When looking at each different part of Wilshire there seems to be much architectural and economic difference and it seems to play a role in the social differences seen in cities. The shiny and glamorous skyscrapers seem to subtly highlight the area and imply wealth, which will draw wealthy people to this area. Then the lightened up sidewalks, spacious, and quite vibes sets the tone for families only in Beverly Hills. Then down the road there are cheaper and smaller liquor stores, which were seen nowhere else but around these lower-income or apartment based living areas. There seems to be very clear zoning, you were just driving and it was apparent as to what areas you were passing by. It seems that physically the city can separate and clearly differentiate the individuals that make it up.

            Similar to what I pointed out earlier, you commented on how your experience related to the article  “The Truly Disadvantaged.” Your drive to Korea town pointed out the drastic economic differences in Los Angeles neighborhoods and how Korea town can be classified as a modern day ghetto. This part of Los Angeles geographical and physically lacks resources limiting the residents, adding to how difference is facilitated within cities and by cities. 

            Overall I really enjoyed your post , it touched on some important issues in Los Angeles and gave me a more thorough understanding of the culture of Korea town.

Blog Post 4: East Los Angeles

            For this weeks blog post I decided to explore and analyze East Los Angeles, an area I had never been to prior. I started out my venture by having lunch 18 miles away from UCLA at a quant Mexican restaurant named Guisados. As I walked in I was flooded with authentic smells and a long line. As I waited for my tacos I started to think to myself who else is in this restaurant? As I gazed through the eatery I noticed mainly Hispanic families enjoying lunch and as well as a couple hipster’s grabbing a taco on their way back to Silver Lake. When my food was served I was pleasantly surprised to notice that the taco’s were not only authentic but also original in their presentation; reflecting the creative nature of most successful restaurants in Los Angeles.

            As I stepped out of the restaurant and began my walk down East Cesar Chavez Street I immediately noticed how much commotion was going on around me. After walking two blocks I had watched two police cars speed by me and heard multiple ambulances going off. Even the sidewalk was bustling with people; hanging outside of their stores with their families offering items to sell. It seemed that the local economy of the area was one based off of family run clothing stores, cell phones shops, and restaurants. As I continued my walk I turned left up two blocks and started getting into residential areas, which consisted of 2 or 3 bedroom townhouses often 4 or 5 of them on a block. The houses did not have any landscaping and some of them could have used a little restoration. There seem to be no spaced wasted in this area. After reading a PBS article online called East L.A.: Past and Present by Tomas Benitez I gained insight into powerful history of this community. During the 1960’s it was the center for the Chicano Rights movement and then unfortunately by the 1980’s the community was riddled with crime and gang violence. Despite the ups and downs of the area it is often noted for it’s strong family relations. Most families that demonstrated upward social mobility moved out of the area and into Orange County during this harsh time and as of recent the area is experiencing gentrification. In the reading One Emergence of Postsuburbia: An Introduction they support this fact when they state “Unlike the traditional suburb, Orange County of the 1970’s mixed large poor neighborhoods, including several Mexican Barrios, with middle- and upper-class neighborhoods. This new post suburban spatial form, which we characterize later in this chapter, was pioneered in Los Angeles…”

             Something I found to be very interesting was that for these Angelino’s this strip of East Cesar Chavez street was the center of town for them despite the fact that Downtown Los Angeles was just a little ways west of them. After accumulating this knowledge I was able to solidify my understanding of the effects of the Fourth Urban Revolution. Los Angeles is a perfect example of a metro-polar city, considering it’s fractured social geography. Despite the fact Downtown Los Angeles, which is often confused for the ‘center’ of L.A, was almost as close to these people as East Cesar Street, this road was substantially more of a town center for them. Also, after wandering through this neighborhood I eventually found myself stumbling upon Little Tokyo, which was far different than the part of East L.A I was just in. This really displayed the checkerboard urban planning of this city. There was truly no similarity between the two area’s despite the fact they were only separated by a couple of blocks.

            As I visit and read more about different parts of L.A I really see how this city is revolutionary in the eyes of a cultural geographer. It strays away from the Chicago School model that was once so central in the study of cities.