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/