Blogging Social Difference in LA: Week 4 - An Interpretation on Nicholas Roja's Week 2 Post

In this week's post, I'm going to comment on a post I read by one of my classmates, which I find very intriguing. I find Nicholas's interpretation of Pasadena (and simultaneously Los Angeles) in reference to the works of Burgess and Kling, Olin, and Poster rather interesting. By referencing Burgess, Nicholas refers to the Chicago School's belief in the concentric ring model, where the city was centered around one area- the point of economic concentration. I highly appreciate Nicholas's interpretation of the Rose Bowl as one such "economic center," as it certainly draws in people from all surrounding areas on a regular basis to partake in economic activity (yay for Football!). This center is then surrounded by residential areas, similar in process to the concept presented in Burgess's model. Thus, the Rose Bowl could potentially partially serve as one such focal point in a set of concentric rings for Pasadena. Yet, I would like, however, to disagree with Nicholas's suggestion that the Burgess model is fully and currently still applicable to Los Angeles, and simultaneously, Pasadena. I am a believer in the post-modern/post-fordist model in which the city rather follows a model of poly-centricity, having many focal points that comprise the geographic makeup of the city. Nicholas suggests that downtown is the central point for Los Angeles, and then the city subsequently goes out in concentric circles from this point. And yet, we have discussed in class that Los Angeles is one of those cities that does not follow the Burgess Concentric Model well, as its layout is far from the traditional concentric theory. Instead, I believe that Los Angeles has no real center, and that the "center" of the city is contingent on the cultural and social makeup of the group(s) who live in the city, and thus have to choose their own "center". Koreatown, then, becomes a center of economic and social importance to those who work and live within that area. Similarly, downtown is only a center to those who particularly identify with that area, travel into it, and work within it. Thus, there are many centers that exist simultaneously in the city, and which collaborate to make up the entirety of Los Angeles. To classify Los Angeles according to the Chicago School Model, in my opinion, attempts to constrain Los Angeles to a set of ill-fitting classifications and borders, and truly does not exemplify the non-traditional layout and infrastructure of the city. While I may not entirely agree with Nicholas's use of the Chicago School to interpret Los Angeles, I highly commend the interpretation of the Rose Bowl in terms of the mobility of the city of Pasadena (and in the area of Los Angeles). Mobility, as we learned through our class discussions, is so crucial to success in Los Angeles. This city, which grew around the use of the automobile, is structured so that those without access to a vehicle are unable to reach most amenities and opportunities. Pasadena, it seems, is similar in that the city becomes "difficult to navigate" for residents when its mobility is constricted by the congestion caused by cars who come to the "city center" --the Rose Bowl. Thus, the city of Pasadena serves as an excellent example of the non-traditional layout of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area as it revolves around the car, and not the concentric ring. Overall, I very much enjoyed Nicholas's post about Pasadena and the Rose Bowl. It provided much food for though, as truly few UCLA students seem to realize the overall complexity of the Rose Bowl as an organism whose organs (cars, football, residents) all must come together to create a fully functionally organism. In reference to this structural functionalism theory, we can see how understanding the workings of a place in relationship to its organs allows us to better understand the functioning of a city in terms of its parts, and subsequently the functioning of residents of the city in terms of their residence.

Blogging Social Difference: Week 3 - Ktown!!

One of the things I love about Los Angeles is its incredibly diversified (and densely packed) population. There aren't many places where can you find African, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Hispanic, Portuguese, Indonesian, all together! The intrinsically complex and varied nature of Los Angeles is what makes it so interesting! Most people, however, do not have the opportunity to think of Los Angeles in terms of its social geography, and simply go through these areas in one-dimensional, entertainment driven terms. I myself made such a trip into one distinct cultural agglomeration, Koreatown, with the original intentions of entertainment, but with newly added socially geographic knowledge. For most college students, when we think of Koreatown, we simultaneously think of Korean BBQ, the most delicious and overly satisfying of dining experiences. For large quantities of delicious food, I assure you we will travel through most any circumstances. From UCLA, one must leave the white residence of Bel Air, pass along the 405S to the 10E, and then go into the heart of downtown. While many may think of downtown Los Angeles as the "center" of Los Angeles, we know now after studying the Chicago School and the Burgess Concentric Ring Model that this is not necessarily true. Regardless of whether downtown LA is the center point of LA or not, I would certainly like to claim that it is one of many major centers of cultural agglomeration, leading to large sections of the area being divided into multiracial enclaves. Thus, traveling to Koreatown asks that you pass through a dense hispanic population, where the streets are lined with Taquerias, vendors, and other hispanic cultural points. Just when you wonder whether you're heading in the correct direction after all, there is an abrupt change in the makeup of the population as the streets soon are lined in signs with Korean writing on them, kbbq's pop up on every street corner, and the population changes in its global origin. It is this kind of abrupt and distinct transition from cultural enclave to cultural enclave that not only plays into the cosmopolitan nature of Los Angeles as a whole, but to the severe social differences present within adjacent areas of the same city. Visiting Koreatown is not just a great opportunity to eat asian food, but a great way to better understand the social differences that come about from the integration (and sometimes disintegration) of cultures. Giddens writes that it is important to break with our past traditions in order to allow for the transition and change into modernity. And while the consistently Korean population of Koreatown has had to break with tradition in order to come to the United States, to build lives here, and to accept American culture, they also have been able to maintain a large part of their traditions. Thus, as there is integration of the Korean population into overall Angeleno society, the social difference between people indigenous to this area and not is apparent in the distinct differences in language, custom, and even physical appearance. Through examination of areas such as Koreatown, and subsequently Chinatown, LIttle Italy, etc., we get a feel for how social difference becomes cultural, as the city of Los Angeles turns into one giant city made of small agglomeration and enclaves of individuals.

Blogging Social Difference- Week 2: The Big Blue Bus (Updated 12/9/12)

Taking the Big Blue Bus is an adventure, to say the least. More than anything, a trip on this particularly clean and efficient mode of public transportation serves more as an insight into the diverse personalities and dynamics of the city, as thousands use the system to navigate the crowded and varied landscape of the city. Being originally from a particularly affluent residential area, I did not have much opportunity, nor need, to use public transportation prior to college. It wasn't even so much of a not wanting to, or preferring not to, as not seeing reason to in a city that did not have a well developed public transportation system. Everyone back home just used cars, and didn't think otherwise. Here in Los Angeles, however, the public transportation system is part of how so many people can survive the chaos of their daily needs. Before travel on the Big Blue Bus actually takes place, one must navigate the incredible complexity of determining available and working bus stops. Depending on the day and time, a bus makes different stops and reaches different places, making finding the correct bus at the correct place more challenging than seemingly necessary. I started in Ackerman Turnaround, having seem a multitude of Big Blue Buses come through there in the past, and thus believing this to be the correct place to start. Let me tell you, it only takes about half hour before you realize that you are in the wrong place, and really don't know where to go next. Thankfully, the Big Blue Bus company posts corresponding times and stops for their buses, yet this still necessitates a knowledge of the surrounding area. This only proves that public transportation is generally made more for local people with previous knowledge of the area and system, not necessarily for travelers. That the public transportation system is predisposed towards those who live in the area and have knowledge of the area serves as a somewhat subconscious divider as it separates the knowledgeable from the unknowing, the resident from the traveler, and those with access to resources from those that do not. To get on the bus requires a fee, which makes sense, certainly, in context of the need of the public system to be able to afford this public service. Travel itself is not necessarily smooth, but is certainly efficient. The stops are pre-determined and frequent, so travel is made in conscious observation of your relation to your surroundings as you try to avoid missing the correct stop and losing valuable time.

It is interesting to note that the Big Blue Bus, which covers a smaller area, seems to focus more on short-distance transit, meaning that people use the bus to go relatively close in their next destination. This is unique when compared to the Metro lines and other systems, which focus on long distance travel,and thus have different clientele, as the Big Blue Bus necessarily caters more to locals with limited traveling opportunties. At twelve thirty on a Tuesday, the demographics of the bus mostly consisted of younger students and elderly travelers. This makes sense in context, as most people in between those age groups would be at work during that time of day. The people themselves that use public transit are incredibly interesting and diverse characters. I personally enjoy trying to understand the social, economic, and political histories of those around me through my interpretations of how they dress, act, etc. The people on this trip varied incredibly from clean cut students to older asian grandmothers, to teenage tattooed skateboarders. For no reason whatsoever would these people come together unless through the need to travel through public transportation to meet their social and economic responsibilties. While the travelers on the bus did not interact or talk to one another, they still followed the social etiquette and structure that is common to all of us, and which brings us closer together in our common residences.

In terms of the modern day city, The Big Blue Bus is a manifestation, if you will, of the social differences that arise in society from the agglomeration of people in cities. If we follow Durkheim's belief that the division of labor creates society by agglomerating people into one area to share resources and center around one common religious/political center, then Los Angeles serves as a prime example of such agglomeration. It is home to thousands of occupations, and thus brings together multitudes of different types of people. In this way, society is diversified. As society becomes more dense and populated over a large area, there comes a need for transportation services to allow people to maintain their occupations and lifestyles. Simultaneously, we see that society stratifies itself, lending to the creation of classes and different social levels. Those in the higher levels have access to resources and thus are able to meet the daily (transportation) needs of being in this society without problem; those in the lower socioeconomic levels do not have such resources, and thus the need for public transportation, such as the Big Blue Bus, comes about. Without these tools, which are essentially manifestations of the division of labor and its consequences, society would not be able to live in cooperative unity, as competition for resources (such as dwellings nearer to work, commerce, etc) would cause discontent and conflict between groups. Los Angeles would then, hypothetically, have broken into pieces as society broke into conflicting pieces until equilibrium was reached once again. It is important to note,however, that the Big Blue Bus is just one such manifestation of this social division. Every place within Los Angeles, as well, is dictated by these social divisions, and society as we know it hangs in a balance of the manifestations of these divisions and the reactions of everyday people as they interact with these manifestations.

Blogging Social Difference in LA: Week 1 (Updated 12/9/12)

My interest in Geography began when I started to ask questions like, "Why is this country more developed than that one?" or "What causes people to come together and create a language, culture, and tradition that is particular to only this area?". double majoring in Geography in addition to Economics gave me the perfect opportunity to explore and answer all of these questions. This blog is going to help me put only a portion of my suppositions, thoughts, and findings into physical form.

My interest in this class closely parallels my interest in these broader topics. I have focused my choice of geography classes at UCLA towards trying to get a better understanding of the world we live in, why people do what they do, and how things can happen one way in one place and completely differently in another place. This class will now allow me to focus my study of the distribution of people within spaces down to the distribution of social differences within and among spaces. Los Angeles is the perfect place to study this distribution of social differences, as it houses some of the most unique and varying collections of people, cultures, ethnicities, races, and beliefs all within one concentrated area. Thus, this class will not only let me study all of this, but put it into practical application.

After living in LA for four years now, I can truly attest to the importance of understanding the social, economic, and political dynamics that make up this city. Understanding the social fabric- meaning how people interact, how they are similar, and how they are different- is crucial in such a prominent and diverse city. Without such understanding, we would remain ignorant of the many processes that create society, and which subsequently mold who we are as members of society. Hopefully, through my various adventures into the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region,I will better answer the question, "What difference does difference make in the landscapes of the contemporary, metropolitan Los Angeles region?".