Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 10

 Comment 4

    

     For my last blog post I decided to comment on a blog written by L.A. Next Exit. This student visited  the Citadel Outlets in the city of Commerce. I have lived in California my entire life and I have never heard about the Citadel Outlets so I wanted to learn more about this location. The Citadel Outlets are unlike the other large outlet malls because it is conveniently located for the residents of Orange County and Los Angeles County to access. 

     According to the blogger, the outlets are located in a very industrial location where large trucks are constantly entering and exiting the various distribution centers. I think the student accurately cites Peter Kerr's article about insurance redlining. The blogger acknowledges that investing in property in this area would not be profitable because of the pollution, big rigs and noise. Due to the busy industry, the housing value in this area would be very low and many people would refuse to live in such an industrial area. For people who are purchasing homes they desire the perfect suburbia with a good school district, parks and safety for their children.

     Not only do the Citadel Outlets reflect Peter Kerr's article, I also think that the outlets reflect the Marxian view of the city. One of the three points of Marxian's view was that the city is a tool for reproducing labor. One of the key components in this idea is the theory of consumption. When the laborers live in the city, they like to spend their hard earned money on things for themselves and their families. The Citadel Outlets are a perfect example of modern consumption of laborers in the city. After reading this blog I learned about a new location in the Los Angeles region that I had never heard about before and I look forward to visiting this location in the future.

http://lanextexit.blogspot.com/2012/11/blogging-social-difference-in-la-week-5.html#comment-form

      

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 10

Los Angeles Times Social Difference Article

     This week's task for my blog post was to find a Los Angeles Times article about Social Difference. I was unable to find an article based on a geographical location; however, I found a very interesting article titled California Women Still Lag in Key Categories. The primary idea behind this article is that women are more likely to obtain higher education degrees as oppose to men; however, men are more likely to obtain higher roles in the economy. 

     The study was conducted by researchers at Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, which is an all girls private college. This study looks at factors like poverty and education of women from all across California of many different types of backgrounds. It was concluded that there is a large gap between men and women in upper level science and math subjects. The article also discusses how women lack the confidence and are less likely to be encouraged by their families to enter fields such as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Women have higher rates of attendance in various graduate programs and are more likely to graduate as oppose to men.

     This article reinforces the lecture material that reflects the idea of gender as an axis of difference. In the Stuart Hall videos, he describes the term floating signifier. This term reflects the idea that the meaning of something like race and gender, never stays still and the meaning is always changing. Over time the meaning of a woman has evolved. Being a woman 30 years ago is not the same as what it is today. Women today are obtaining masters level degrees and are walking side by side men in the economy today. 

     Even though men and women work as hard as one another, there are still differences between the two. The article only reflects the differences in terms of education and the economy; however, in geography many gender differences are visible in the homes of modern suburbia. The meaning of home for a man is a retreat from society. For men, the home is a place where they can unwind after a long day of work and spend time with their families. On the opposite side, for a woman, the home is a place for labor and possibly neglect. The woman's occupation is to care for her children and home and she has no outlet from her daily tasks.

     In the textbook reading by Sophie Watson titled City A/Genders, she discusses the various representations of gender differences in the city. One particular section that caught my attention was when she discussed the dynamics of the home. She talks about how everyone in the household has their own space. The children have a playroom or their own rooms and the men have an office or the garage as their sanctuary; however, the woman's space is the kitchen which is her place of work. Another key point she made was that the master bedroom is not a woman's sanctuary because the room is primarily for sexual intimacy where the man has all control over the woman.

     In the past 50 years, the times have changed and differences between men and women have also changed. In 2012, we still see differences between the two sexes, whether it be in the economy or in the suburbs. Despite the fact that women are still lagging behind men, women are breaking out of the occupation as homemaker and are branching out to obtain higher education degrees. These women balance both their professional life alongside their family lives at home. Being a woman 50 years ago meant only caring for the family at home; however, over time the definition has changed and women are advancing in education and the economy.

Link to the Los Angeles Times article: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/29/local/la-me-women-status-20120329

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 9

Trip to the Fork in the Road(location I have never visited)/Simply Maps

     Over my Thanksgiving break, with more time and access to my car back home, I decided to take a trip to a location I had never been to. I first heard about the Fork in the Road in Pasadena back in 2011 and since then I have desired to make a trip to this location. This new tourist attraction is located in Pasadena, California where Pasadena and St. John Avenues divide. It is so amazing and creative because this fork is located right where two of Pasadena's main roads divide. This concrete fork was built and installed by a conceptual artist by the name of Bob Stane. He thought that an actual fork in the road where two roads diverged would be humorous and ironic piece of art the city of Pasadena needed. 

    After getting lost for about 10 minutes on the one way streets, my friend and I finally approached the Fork in the Road. There are two busy streets on both sides of the fork and there is no sidewalk surrounding the fork which made it very difficult to get close to this piece of art. On the island that the there were lots of trees and shrubs; however, there was a flat dirt section in the shape of a ring with rocks around the fork. Surrounding the Fork in the Road, there were many small streets with small, old fashioned homes built at least 40-50 years ago. Throughout the city of Pasadena, I noticed lots of greenery, trees, flower bushes, smooth roads and many one way streets. The city of Pasadena is rich with museums, botanical gardens and the famous Old Town Pasadena shopping district. The fork was is a very unique landmark because it embodies the artistic influence the city of Pasadena has from their residents and museums. 

Here is a photograph of the Fork in the Road

     When the fork was first installed, there was much controversy surrounding the placement of this piece of art. Many of the elderly Pasadena residents felt that this new landmark would bring down the value and class of the city of Pasadena. The elderly residents were also very opposed to the idea of a concrete fork in a city that is rich in art and culture. The younger residents of the city loved the idea of this new landmark. They felt that this fork brought an ironic and modern twist to the traditional city. Because of these two differences in opinions I decided to use SimplyMap.com which is a UCLA database website that students and faculty to explore different geographical regions using demographic, marketing and business data. There is a variety of data to explore i.e. race, gender, age and income. 

     To show the two differences of opinions regarding the Fork in the Road, I decided to create a map based on the different age groups in the city. In my first map I found the percent of the population between the ages of 25-34 years old. I found that in the heart of Pasadena the population of people aged 25-34 is from 16-100%. 

    

 On the contrary in the map above, I found that in the heart of the city, the percent population over 65 years old was mostly from 8% to 14%. 

     The perception of different art forms varies and this was visible when the different age groups had different opinions about the art in the form of a fork. Simply maps was a very interesting source to use to learn more about various data in different cities. The center of the city has the busy city lifestyle that many younger age groups desire. The only reason that I could come up with as to why the older residents tend to live farther from the center is because these locations are less busy and hectic.

     The Fork in the Road and the city of Pasadena reflect the idea of nature and social difference. Pasadena has a variety of large homes that are located on high hills with beautiful views. Not only are these homes far away from the center of production (Los Angeles), these homes are also far from the busy lifestyle that is in the heart of Pasadena. The city is also home to many parks, recreation areas and it is nestled in San Gabriel Mountains. From a visitors eye, in Pasadena there are no nature-degrading sites i.e. oil refineries and waste storage locations. The city of Pasadena is the perfect site for nature, consumption and the 'perfect' suburb lifestyle. 

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 8

Comment Three

With the short school week, this week I decided to comment on a blog written by Urban Nomad. This student wrote about their experience shopping in 'Little India’ that is a stretch on Pioneer Blvd, in between 183rd Street and South Street. This stretch of stores contains an array of Indian and Pakistani clothing boutiques, Indian grocery stores and many, many restaurants at each corner. My family and I used to go to Little India at least once a year, but now our visits to this ethnic enclave have decreased. Each time I went I remember being fascinated by the amount of South Asians I saw. They were literally at every single corner, eating and shopping. With the many restaurants all over, I used to be fascinated with the strong scent of the Indian food. We would step out of our cars and instantly we could smell the fried scent of Pakoras (fried lentil patties) and chickpeas. The scent of the food was so strong that when we would leave Little India, our clothes would smell like the fried food.

            This student captured the flavor of Little India very well in their blog. As I was reading their blog I loved the reference this student made to the bargaining that goes on in Little India. It amazes me how South Asian women and men can bargain a price down from $250 to $150 within minutes. I recall my dad bargaining a traditional Pakistani outfit for me from $500 down to $400.  Bargaining for prices is a common practice in Pakistan and India. All in all it amazes me how similar Little India is to Pakistan. The scent of the food, the people, the clothing and the bargaining always remind me of our family trips to Pakistan. Little India is a very unique location to visit and I am really glad this student took the initiative to write about this diverse area. There are many ethnic enclaves around the Southern California area and I plan on visiting each one at least once in the next year. 

bruinomad.blogspot.com

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 7

Walking Trip Around Santa Monica

     After the bus trip I took last week, my best friend and I decided to take a walking trip around Third Street Promenade and the surrounding streets.

     We started the journey at the corner of 6th street and Santa Monica. This area was very commercial and there were many people walking around the city. As I was walking I noticed a guy sitting on a bench in a security uniform reading a comic book while hysterically laughing to himself. At each bus stop that I passed there were many people waiting for the next round of busses to come to the stop. As we approached Third Street Promenade, the area became very 'hip'. There were tons of young people walking around with their small dogs and lots of shopping bags. I noticed newer developed apartment buildings surrounding the area. Once we approached the promenade, there was lots of landscaping everywhere. At each corner there was some type of greenery with a combination of palm trees and other types of shrubs. 

     As we began walking on the promenade, I noticed many different expensive cars. I saw many Mercedes Benz, BMW's and Lexus'. I noticed a very expensive car called the Fisker Karma and after some research I concluded that the base price of this car is over $100,000. At each street corner there were homeless people holding up signs asking for money. I notice that there are many Caucasians walking around with tons of shopping bags in their hands. We passed by several tourist gift carts and I later on realized that Third Street Promenade is a tourist attraction. I notice lots of mothers with small children in strollers and many of the kids were playing in the small jungle gym's created for the kids. All of the high end stores at this shopping district were together i.e: Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss, Tiffany & Co., Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and Micheal Kors.

     After walking for about 30 minutes we decided to take a break and sit down so I could easily observe the different types of people there were at the promenade. There were lots of people there on a Wednesday afternoon. Many people were on their lunch breaks in suits, there were very few tourists but there were lots of mothers and with their small children.

     I noticed that north of Santa Monica Blvd on the promenade there were lots of bars and small individual stores and south of Santa Monica Blvd there were lots of high end stores. After the promenade we decided to walk around the city some more and at each corner, I saw no smoking signs like the ones in the pictures below. I remembered hearing on the news that there was a no smoking policy in Santa Monica but I was able to see it firsthand after visiting the promenade. After walking for about 20 minutes my friend and I realized that we were the only Middle Eastern and South Asian girls throughout the bus ride.

     

     When I saw all of these no smoking signs I thought about the article by David Harvey, titled "The Environment of Justice." In this article there is a section that discusses the different clauses that define environmental justice. One of the clauses discussed how urban areas need to clean up their cities and create a balance with nature. The Fresh Air Santa Monica act is an example of this clause. By enforcing a no smoking law, the city is becoming closer to nature and they are enabling visitors and residents to enjoy the outside fresh air. Compared to the other environmental justice issues discussed in this article, smoking is not a serious issue compared to the problem of the Standard View of Environmental Management. This view leads to serious problems for the environment and only benefits the economy. 

     The Fresh Air Santa Monica act not only helps the pollution in Santa Monica, but it also helps the residents and visitors of the city. In my opinion, my visit to this city was more enjoyable because there was no cigarette smoke lingering in the air.  I think it would be a very beneficial cause if more cities in the Los Angeles County area enforced this law because second-hand smoke is very harmful to people who are non-smokers. According to Cancer.org, there are about 46,000 deaths each year of people who are non-smokers.

     I really enjoyed my walking trip around Santa Monica. I had never been to Third Street Promenade so it was very interesting to see the dynamics of the area on a Wednesday afternoon. I look forward to visiting the city again in the near-future. 

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 6

Big Blue Bus Trip to Santa Monica

     For my blog post this week I decided to take a bus trip to Santa Monica with my best friend who also attends UCLA. When I first told my parents about having to take a bus ride for this course, they were very opposed to the idea and wanted me to find an alternate way to complete this assignment. In the city that I grew up in, cars are used majority of the time and buses are rarely used. I knew that the best way to break my "sheltered, suburb girl" shell would be to take a bus ride. I decided not to tell my parents about the ride because they would worry about my safety and I did not want them to worry unnecessarily.

Here is a photo of me on the bus.

     I cannot help but say this but before I boarded the bus, I took off all my expensive jewelry that I was wearing and I put it safely in my bag. This was my friend's second bus ride, so she told me to not draw too much attention to myself with my jewelry. We took the Big Blue Bus, Route 1 and started our journey at the corner of Westwood Blvd and Ohio. When I initially boarded the bus I was reminded of the New York public transportation system that I used when I visited the city eight months ago. We used our Bruincard's and spent a total of $1 for our journey to Santa Monica and back. When we first boarded the bus there were only three other people on the bus which also looked like UCLA students. We drove down Santa Monica Blvd the entire journey and made many stops for passengers along the way. Right before our first stop, I saw many people running towards the bus stop. At the Sepulveda and Santa Monica bus stop, eight people boarded the bus including three homeless men with many tattoos. The two African American homeless men boarded the bus peacefully; however the White man ran onto the bus yelling "The terrorists are trying to kill me, they are running after me.

     A mother and young child also boarded the bus and the mother looked very out of it and kept pointing and telling us how she went to school across the street. At this point, my friend and I are nervous because the homeless men come and sit right behind us and we can hear their conversation the entire time. Once we pass the 405 freeway, the area becomes very commercial and there are many random little shops everywhere. At almost every corner I noticed a Dollar Loan Center and many fast food restaurants. There is no landscaping anywhere and I did not notice any trees throughout my journey. At one of the stops a woman who looked like a waitress boarded the bus and one of the homeless men knew her and went and sat next to her. They both started a conversation and discussed how it had been ages since they had last seen each other.

     Once we approach the Santa Monica and Bundy bus stop the people entering the bus are well to do. This area looks much neater and we begin to approach a "Welcome to Santa Monica" sign. Beyond the sign I saw along the road lots of palm trees and many nice car dealerships.

Here is an example of the landscaping once we passed the "Welcome to Santa Monica" sign.

     The types of car dealerships that I saw were: Lexus, Acura, Land Rover, Volkswagon, Chevy, Volvo, Lexus and Toyota. Before the next bus stop which was next to a CVS, one of the homeless men refers to the other as "Dr. Seuss" and asks if they can get off at the next stop. The three homeless men exit the bus and everyone seemed to be a little relieved. There was a bus stop at the St. Johns Medical Center and many people exited the bus at this stop. Along with many of the other passengers, we exited the bus at 6th and Santa Monica and the area became very commercial. 

     On the way back we boarded the bus from Lincoln and Santa Monica. There were lots of people waiting for the bus and many people already on the bus. Many of the people who were on the bus kept to themselves. One woman was reading, one student was on her phone and many of the passengers were listening to their ipods.

Here is a photo of where I boarded the bus back to UCLA. 

Here is a photo of the inside of the bus.

     At our first stop on 14th street, I noticed the gas prices were at $4.15 and a few traffic lights down the gas prices became $4.29, then four traffic lights later the gas prices went down to $4.09. The gas prices fluctuated with the different areas that we passed. As the bus journey began, I noticed little to no landscaping on both sides of Santa Monica Blvd. 

     Once we passed by the St. Johns Medical Center I noticed more medical buildings across the street. I noticed a medical plaza, pharmacy and many pediatric offices. I noticed bilboards for the Getty Villa- Pompeii Exhibit, LA Phil, Windows and a television show called Crossfire Hurricane. At this point my friend and I notice that we are the only Middle Eastern and South Asian people on the bus. Before Brockton Street, I noticed a small park along the corner of the road. This park consisted of many benches with homeless people sleeping on majority of the benches. We passed by over six jewelry exchange companies within a one mile stretch. I noticed that the surface of the road was very bumpy throughout our journey. I'm assuming that the buildings we passed were probably built in the 1970's or 1980's so they were not very old. As we passed the 405, there were many people in suits walking along the sidewalk and also boarding the bus. I noticed one woman in particular boarded the bus and asked for the bus driver to help her count her change. Before I knew it, the journey ended back at the corner of Ohio and Westwood and my first bus trip came to an end. 

Here is a photo of me once the bus ride ended. 

     This journey was by far the most interesting journey I have ever been on. Even though this journey was short, sweet and simple I learned a lot about Santa Monica Blvd within a span of 20 minutes. My experience on the bus ride reminded me of the reading by Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton. In the textbook section titled, The Continuing Causes of Segregation, they compile a list of causes for poverty in African Americans. They discuss that poverty is not just about being from the African American race but now it is about a multiple list of factors. They discuss how the poor economy, family problems and poor education are all factors of black poverty in America. When I was on the bus with the two African American homeless men, they were talking about being laid off and being unable to find work. They were not just homeless because they were black, they were homeless because of the economy and possibly poor education. From my perspective, these men came from a low socioeconomic status and came from difficult backgrounds. It broke my heart to hear these men talk about their problems with homelessness and I hope they are able to find work in the future.

     This journey was unforgettable and I am really glad I followed my heart and went on the journey without telling my parents. If I drove a car down Santa Monica Blvd, I would have never had the same experience. In a car, I would be with my friend and I would be in a closed environment and we would not have been exposed to the different types of people who use public transportation. This class has required me to break out of my shell in countless ways and I will always remember this as my first bus ride. 

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 5

Comment Two

After a week of midterms and essays, this week I decided to comment on a blog written by Street Signs. During week three this student visited the city of Chino and Chino Hills. Both of these cities are very close to my hometown of Diamond Bar, California. I have had close ties to the city of Chino Hills for a long time because my grandmother was once a resident of this agricultural suburb. My earliest memories of Chino Hills consist of waking up after spending the night at her house and smelling the cow manure from the local farms. Over the past twenty years, Chino and Chino Hills have both gone from being small agricultural cities to beautiful cities with new housing developments.

This student uses the Chicago School Model in their blog and describes it as a city with a manufacturing center, surrounded by slums. This student also discusses how the Chicago School Model does not apply to any cities in the Los Angeles metropolitan area including Chino and Chino Hills. This student talks about how these two cities are post metropolis cities centered on the use of automobiles. This student correctly uses the terms from the readings and gives accurate examples to give the reader a better understanding of these important terms from our class. Chino Hills and Chino are both unique agricultural cities that have now become major shopping areas for the surrounding cities. I visit the Chino Hills shopping centers often and I enjoy spending my time there with my family. I always thought that Chino was an agricultural city; however, after reading this blog I learned that Chino has been a long producer of milk for the state of California. This student wrote a well-organized blog that I enjoyed reading and I look forward to reading more of this student’s blogs in the future.

http://streetsignsucla.blogspot.com/

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 4

The City of Diamond Bar(15 miles outside of UCLA)

As I am sitting at the Starbucks, 27 miles east of Los Angeles, in my hometown of Diamond Bar, California, out the window is a view of one of the oldest windmills in the city, I started thinking to myself, “I came to the grand opening of this Starbucks over ten years ago.” The way I feel about the Starbucks and Target being built right before my eyes, my parents have felt the same way about this city for almost 30 years. In 1983, my mother and father ventured from Monterey Park, to the quiet, newly established city of Diamond Bar which was nestled in between the rolling hills of the San Gabriel Valley. The origins of this city take us back to the 1840’s where the entire city used to be home to the largest cattle ranch in the western United States.

The City of Diamond Bar Famous Windmill

In 1960, a large corporation bought a large portion of this ranch for the development of the nation’s first master planned community. At the same time, The Emergence of Postsuburbia states that areas of Orange County were purchased in 1960 by large corporations for the production of planned communities and housing tracts. In the past 50 years, this ranch has transformed into a city with a population of over 55,000 people. This city is home to a population of mostly Asians, South Asians, Whites and Hispanics. The city of Diamond Bar borders Chino Hills, Pomona and Walnut. The city has a very low crime rate where you can leave your purse in the car overnight and expect it to be in perfect shape the next morning. A person can also go jogging at 2 am and expect to return home safely.

The city of Diamond Bar is unofficially split into the “north and south side.” The south side contains the Walnut Unified School District, which is more prestigious, and it is home to the upscale, gated community called The Country. The north side borders the city of Pomona, also encompasses the Pomona Unified School District and is home to the only K-Mart in the area. I have lived in the same house on the north side for 20 years and I have always sensed a difference between both sides of the city. The landscaping on the south side is relatively neater as opposed to the north side. As a young child growing up, my parents enrolled me in a district transfer program, where I was able to attend middle school and high school at the blue ribbon schools on the south side. The high school that I was supposed to attend was in the city of Pomona and my parents had the desire for me to attend high school in a “better” area. I attended elementary school at a school in the Pomona Unified School District and growing up I was the only Pakistani student surrounded by a majority of White and Hispanic students. As soon as I started attending middle school on the south side, Asians and South Asians i.e. Indian and Pakistani students surrounded me.

Within a five-minute drive from my house, the Pomona city limits begin. Compared to Diamond Bar, the streets of Pomona are less smooth, there is no landscaping and many areas of this city are industrial. In Diamond Bar, most residents believe that Pomona is relatively “ghetto.” With this next sentence, I do not mean to insult anyone or the city itself; however, rough roads, old traffic lights, no landscaping and graffiti all over buildings and street corner is my definition of ghetto. It amazes me that within a two-mile radius these two cities are noticeably different.

Just like the Kling, Olin and Poster reading stated like Orange County, Diamond Bar was once agricultural and has now transformed into a commercial suburb, 27 miles east of Los Angeles. Diamond Bar is home to many coffee shops, two large grocery stores, K-Mart, a beautiful community center, many boba teahouses and lastly a huge Asian supermarket. Because of the steep hills in the city, residents mostly travel by car and there are very few pedestrians throughout the city. Since I came home on a Friday, there are many students who are walking home from the various bus stops across the city.

The Diamond Bar Community Center

The Super H Market 

Driving through the city with my parents, they always mange to say “back in the day, this street was not here”, or “back in the 80’s there was only a Ralphs grocery store in this city.” 30 years ago they never thought that this city would become one of the best places to live in America. I cannot be more thankful to them for enabling my siblings and I to grow up in such a prestigious and safe city. I cannot imagine myself starting a family in any other city and I would love to tell my kids all about the changes Diamond Bar has gone through before my eyes and my parents’ eyes.