Sunset Boulevard(Car Trip)
For my first journey into Los
Angeles I decided to travel by a car down Sunset Blvd. At about 6 p.m. my
roommate and I ventured down the prestigious and historical road. My journey
began at UCLA and ended about eight miles down Sunset Blvd. As we first turned
onto Sunset Blvd, from Veteran Ave there were smooth roads, lots of trees and
narrow lanes. On both sides of the road, the lampposts of the street had
advertisements for the theater and the exhibits at the Hammer Museum. As we
passed the UCLA campus, I noticed a beautiful high school on the left called
Marymount High. After researching this school I concluded that this high school
was an all girls Catholic school where the tuition was about $28,000 per year. The
cost of attending this high school is simply an example of the high incomes in
this area. There were many large houses on each side of the road, the
landscaping was well maintained and many of the homes had gated entrances. As
we were driving down Sunset Blvd, I noticed many high-end cars for example,
Audi, Mercedes, Lexus and Range Rover.
Right
before approaching the first Beverly Hills sign, the roads became very curvy
and wide. From UCLA to Beverly Hills there were very few traffic lights along
with few pedestrians. Beverly Hills consisted of wide streets, a plentiful
amount of trees, lots of palm trees and several small parks on the corners of
the road. Until this point, there were no visible bus stops or advertisements.
On both sides of the road there were huge mansions, private houses with
expensive cars parked outside. Soon after passing Arden Drive, there were many
tall buildings visible and the surrounding area became very commercial. There
was no landscaping and there were office buildings and apartments on both sides
of the road. The roads became narrow and a little bumpier than the roads in
Beverly Hills. There were large, brightly colored guitars in the center
dividers and in front of a hotel as well. The amount of billboards drastically
increased and they were for the high-end brands i.e. Chanel, Louis Vuitton,
Banana Republic, Gucci, Prada and Guess. On this stretch of the road, I only
noticed two car dealerships; a Range Rover and an exotic auto rentals
dealership. Compared to Beverly Hills the amount of pedestrians on the road
drastically increased and many of the pedestrians were either shopping or
dining.
After driving on Sunset Blvd for
four miles, we approached the first gas station where the gas prices were $5.29
a gallon. Along with high end furniture stores there were many cash for gold
locations within a one-mile radius. The very large billboards were for
television shows, channels or movies i.e. HBO, the new cartoon movie Wreck It,
Liz and Dick and New Girls. Along with high-end restaurants there were many
expensive cars parked outside these restaurants. Each restaurant had the option
for valet parking; however, public parking was available for $7-10. There were
many Hollywood tour busses, lots of strip clubs and many expensive hotels.
After about
six miles down sunset, on Laurel Canyon we spotted the first McDonalds. This
entire shopping complex was filled with fast-food restaurants i.e. Subway, El
Pollo Loco and Pizza Hut. The gas prices at this location were $4.79 a gallon
and the cars in this area were not as affluent as the vehicles in Beverly
Hills. Once we passed Laurel Canyon, Sunset Blvd became very dark. The
streetlights were very dim and the area became ghetto. There was no
landscaping; however, there were large palm trees on both sides of the road. On
the way back to UCLA, we passed the Chateau Marmont, a gorgeous Best Western
Hotel and the Andaz Hotel. On one side of the Andaz Hotel, there was a large
Perry Ellis billboard reflecting off the wall. There were large billboards for
beer and the lamppost advertisements were all for Jack Daniels.
I have
driven on Sunset Blvd, many times in the past; however, I have never analyzed
the road with such depth. It was incredible that within a nine-mile car ride from
UCLA, I entered such geographically different locations. Bel Air and Beverly
Hills had wide, open roads, affluent cars and homes; whereas, Hollywood was
very commercial, with little landscaping and had many pedestrians. In the
textbook reading this week, Ernest W. Burgess states “All the manifestations of
modern life which are peculiarly urban-the skyscraper, the subway, the
department store, the daily newspaper, and social work- are characteristically
American” (Burgess 339). While travelling down Sunset Blvd, I concluded that
this street was purely American.
The buildings, cars, bright lights,
clothing stores and billboards were all the puzzle pieces that fit together to
make our American society. This chapter in the text also discusses the growth
of the city in terms of different zones. Downtown Los Angeles itself is its own
zone and there are many other zones surrounding the central area; however, Bel
Air, Hollywood and Beverly Hills each have their own characteristics that
define them as different, unique cities. Even though I have lived in the Los
Angeles area my entire life, I still find ways to become a tourist in my own
hometown. I am looking forward to blogging about my next journey, until then I
will be thinking of the sunny, Sunset Blvd.
Burgess, Ernest. "The Growth of the City." The Blackwell City Reader. Ed. Gary Bridge and Ed. Sophie Watson. Second. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. 339-344. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment