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/