Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 3

The Grove

This week, I get a chance to visit the Grove with my friend Michelle. The Grove is basically an outdoor mall that just happens to be next to the Farmers Market. It is also known as one of the famous tourist spots in Los Angeles. When I leave the parking lot to the mall, I am already shocked by its artfully decoration. Not only do the place features a large center park with a fountain, some musical performances are also showed to the visitors. Famous brands and stores are also around in everywhere, like Banana Republic, Gap and Coach etc.... All these cast a glamour to the place, which makes me feel like I am inside the Disneyland. As a shopaholic, I can't wait to shop around in different stores, yet; most of the things in there are a little overpriced (perhaps because it's a tourist spot?:o) so I end up buying nothing. But still, me and my friend have a fantastic lunch in The Cheesecake Factory, which is always one of my favorite restaurants in the states.

Being located across the Fairfax Avenue and the 3rd Street, I am a little surprised to observe the huge differences between the Grove and its surrounding. If the Grove is like a fairyland like I have described in the above, its surrounding areas will get you a little disappointed because they do not show the same image as the Grove does. Indeed, when looking around these areas (e.g. Korea Town, Little Ethiopia etc), they give me another picture. Not only do they represent a large range of ethnic population, but these micro communities also seem practicing cultural agglomeration because of their proximity. In this case, I am kind of wondering how these micro communities actually interact with another in these areas. To make a better comparison, I would like to explore more about that when I visit places like Korea Town in the coming weeks. Another thing comes cross my mind is the social class difference. During my car trip, I pass through some streets in Beverley Hills and parts of the West Hollywood. Surprisingly, within only the few miles away between them, I discover a large disparity between the two places. Beverly Hills is definitely a rich area because houses are beautifully decorated with amazing scenery. Its housing price is also very high when comparing to houses in other L.A. regions. With the high living standard and spending, people who live there are more likely to be the middle and upper class. Nevertheless, when comes to West Hollywood, the glamorous scene in Beverly Hills no longer exists. Rather, working class are more likely to be dominated in this area and I even notice problems like poverty when I see two homeless man in the street.

Lastly, in the reading The Growth of the City, it mentions that our city is consists of a set of rings, ranging from the core "loop" to the "commuters' zone". Although the rings may not be directly applied to the entire L.A. area, we can still relate it to some extent. For example, we can consider the Grove as the "loop" (imagine it is a small town), the transition zone to be Korea Town, and the residential zone to be place like Beverly Hills, which "high-class apartment buildings or of exclusive "restricted" districts of single family dwellings." (The Blackwell City Reader, 2010) Though these may not be exactly correct, but it does help me to gain a better understand about the process for the growth of a city as well as how's these rings can be applied in the contemporary L.A. area.