Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 4

[Update: 11/27/2012, Underline indicates additions.]

This Trip Includes:

2. Car Trip

3. Walking Trip

5. Visit to a Location I've Never Visited Before

Walking in Little Toyko, Los Angeles

The Little Tokyo Visitor Center/Police Station.

       This past weekend, I trekked to downtown L.A. to visit Little Tokyo with a few friends from a school organization that I am active in. It was very nice because we all carpooled together and they also told me a lot about the history of Little Tokyo. Not only could I walk around by myself, but I gained insight into their perspective on this historic ethnic community.



Here's the route I took when we carpooled from UCLA to Little Tokyo.

       I passed by the Los Angeles Convention Center, The Staples Center and various high-rise buildings. For the majority of my car trip, I noticed a lot of freeways and cars. It was hard to observe the people, so instead I just looked around at the urban landscape and I took pictures of whatever I could capture through the window. It was pretty gloomy out that last Saturday and the gray of the clouds matched the concrete freeways and the buildings. Watching all the cars driving and piling up, I thought about the incredible impact of automobility in Los Angeles that helped spur the 4th Urban Revolution and how different life would be if there were trains instead of cars. On one hand cars and the necessity of automobility gives the residents of the L.A. area freedom and independence, but because of traffic, the cost of gas and less human interaction that accompanies driving, I think it's also very limiting. It not only separates us from interacting with others if we were to use public transportation, but it can create social distinction just by owning cars, like the type of car you have (expensive and new vs. old and rundown) or if you can even afford to maintain one. 

       When I got there, there was low material density and the surroundings seemed very quiet. There wasn't a high amount of traffic once I got within the Little Tokyo community. Immediately, I could tell we were in a different part of L.A. There were names and words written in hiragana, katakana and kanji (the writing systems of the Japanese language- see above). Additionally, the lamp posts were distinctly different than other L.A. because they had little fans with cats at the top (see picture below). These physical markers on the urban landscape signified the cultural and social difference of this space. I walked through the Japanese Business Plaza and it mainly consisted of food stores, grocery stores and clothing stores and they almost all Japanese stores catering to a Japanese clientele. These obvious markers on stores, signs and on the streets illustrated the cultural differentiation of Little Tokyo and serves as an indicator to visitors and people who live here that this is an ethnic community.

       I noticed there were also quite a few homeless people. For instance, one homeless lady approached me and told me she had AIDs and needed money for food. She also asked my friends for money, offering to provide documentation of her illness. We gave her about fifteen dollars and she left. Additionally, another homeless man asked me to take his picture because I had a camera. He was a former veteran. I'm not exactly sure why he wanted me to take his photo but I told him that I was working on a class project and he asked me to include his photo. Below is his photo, but I have blurred out his face to protect his privacy. Witnessing this level of poverty in a business area which seems pretty successful and resilient was a little unexpected for me. I would assume that the businesses nearby would want to set up funds or set up centers to help these homeless people, but as far as I could see in Little Tokyo, there were none. I did a little research online and there is a transitional homeless center in Little Tokyo, but homelessness has been an issue in Little Tokyo for quite some time. 

       As I was walking and I saw more homeless people, I kept wondering why there were homeless people there. After lecture this week, it became more clear to me and I think I understand why homeless people stick around Little Tokyo. Professor Wilford showed us a map of the different districts and neighborhoods in L.A. and the proximity of the Wholesale district (which is where Skid Row) is located is very close. At first I thought this is a bit of the spill over of the extreme poverty observed in Skid Row. I think the homeless people in this area could be some of the spill over of the extreme poverty observed in Skid Row. However, after reading a few blogs and looking at pictures online of how skid row really is, I realized that this instead also exhibited the carceral archipelago (lack of benches, seating, public water fountains, etc.), known as using police tactics to control the demographic of a certain area, as there is a noticeably small amount of homeless people when comparing Little Tokyo to Skid Row. This drastic contrast between the volume of homeless people and the urban surroundings of the area really reveal how L.A. has an extreme amount of fragmented inequality. So while there is still a noticeable population of homeless people in Little Tokyo, perhaps from spillover from places like Skid Row, there is much less because of the carceral archipelago built into the urban landscape.

       After walking around the Japanese American National Museum, where I took the picture of the homeless man, I tried to look for all the historical sculptures and artwork throughout Little Tokyo. I walked down Central Ave. and saw a mural that was painted to celebrate the Little Tokyo community (mural is shown below). The mural is an artistic representation of how the community feels about it's sense of place within Los Angeles since it first became an ethnic community. It shows different generations throughout time, like traditional Japanese immigrants, second generation Japanese Americans and the modern generation of Japanese Americans. Emphasized within the mural is a sense of diversity, not only in the activities that the Japanese engage in, but also in the ethnicities of those depicted. The African American community is represented within the mural as well, I believe to show the connection the Japanese feel with the African American community, as they felt both experienced racial and ethnic discrimination that was treated as the naturalization of difference in America. Perhaps, this is a current attempt on behalf of Little Tokyo to bridge the gap between people in this area resulting from decentralization and fragmented inequality.

       The mural also emphasizes the  way in which being a Japanese American has changed, as now Japanese Americans engage in all sorts of modern activities, not just traditional Japanese activities (like dancing, etc.). This mural indicates how culture changes and is fluid over time. This connects to Stuart Hall from our lecture on race as a "floating signifier," because activities that Japanese people might have been stereotypically thought of engaging in (like traditional dancing, etc.) are not the only activities they might engage in (Wilford 2012). While people still might engage in these activities, the mural shows how Japanese Americans engage in very diverse and modern American activities, as well as traditionally Japanese activities. Additionally, the mural, which depicts generational and cultural changes shows how the meaning of being a Japanese American has changed over the course of time since Little Tokyo has been in Los Angeles. 

       In total, I spent about five hours walking around and I gained a greater appreciation for my own heritage (I'm half Japanese) and learned a lot about the sense of place that has evolved in Little Tokyo as a result of the influx of Japanese immigrants and their presence in Los Angeles. This ethnic neighborhood, along with other ethnic neighborhoods (China Town, Korea Town, Little India, etc.) in Los Angeles, are representative of how the economy and the culture of 4th urban revolution cities expresses greater globalization as a result of being so densely populated, attractive to immigrants and engaging in post-fordism (movement of capital and goods overseas). I think this globalization and post-fordism has created a lot of cultural syncretism, like the Japanese culture and the Los Angeles American culture fused together. Below is a neat brand I saw displayed in one of the booths in the Japanese Business Plaza. The company was called "Japangeles." 

       Social Difference in Little Tokyo presents itself simultaneously in the homeless people who are present around the businesses and area, the customers who shop here and the cultural differentiation that occurs because the area is an ethnic community. Historically, Little Tokyo recognizes (though their murals and other artwork, sculptures, etc.) that they were once excluded from mainstream American culture and now celebrate that they are not. Instead of forgetting, they choose to display this within the urban landscape. 

Unlinked References

Wilford, J. (Nov. 19, 2012). Geog. 151: Cities of Social Difference. Geography 151. Lecture conducted from

             University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. 

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 3

This week, I responded to Sara Tabatabai's blog, Traveling Through Los Angeles!

I responded to her post from this week on the Beverly Hills Area.  In her post, she explored houses, the business district and the streets of Beverly Hills.

Here's my response comment I left on her post (it is separated into two comments on her blog because it was too long):

       Great post! Not only was your blog post for this week informative and insightful, but also very funny! I loved your description of the trees (I personally love trees too!). Also, we're both Geography/Environmental Studies majors, woooot!! :D

        I really liked how your blog post and the Beverly Hills location you visited embodied and showcased the "Object Relations Theory" in action (Sibley, D. 1995). As you illustrated, there is a definite sense of people being included within a particular socioeconomic bracket and also the exclusion of other socioeconomic brackets which is shown by their absence in the streets, stores and neighborhoods of the Beverly Hills Area. As everything in this area implies grandiosity, the people who visit the area or move into the area feel the need to conform and project the cultural, economic and social expressions they see around them. Not only does this perpetuate the current surroundings, but it also creates the perception that this area is the most expensive and upscale area in Los Angeles and thereby attracts those who can afford to be there and excludes those who cannot. Your example and photographs of clothing choices seen throughout the area and choices in the housing details does a great job of showing the manifestation of economic similarity and how it is projected to other members of society.

       Additionally, this exclusion is really interesting because it is related to the Engel's concept of the segregation of social classes. In a way, because these "richer" people are clustering in this area and removing themselves from areas that are not as poor or safe, they can easily focus on the benefits of their social class while keeping the other socioeconomic brackets out of their worries. In other words, the problems of other socioeconomic classes become of no concern and inequality becomes fragmented inequality. This fragmentation of inequality and clustering of people in certain locations depending on their economic and cultural status reflects the reorganization and redistribution of difference that urban sociologists at the Chicago School expected would occur.

       I think your discussion of how the Beverly Hills area represents Durkheim's definition of mechanical solidarity is very interesting, because I agree that there is an apparent homogeneity in how people dress, talk and act. However, in my opinion I think their behavior and appearance looks the same because they occupy the same socioeconomic class bracket and because over time the area has attracted and retained people that are in the same class and have similar values (Objects Relation Theory). I think the variety of stores and businesses, as well as the occupations that pay these people more money are more specialized and reflect the organic solidarity (i.e. people coming together in society because everyone relies on each other for different services) present in the Beverly Hills area. What do you think?

       I think your photos also did a great job of illustrating the importance of cars in post-metropolis L.A. Not only did cars help form the spatial layout of the Beverly Hills area, but in this area that you explored it also appears to be another sign of status. All of the cars in your photographs tend to be relatively new, shiny and expensive looking. They are not damaged, old or have chipped paint. There is a convertible, some SUVs, and perhaps a lexus. The prevalence of these cars alone also reveal the extreme automobility of the Beverly Hills area. I also noticed from your pictures that the material density of the area is sparse and there doesn't seem to be large groups of people walking or socializing together. I think this is related to the radical individualism discussed in class, where everyone is very independent and carries out their daily tasks by themselves. Personal independence is further enhanced by every person's ability to drive themselves where they need to go. The spatial layout and the detachment of the residential area from the CBD (Central Business District) could also be related to the use of automobiles.

       Overall, amazing job! Your adventure into the Beverly Hills area has inspired me and got me super excited for next week's excursion! I can't wait to see where else you go! If you want to check out my blog, you can find it here: http://metromotleyla.blogspot.com/

-Breeanna Bergeron-Matsumoto

References

Engels, F. (2010). The Great Towns. The Blackwell City Reader. 11-16.

Sibley, D. (1995). Mapping the Pure and Defiled. Geographies of Difference: Societies of Difference in the West. 380-387.

Wordle of Woodbridge Lake Reviews

I thought this would be fun to post. I took all the yelp reviews of the North Woodbridge Lake that I found on yelp and input them into www.wordle.net, which is a cool site that takes the words you put in and makes the words that appear most frequently bigger in relation to the amount of times other words appear. Anyways, I think it's great because it gives a vernacular view of how some residents see the area, as well as an outsider perspective of the area. I think the bigger words are really insightful. I got the idea to post this after my post last week on the North Woodbridge Lake Area in Irvine.

Here's the North Woodbridge Lake Wordle:

Click on Wordle Image to See Image Enlarged.

Look at how certain words, like "great," "community," "nice," "beautiful," stand out! I also like the smaller words, like "artificial" because they are still representative of North Woodbridge Lake area.

Hope you guys enjoyed that tidbit!

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 2

[Update: 11/27/2012-- Underline indicates additions.]

This Trip Includes:

3. Walking Trip

4. Location that is at least 15 miles away from UCLA

Geese Walking at North Woodbridge Lake, Irvine. 

Exploring North Woodbridge Lake Area, Irvine, Orange County.

       This weekend, I traveled to Irvine in Orange County to analyze the city of Irvine as part of the metropolitan L.A. region. Irvine, commonly nicknamed “the bubble,” truly stands out among the cities surrounding the area like Lake Forest, Tustin, Orange and Santa Ana as being extremely manufactured, manicured, very clean and safe. For this trip, I focused specifically on one of the main attractions in Irvine, the North Woodbridge Lake area, to observe the impact of social difference on the urban landscape. The area I visited included the Woodbridge Lake, Woodbridge residential housing and private amenities, the Woodbridge Village Shopping Center and various commercial buildings. Due to the distance of this centralized area from other central regions in Irvine and Orange County, this entire area serves as an example of the decentralized centralization that occurs in Irvine, as well as other postsuburban cities. As this is a very modern postsuburban location, organic solidarity is reflected in almost every aspect of the urban location as it is obvious that people do not live together in clans or tribes and it appears that all people work at specialized jobs which enable them to buy cars and rent or own houses.

       From my mom's apartment, the drive to North Woodbridge lake took about fifteen minutes. As always, driving around Irvine was an interesting experience. I saw perfectly cut green grass lining the roads, as well as palm trees and precisely trimmed bushes that seem to guard the streets at every direction. Drivers try to go fast getting to where they need to go at around 50-60 mph on most roads. Yet, interestingly, it doesn’t seem to help people get to their destination faster, as there is traffic lights at the end of every street and intersection almost as if to stop people from speeding. The roads provide a very smooth ride, illustrating the city has ample money to constantly keep up with construction maintenance. Going from Woodbury to Woodbridge was very much like going from one central area to another, as this Woodbridge area has housing, recreation, businesses and a shopping area all networked together in a close proximity. 

       As I passed the lake, I noticed that there wasn't too many people present at the Lake itself. There was a few runners and someone walking two beagles. There was no convenient parking on the street or by the lake but even if I could find street parking, the only way to get to the Lake would be to illegally cross the street. So, I decided to park in the lot of the Woodbridge Village Shopping Center. The Woodbridge Village Shopping Center and parking lot is where I noticed the concentration of people, or material density, of the area increase slightly because of the people flocking to the coffee shop, Ruby's Diner, Barnes & Nobles and the dollar movie theatre. I used the convenient bridge to take me over the street (Barranca Pkwy.) directly to the lake. The fact that this bridge was only accessible by a parking lot area indicates that in this area, everyone is expected to own a car for transportation and to enjoy the features around them. Also, since the parking lot is meant for customers of the Woodbridge Village Shopping Center, this layout encourages the visitor of the lake to patronize the businesses within the center. Because people are expected to use cars and engage in frequent shopping excursions, it reflects that this area attracts and is organized for people who can afford to lead this type of lifestyle. 

       Arriving at the lake water, I saw a few bikers and kids running around with their parents. Overall though, it almost appeared as a private lake, despite the cars rushing by the front gazebo area. There were more geese than people and they were everywhere. As I walked past them, they kept walking, undisturbed by my movements. Everyone around me was quietly enjoying the lake, but seemed to be in their own world. One person smiled at me, but for the most part eye contact seemed to be nonexistent because people were preoccupied with the lake or their kids. It’s clean, just like the rest of Irvine and beautiful, especially for being man-made. Yet, it was obvious that the lake was unnatural, because it was so symmetrical and lacked wild vegetation.

       Right on the lake, there were lake homes that looked expensive and uniform from a distance (see above photo). On the the other side of the lake there were other houses that looked bigger but didn't have the luxury of such a gorgeous waterfront view. On the other side of the road, past the Woodbridge Village Shopping center, there were even more houses and apartment complexes. They still looked clean and safe, just a little older. Here, placement of houses and near this man-made lake could symbolize wealth and status as discussed in the "Nature, The City and Social Difference Lecture"(Wilford 2012). Nature is used within cities as aesthetic value and can make the homes more valuable and attractive. Perhaps these older houses reflect extension and succession that was discussed in The Growth of the City, as they seem older than the newer looking lake houses. Over time, when the lake was created, newer houses might have been built there and given new places for people with extra money to relocate and extend into recently developed housing. This extension of new housing would have led to succession in pushing the residential region out into another geographic zone. If these new housing units created housing for residents outside of the area, which it most likely did, then it would also be indicative of past mobility, or movement created by "a new stimulus or situation" (Burgess 2010). This movement would be the new residents moving into the area or residents relocating to the newer housing units that became available. Additionally, movement would also take place because the area would have changed its form by adding these new human used locations. 

       Within each residential community, all of the houses and apartments basically looked homogenous, however most of the people residing within these communities seemed to make an attempt to personalize their homes and project that personalization outwards. Either with their cars in the garage, welcome door mats or window decals, small glimpses into the demography and personality of the residents peeked through. Although it's easy to pass these places and assume that everything is 'cookie cutter' or reminiscent of a scene out of the Stepford Wives, if you look hard enough you will see individualized character shining through the almost identical housing units (see picture below of a hello kitty window I found at one of the Woodbridge Lake houses). 

Hello Kitty Decals Adds Personalized Character and Demographic Insight to Identical Housing Unit by the North Woodbridge Lake.      

       Regardless of where exactly their homes were located in relation to the lake, there were amenities that seemed to be accessible by all those that lived in the community. These amenities included swimming pools and tennis courts. They were gated, so each member had to have an electronic key to enter. I could only peek through the mesh to see a few people playing tennis. Various tennis balls were strewn on the outside of the courts from people hitting their tennis balls out of the court and forgetting to pick them up. The lack of concern for lost tennis balls hint that many of these residents can afford to buy new tennis balls, rather than deal with the hassle of grabbing the dirty ones from the bushes and dirt. The exclusive aspect of these amenities suggest that the community only wants to allow members of their community in, while keeping others out. In addition to filtering the visitors of these amenities, the exclusivity makes the amenities available seemingly more special and upscale, perhaps even resembling the amenities of a resort or hotel. 

      After observing the amenities, I started walking back to the Woodbridge Village Shopping Center and the business complexes adjacent to the shopping center. The business complexes seemed to be very diverse in the type of businesses the offices held. The types of businesses I observed ranged from medical and technological offices to tutoring offices. Each of the offices looked very clean and almost new. The cars in the parking lot seemed to be in good condition, suggesting that the workers who are employed within the offices make a comfortable to high amount of money. 

       In the actual Shopping Center, there were more of these types of businesses, but they began shifting focus to children and health. For example, there were more tutoring and learning centers for math, science, art, dance and martial arts. There was also more dentistry, acupuncture and general doctors offices within the shopping center. It was interesting to see the placement of these business-oriented offices, as they were generally hidden behind the retail and food related stores or on the second and third levels of the Shopping Center. The largest and highly frequented stores were the chain stores, like Barnes & Noble bookstore, Ruby's Diner and the movie theatre. Although these popular chain stores have a broad clientele, judging by the customers within each of the stores, they were very family-oriented and children friendly. The movie theatre obvious catered to a family budget (being a discount theatre) and had many children's movies available for viewing. For those uninterested in shopping or for those tired from shopping and eating, there was a small seating area in the middle of the shopping center with a miniature jungle gym for little kids. 

       Overall, this small Woodbridge community seems to be a a very convenient centralized area within the larger city of Irvine and of the L.A. metropolitan region. Theoretically, residents in the area could shop and get entertained within this area, get medical and dental care and work within the business shops in the area. In this way, it represents the decentralization discussed within One The Emergence of Postsuburbia: An Introduction, as the area is not part of single centralized area within the city, but rather is a center separated from the other centers. Because of the similar income level that would be needed to sustain lifestyle in the community, judging from the superb condition of the houses, their size, location and access to amenities, there is obvious social differentiation between this community and one in neighboring cities. Although it isn't obvious if you were to solely examine this area, it is differentiated socially because people of the same socio-economic bracket are clustering here together away from other socio-economic brackets located elsewhere, perhaps in Tustin, Lake Forest or Santa Ana which have other higher and lower housing and living costs. In this way, Irvine is part of the stratification of postsuburban Orange County and the entire entity of L.A., as it houses one demographic while restricts other demographics from being able to reside and shop within it's city due to it's fairly high price. 

       Despite this stratification which can be viewed when comparing Irvine to other cities, inequality was very hard for me to discern between individuals within this portion of Irvine. Perhaps this is why Irvine is called "the bubble." Everyone I ran into seemed to be healthy, dressed in new clothing and seemed to be in the middle-class. I believe the way many of the housing units and office buildings are painted the same way and presented to look the same may be intentionally created that way to hide any discrepancies of slight lower and higher incomes and create the illusion that everyone fits within the same social atmosphere as everyone else, at least economically. 

       In One The Emergence of Postsuburbia: An Introduction, Kling, Olin and Poster argued that Irvine essentially lacks a community, as people are more solitary and less open to bonding with their neighbors. Although I agree that the residents and visitors in the community do not seem to talk amongst each other and form bonds, I believe there is still a real sense of community that can be felt as you walk around. However, the community that can be found seems to have morphed into communities that the residents choose to participate in. For example, the art learning center in the shopping center catered to kids interested in learning how to paint. This fostered a community for kids who love art to meet and create art together. Additionally, I saw flyers for a Woodbridge running group for people who want to run with other people in their community. Although it is not an obvious overarching and broad community that includes every single person who lives there, it still provides a sense of togetherness and community that would not exist if everyone was completely focused on "domesticity" alone (Kling, Olin & Poster 1995). It seems that just as people have specialized in jobs and live in regions that are organized by differentiation, our sense of belonging and community has also followed suit. 

       

       Lastly, in Professor Wilford's lecture we learned that Durkheim attributed many "social problems" and issues to be a result of too much material density (Wilford 2012). Although there was an increased material density within the shopping center, there really wasn't a very high concentration of people because of the spatial layout. Compared to other shopping centers and malls, the material density was actually quite low. Additionally, the material density of a place like a shopping center is subject to fluctuation. Irvine was determined to be "the safest city in the country" for eight consecutive years by the FBI as reported by the L.A. Times in this article and it could be because throughout these centralized pockets in Irvine the material density is fairly low.

       After taking my trip through the Woodbridge area of Irvine, it has become clear that Irvine is a product of social difference. Looking at the way Irvine is structured and organized spatially reflect the type of people that live in the city, which demographic this city appeals to and what is important to the people who live there. Specifically for the Woodbridge area that I explored, I believe the urban geography reflected that the residents who live in the Woodbridge Lake area are affluent, mostly upper to middle class, are concerned with safety and place a high value on education and entertainment. 

Unlinked References

Burgess, E. (2010). The Growth of the City. The Blackwell City Reader, 2, 339-344.  

Kling, R., Olin, S., & Poster, M. (1995). One The Emergence of Postsuburbia: An Introduction. University of

               California Press, 1-31. Retrieved from http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft0k40036b/.

Wilford, J. (Oct. 8, 2012). Cites and Urban Difference: History and Theory. Geography 151. Lecture conducted

               from University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. 

Wilford, J. (Nov. 21, 2012). Nature, The City and Social Difference. Geography 151. Lecture conducted from 

               University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 1

       The Geography 151: Cities of Social Difference student blog project, Metro Motley L.A., strives to uncover the impacts of social difference within the urban environment of metropolitan Los Angeles, California. This blog will connect my personal exploration of the city of Los Angeles with the material obtained in Dr. Justin Wilford’s Geography 151 course in order to investigate and understand social difference throughout the region. As L.A. possesses a vast geographic expanse, a rich historical background, a dense population and an amalgamation of different cultures and ethnicities, it is the perfect case study for understanding the power of social difference within modern urban cities.

       My interest in this class was sparked because of the focus on social difference and it’s reflection in places. After learning about the evolution of cities and how city models can illustrate how cities are organized, I have always wanted to delve deeper into what causes architectural and physical landscape transformations within cities. Additionally, this class and the themes we will cover are fascinating to me because of a documentary I watched over summer, called The Garden. The Garden centers on a dispute that arose over an important community garden in L.A. This community garden was an inexpensive way for poor families in L.A. to grow their own food. Throughout the documentary, I noticed an obvious display of social difference between the politicians, the garden landowner and the community gardeners, not just in terms of money and education, but also opportunities and power. The Garden gave me a small glimpse of how multifaceted social and political issues within cities and communities are directly related to social difference. Personally, I found this intriguing and I would love to learn more about the interconnections embedded in cities that create and solve issues, as well as the consequence of social difference that determines how others interact with one another.

       Currently, I perceive social difference within the metropolitan L.A. region as simultaneously unifying and divisive. For example, in L.A. it is easy to separate the majority of citizens by the privileged and the underprivileged. When passing through L.A., it is apparent by the buildings, the attitude and behavior of the people, as well as their appearance and clothing that certain areas are wealthy, while other areas have greater disadvantages. In this way, L.A. illustrates how social difference can be divisive. Yet, it is this diversity that also unifies people of similar economic and social standing. Another example includes the distinctive cultural and ethnic enclaves found in L.A., which divide and categorize people based on their cultural or ethnic affiliation, but also serves to bring similar people together in one community.

       Ultimately, I am excited to explore many unique places throughout L.A. that I have never been to before and study the different landscapes, cultures and people. Although I have visited L.A. frequently while growing up, I tended to go to the same places (usually Westwood or Brentwood). I can’t wait to branch out and see where this project takes me! Some areas I have in mind to visit are Venice, Orange County (maybe Newport, Irvine or Santa Ana), Chinatown and Little Tokyo. I can’t wait to start my first adventure!

-Breeanna Bergeron-Matsumoto