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.
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