Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 7

[Update: 11/29/2012 All New Additions are Underlined.]

Covered in this Blog:

3. Walking Trip

7. A post following a "social difference" news story in the Los Angeles Times.

Walking Westwood: Economic Troubles or Busy & Bustling?

       This week, I went to Westwood to really examine the area and apply the class material to the city. I have been to Westwood many times, but usually just for shopping and not really to look at this portion of the city in an analytical way. I walked from my dorms (Sunset Village on the UCLA campus) to Westwood Village. I walked past the fraternity houses all the way to the Westwood Village, first passing Diddy Riese and various other food places. I walked around for about two or three hours, just soaking in the surroundings, examining the cars, the people and the urban landscape.

       Before embarking on my trip, I read this article from the L.A. Times about Westwood Village and attempts to improve the economy in this shopping area. (Woot! UCLA is also mentioned in the article!) The article, written last year, mentioned that the shopping area has been struggling and ideas and events that will hopefully "revive Westwood"(Groves 2011). The article made me want to look at Westwood in a different way (because I never realized the area was struggling!) and really examine the ways in which Westwood may be revealing these economic struggles.

       To start off, one of the biggest and most eye-catching landmarks in Westwood are the brightly lit movie theaters, which seem to cater to the UCLA college students as they have the latest movies and are the closest to campus. According to the Marxian viewpoint, places like UCLA (educational institutions) and also the surrounding places like entertainment and shopping are literally "tools" of the city for "reproducing labor" (Wilford 2012). These types of locations and amenities serve to keep people happy and content enough to continue working (or studying!) and reproducing more people to add to the workforce and replenish the work force as time goes on. In particular, according to Professor Wilford's lecture on class, schools are very factory-like, as they teach people just what they need to know and universities can help people specialize in one particular field of study to contribute to the workforce. Sites of consumption and  entertainment are exist and function to keep people content with working, because purchasing items and getting entertainment serves as a reward for working. I did notice that these theaters weren't that crowded for a weekend night. All the times I have been to the Westwood Village shopping area, I haven't really seen the theater crowded-- however it might get more busy for movie premieres. Yet, for a movie theater it is surprisingly empty. I think this might be one of the ways Westwood shows that it might not be economically thriving.

Fox Movie Theater in Westwood

       Westwood is a pretty pedestrian-friendly portion of L.A. When I first moved here, I was really surprised to see how people cross the street through a sort of "x" shaped cross walk, which is efficient for people to get to where they need to go and also saves time for the stop lights. (See picture below.) There is a lot of foot traffic around, mainly a lot of students but it also seems that apartment dwellers as well as homeless people can be seen walking and sitting in this area.

Interesting Crosswalk in Westwood

        Because this seems to be mainly filled with more pricey retail stores, grocery markets (Whole Foods & Trader Joe's ,<3 my favorites!) and apartments, the area is very well kept and safe. The L.A. Times article mentioned that the streets were recently cleaned and there was a big effort to clean the place up. Although I was not around last year to see what it looked like before the clean-up, what the article mentioned is definitely reflected today. As you can see from the previous photo, the sidewalks and streets are free from litter, graffiti and illegal activities (for the most part-- I did see a homeless person smoking a lot of marijuana which smelled a tad funky!). However, there are still homeless people in this area and the way that homeless people are treated differently can be observed as you walk by them. For example, during my excursion, I saw about six homeless people in the area and each time I would walk by them, I would notice people in front of me would walk faster to walk away from the homeless people or purposefully veer away from the direction of a homeless person if they felt that person's activity was out of the social norms. They did so in a manner that was different than if they were avoiding someone out of politeness or for safety reasons. I distinctly remember one of the homeless men was using a water bottle to wash his hands. He was muttering to himself as he poured the water onto his hands and the water splashed slightly from the ground into the air. He used the entire bottle, then slightly tossed the plastic bottle onto the ground. People were trying to avoid him and the water splashing and they slightly glared at him, as if they were annoyed, confused or disgusted. It was sort of amazing to see the contrast between the high end clothing stores (like the sunglasses store that sells expensive Raybans and Gucci sunglasses to the high end sushi places) and people on the streets who don't have anywhere to wash their hands.

       Although this is a relatively more expensive place to live, I think homeless people come here because there is easy access to transportation around the area and you can see buses are constantly arriving and departing from this portion of L.A. There also seems to be less carceral archipelago in terms of architecture, as there is actual benches and places for people to sit and relax. There is also a large population of students and shoppers who might want to give money out to homeless people who have buckets/cups out for collection money or cigarettes (I noticed a homeless guy with a very full bucket of both money and cigarettes from people walking past him), which is probably attractive for many homeless people. I did some research online and found a daily bruin article that confirmed my suspicions that homeless people are attracted to the area because of the student population that is available to provide money or food. The article also mentioned that there is initiatives to reduce the homeless population and that many business owners find the homeless presence concerning.

       In terms of stores/eateries, there is a lot of diversity! Thrift stores, Sushi, Mexican Food, Italian Food, Korean Food, Ice Cream, Candy Stores, Urban Outfitters, Target, etc. make up a very eclectic and varied choice for shopping. Things, however, tend to be priced fairly high. I noticed that many of the things I buy in Westwood for everyday use (shampoo, food, makeup, razors etc.) tend to pricier than when I buy them back at home in Irvine, CA. This might be because these stores can make lots of money for being in a convenient location for the student population in Westwood. I did notice that many of the properties had signs up for leasing. It is pretty expensive to maintain a shop here, so many of the stores that do not make a profit probably go out of business pretty quick. Perhaps because of the price of maintaining these stores is high, that might be a reason why the stores charge more money to shop there. (See pictures below of successful/populated stores vs. empty buildings for lease.) Obviously, capital accumulation is extremely important. Along with store diversity, there is a lot of diversity in terms of ethnicity, but this could just be a result of the diversity of the UCLA campus bleeding into the rest of the area. 

       I think the amount of retail properties for lease reflects the expensive rent of this area and the inability for many storeowners/businesses in this area to keep up with the costs, hence the lack of extra businesses and documented economic issues. This can also be seen as a way for companies that own property in this area (like the McDevitt Company, who own these three property spaces and a few others that I saw in Westwood) to maintain the property value of their spaces by mainly attracting specific high-end/more expensive stores and therefore attracting wealthier clientele to the area. It is important to note, that although there are homeless people in the area (like I discussed earlier), these homeless people rarely enter the stores. I think that because the items are more expensive, it really discourages the homeless people from entering and shopping here, socially excluding them from their desired customer base and segregating them from the rest of the population in Westwood Village. 

Very Lively/Busy Nail Salon

Three Empty Properties for Lease Right Next to Busy Nail Salon

     

       After walking through Westwood Village this week, I think this area definitely shows signs of economic struggle. Although there is always people walking around, many of the stores are not crowded. The amount of "for lease" signs around the area is also quite a concerning indicator for how the area is doing economically. However, the area is still a very common hangout for the students of UCLA and nearby apartment dwellers and is highly diverse in terms of ethnicity, age ranges, and cultures. There is a definite sense of social segregation, in terms of the social exclusion of homeless people from the other shoppers and sight-seers, as they are typically avoided and ignored except when someone gives the occasional dollar or cigarette to a homeless person.

Unlinked References

Wilford, J. (Nov. 11, 2012). Axes of Difference: Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality. Geography 151. Lecture 
              conducted from University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.