3rd Street PromenadeAs I walked down the promenade, I came across a Pinkberry's Yogurt and decided to have a nice treat. I ordered a nice vanilla yogurt and sat outside and observed. I noticed that people had a sense of mobility and knew where they were going. I could see customers conversing with a store owner outside and it appeared she wanted to buy a shirt. Ernest Burgess states that mobility involves "The state of mobility of the person, and the number and kind of contacts or stimulations in his environment (344)." Since it was a Saturday afternoon there were quite a good amount of people. A lot of people were conversing and carrying about their day, just minding their own business. I would say there was a constant flow of people down the promenade.
After I finished my Pinkberry yogurt I decided to walk up the street towards Wilshire Blvd. As I walked, I noticed there were more homeless people that came out, most likely because it was in the early afternoon. I saw some homeless looking in trashcans for food. These homeless come to this commericial area known as "The Loop" because it is basically Santa Monica's center of trade and business district. The Promenade is "The Loop." From "The Loop" there usually is a Transition Zone, which was apparent on the adjacent street. In "Growth of the City," the transition zone is usually a mixture of light businesses and light manufacture (340). I noticed that when I walked on 4th street behind the 3rd Street Promenade there were small manufacturing businesses such as a tire repair shop and a gas station. What's interesting is that 4th Street seemed to have more hispanic workers in the auto repair shop and hispanic workers at the gas station.
Apartments in Santa MonicaI noticed that Wilshire Blvd served as a dividing line between the commericial area of Santa Monica and the "residential zone." I saw nice apartment buildings in this residential area as pictured above. Once again the area was mostly Caucasian. I saw two Caucasian women walk by me with their dogs and I saw a Caucasian man jog by me. The area had nice tall palm trees on the block. The area seems to be restrictive to an elite bunch with successful jobs.
After walking up the "residential zone" of 3rd Street, my friend picked me up at the corner of Montana and 3rd Street and we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway on our way back to UCLA. I noticed the Santa Monica pier in the distance and the sun up high. What a day in Santa Monica!
Santa Monica Pier
Hi Jimmy,
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a great job with your post this week. I liked how you focused on some of the specializations you saw in Santa Monica. As we talked about in class, modern societies are characterized by organic solidarity where communities are not all the same but instead have citizens that specialize in certain occupations. These specializations are what hold us together. I related this to your mentioning of the different socioeconomic status' you saw in Santa Monica with the "well-to-do" yuppies, hispanic workers, and homeless people. While you mentioned the promenade as being a more higher class place with expensive stores you also mentioned how it was part of "The Loop" where homeless people come to because it is Santa Monica's center of trade and business district. Because there is likely an influx of food from the many stores in the area, food is made more available to the homeless. Through this both the homeless and the richer people are held together in the community.
In addition to this you also mentioned the light businesses and light manufacture you saw on 4th street. You made a great point by showing the stark contrast between the gas stations and tire repair shops with hispanic workers and the predominately higher end stores located on 3rd street. Through the specializations both store types have to offer, Santa Monica residents have access to both varieties of stores helping hold the community together. This is also a perfect example of that transition zone that Burgess was mentioning in his “Loop” with the light manufacturers being right outside the central factory zone which compromises 3rd street. I then liked how you went into further detail with Burgess's idea of the growth of the city by going deeper into Santa Monica into the residential zone. Like Burgess said, this area tends to be occupied by “high-class apartment buildings or of exclusive “restricted” districts of single family dwellings” (340). In accordance with this principle, you brought up how the area seemed to be restricted to an elite group of people with successful jobs.
Lastly I liked how you talked about the mobility you noticed with the people although I thought it kind of contradicted what Burgess believed mobility would bring into a city. You said the promenade was a high-end place for the most part and had a fair share of mobility but Burgess suggests that “it is found that areas of mobility are also regions in which are found juvenile delinquency, boy's gangs, crime, poverty, wife desertion, divorce, abandoned infants, vice” (344). If this is the case wouldn't third street promenade likely be more run-down? Perhaps Burgess's assertion is incorrect and does not apply here so I found it interesting that you found a higher end place that also exhibits a large amount of mobility.
Overall I liked the ways you incorporated your findings in Santa Monica with the readings and things we talked about in class. I hope my comments are of assistance!
Cheers,
Dan