This week, my brother and sister-in-law wanted to meet for dinner. We decided to meet in Manhattan Beach. Usually I would take 405 S, start on Wilshire Blvd and exit Rosecrans Ave. Instead, I decided to take an alternate route, Sepulveda Blvd. Sepulveda is a 42.8 mile road from San Fernando Valley to Long Beach and for the most part, is parallel to 405 (a freeway that can have its own blog). I decided to drive on Sepulveda because it would allow me to drive through several different areas. Allowing me to view how the roads, groups of people, cars, building, etc changed. The heavy flow of traffic aided me in observing what was going on around me. I had my phone on me and recorded audio notes, allowing me the freedom to drive but also not forgetting vital information.
I left my apartment in Westwood and got onto Wilshire (it's common in LA to not use blvd, ave, road etc, when speaking about roads). I soon turned onto Sepulveda slowly, because of the ongoing construction on the 405. While driving for a few miles I saw several busses. I saw an orange Metro, Culver City's Green bus and Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus. The road was rough and bumpy and there were two tight lanes on each side. The lines of the areas are blurred, there are of course official limits for each area, but I am using more of my local knowledge I have acquired recently. At first I passed businesses on either side. I saw Ralph's, Trader Joe's and an Albertsons. as I continued down, the road widened and there were at times 3 or 4 lanes on each side. There were always cars parked on either side of the road. I soon entered in Culver City and not much changed. I saw people walking around, getting on and off the buses and from place to place. There were a few cyclists (who got way too close to my car because of the random appearances and disappearances of bike lanes). As I continued down Sepulveda there was more construction by the new Westfield Culver City (previously known as Fox Hills). After this point I noticed a shift in less people walking around. After that, I witnessed no more constructions, but there were signs for how they will soon begin on La Tijera. By this point I had entered Westchester. There were about 4 lanes on each side. There were entrances to residential streets and soon the stores started appearing. We were nearing LAX. I saw big plaza type areas with plenty of parking (and it was all free! No parking attendants or paying areas!) After I passed the amazing smell of In-N-Out (the scent of animal style burgers and fries wafted into my car) I passed the airport. I had to go through the tunnel, where I was reaching the limits of Westchester and entering Manhatta Beach. By this point the roads had become very smooth and were in good condition. The roads continued to be 4 lanes on each side. The traffic lights looked newer as well. Soon I was passing by many restaurants in plazas in between business buildings. I then passed another small mall. By this point I had reached Rosecrans Ave and turned left. There I turned into another parking structure area, that was also free. There were several higher chain restaurants and movie theater. It took me in total about 45-ish mins over the normal 30 minutes the 405 would have. Overall, the important things I noticed were that the further south I went from campus, it became less congested. The overall quality of the infrastructure was in better condition. The exterior appearances of the businesses also looked of better quality. There wasn't a huge difference of car quality, but there were more frequent appearances of "nicer" cars as well. Also I saw a decrease of public transport (only the Metro a few times). This shows the class of people in Manhattan Beach were more likely to have their own private transportation available and would dine in places that have spent more money on their venues.  |
| My Route |
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Week 2- (mini) Road Trip!
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I really enjoyed reading your blog especially because I am very familiar with Sepulveda Boulevard, which made it easier to picture everything your blog illustrates. To your credit, however, your strong and detailed description of your surroundings would draw in readers with no previous exposure to Sepulveda. I also liked that you noted when entering new municipalities, as it allows your readers to more easily apply class concepts to your trip. Finally, I found the way you kept track of and described the number of lanes open to drivers as you progressed down Sepulveda Boulevard to be incredibly clever. While I’m not entirely sure if it can be applied to a class concept, it is nevertheless a very unique way of observing your surroundings and something I will certainly make use of in my future blog posts.
ReplyDeleteThe one suggestion I must make, however, is to apply your trip to class concepts in a more blatant way. For example, seeing as you were detailing some of the obvious differences between the different cities you passed through, it seems appropriate that you apply Robert E. Park’s theory that, “The City is a mosaic of little worlds which touch but do not interpenetrate.” While there may or may not be evidence to support his belief, it seems to be a good starting place when applying class concepts to your trips. Alternatively, since you were keeping track of the economic culture of each city, both in terms of municipal quality and economic foundation, it seems appropriate to apply the idea of the post-metropolis that was covered in class. Because it appears that you noticed the differences in economic strategy between each city, that is whether the city was largely occupied by businesses in the information sector or businesses based around the idea of consumerism, such as shopping centers, perhaps you could discuss the way this differentiation relates to the concepts of decentralization and automobility that are the hallmarks of the post-metropolis city which Los Angeles embodies. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog and I hope these suggestions help with your future posts. Happy blogging!