On my way to the farmers market, I came across a very
interesting neighbourhood in fairfax. When walking along South Fairfax Avenue I
reached a crossing, and had to stand for a while. Taking time to appreciate my
surroundings, I quickly felt a strong feeling of social separation, through the
use of urban segregation. There was an apparent difference in the social
surroundings from one side of the street to the other.
On one side of the
street were a number of low quality shops, including this 99-cent store below.
The building quality was extremely poor and the sidewalks were dirty, cracked
and poorly maintained. Along the stretch of road from Wilshire Boulevard to the
Farmer’s market, I encountered 4 homeless males on that same side of the
road. In the View of Marxism, the
individuals working on this side of the road could be classified as the
proletariat. However on the way back, I decided to take a walk down the other
side, which I soon realised to have a completely different feel. The inequality
was evident.
There were many closed down shops, including this dental
office show below. As you can see from the image, there is graffiti on the
sign, suggesting a feeling of disregard towards the property. “Graffiti, can be
used as an obtrusive measure to reveal patterns of customs and attitudes of a
society.” (Stocker, 1972) The large number of closed down properties on this
side of the road could suggest a de-centralization of the provision of specific
goods. More clearly, many of these shops
may have closed down, and moved out from these deteriorated areas because the
demand is no longer there. This wasn’t the case however; the area was still
extremely populated. We can tell by the types of shops that have closed down,
such as the dental practice and camera shop (selling Veblen goods), that the
people living in these areas cannot afford these products.
On the other side of the road was a large housing community,
closed off completely by a 7 feet steel fence. These gated communities have
become a common feature of many US metropolitan areas. As you can see from the
pictures, the community has its own cul-de-sac and each house with its own
driveway; many of which had 2 cars. The building quality was much higher than
the buildings on the other side of the road and the landscape was a lot
cleaner.
Gating off certain areas represents a form of urbanism,
“where public spaces are privatized.” In the words of Renaud Le Goix, “the
gated communities have become a symbol of metropolitan fragmentation in LA.”
The gated communities have increased segregation on a local scale and I feel
that this was very apparent in this area. It has been highlight that “the
decline of public spaces in cities are seen as being detrimental to the poorest
social classes (Blakely and Snyder, 1997; Glasze, Frantz and Webster, 2002). It
almost seemed as though the homeless individuals felt more comfortable on the
other side of the road.
In summary, this area displays an example of local segregation
and a wide variation in social class in just a small space. These gated
communities are becoming a common feature in many cities over the world. If
they continue to spread, it will intensify the difference between social
classes and cause greater problems for communities and governments.
Blakely E. J. and
Snyder M. G. (1997) Fortress America, Gated Communities In The United
States.
Glasze G., Frantz K.
and Webster C. J. (2002) The global spread of gated communities. Environment and Planning B: Planning
and Design, 29 (3), pp. 315-320.
Le Goix, R (2004) Gated communities: Sprawl and social segregation in southern California.
Stocker, T, Dutcher, L Hargrove, S, Cook, E (1972) Social Analysis of Graffiti; The Journal of American Folklore
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