Blogging Social Difference in L.A. : Week 2

      A great aspect of living in Los Angeles is the various places you can visit. This week I visited a neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles, in particular a street corner. During the day the streets of L.A. are invaded by commuters from all around. People are usually working and cars are constantly moving up and down the street. However, during the night on certain days you are likely to find young people enjoying the "nightlife" especially at night clubs. The city lights brighten up the streets and people are usually in groups. The morning work environment quickly shifts to a more subtle and less crowded one.
      During my visit on the corner of Hill St. and W 11th St. I noticed that the adjacent streets were One-Way only. I did not see a lot of cars at the moment, mostly metro buses, and the only businesses that seemed to be open where three overly priced parking structures and two nightclubs/theaters. The people surrounding the nightclubs/theaters were loud, carelessly smoking out in the open, and everyone seemed to be in conversation with one another. While I stood near the intersection of the two streets I observed my surroundings and noticed that the road was poorly managed and there seemed to be little attention given to its maintenance. Attached below are some photos of Hill Street.

      The picture on the right shows a police car model that is rarely seen, perhaps they are only available in the downtown area. The next picture exposes the cracked road and sidewalk. The driving lanes are narrow and only one car was in sight at the time. In addition to the road conditions the picture on the right shows a group of guys crossing the street. I did not see many girls on the street, most likely because of safety concerns. More males are likely to feel comfortable walking alone at night than females. The "nightlife" that this young crowd lives might be fun, but dangerous. This part of downtown L.A. reveals the difference between older and younger cultures. The morning life is busy and fast-paced versus the night life when a younger crowd is more visible. This may be related to the differentiation that occurs within cities. 

     In my perspective the streets might not be managed as much as they should be because of the heavy early commute and lack of funds. A lot of the observations I made can apply to other street corners in the block perimeter. As I noted before, the cities road conditions can provide disadvantages such as overpriced parking structures to ensure security and the one way street might make reaching a destination more time consuming and difficult. Evidently these city differences lead to differences in the type of people that you see at specific times of the day. My trip to downtown helped me realize how different one place is from another even from day to night.