Introduction

Despite growing up in LA, admittedly, there are still so much of it that I have not seen. But with what I have seen, it's clearly a place with so much to offer, in every sense, but especially culture. I think I've always been interested in geography, particularly human geography, but didn't realise it until sophomore year of high school. Obviously, the class appealed to me, then, because it focuses on the social aspect of a place that's especially relevant to me.

Being from Los Angeles, I grew up hearing certain stereotypes of certain places in the area. Even though now I understand that they are that generalisations - sometimes slightly offensive, racist, or discriminatory - they nevertheless cross my mind whenever I perceive a place. There's South Central, often considered the ghetto with residents mostly minorities, even though north Downey is rather wealthy and contains a large population of whites. The San Gabriel valley is known to be very Asian, who are generally known to be well-off, despite pockets that don't quite fit this description. Then there are less obvious differences. Such disparities make LA an incredibly interesting place to live and study, because there is always something that will surprise me, but there's also a disturbing downside. Los Angeles has an unsettling gap between the rich and poor, the haves and the have-nots. So much social difference in a relatively small geographical area makes conflict inevitable, and can often have tragic consequences, not just for those directly involved, but for everyone in the vicinity.

I am hoping that through this blog and through the class, I can further explore the social differences in the Los Angeles area and how and why they affect the city the way they do. And the more I learn, the more I can also appreciate the metropolis that I call home.