Blogging Social Difference in L.A.: Week 8

     With the end of the quarter in sight and a minimal number of blog posts remaining, I decided to tackle use week 8’s blog post to tackle the LA Times article. After what seemed like hours of unsuccessful trolling around the LA Times archives, I was able to find an article from just 2 weeks ago that perfectly embodied two class concepts.

     The article itself is rather short and details the impending, highly anticipated opening of Marimekko, “a Finnish textile and lifestyle” store, in Beverly Hills just last Friday, November 16th. The store is the just the third one to open in America, despite its cult-like following in certain parts of the US. While the article itself has little to do with social difference, it does relate to class material in numerous ways. The most prominent way this article can be incorporated into class concepts is through the ideas of consumerism and cosmopolitanism discussed in Kling, Olin and Spencer’s Postsuburban California: The Transformation of Orange County Since World War II.

     The sheer fact that the opening of a new store in Beverly Hills warrants an article in the LA Times is evidence in itself that radical consumerism and cosmopolitanism is very present in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. Before I get to my visit/investigation of Beverly Hills, let me first start off by discussing these concepts from the viewpoint of Kling, Olin and Spencer.

     According to Kling, Olin and Spencer, Orange County perfectly embodies a major shift in the spatial layout and culture of modern cities. The authors make the argument that not only does Orange County reflect the differences between itself and several other recently established major cities from older major cities, but, rather, that it reflects an emerging trend of developing cities around the world. This trend, according to the authors, is marked by fundamental changes in city structure and culture, the most profound of which include a decentralized spatial layout, the emergence of information capitalism, the shift to consumerism and the adoption of a cosmopolitan lifestyle. While all four of these hallmarks are present in the article and, as I will get to, in Beverly Hills itself. It is consumerism and cosmopolitanism that are most visible. As far as decentralization, the authors argue that Orange County and other rapidly developing cities around the world have strayed away from the traditional Chicago School Model and have instead shifted toward a multi-centered spatial layout. That is, rather than a city revolving around an economic and cultural center, there are instead multiple specialized centers located throughout the region. Kling, Olin and Poster also argue that modern cities are characterized by a shift from a manufacturing based economy to an economy centered around the information sector. Most importantly, in this context at least, the authors argue that recently developed municipalities, such as the Los Angeles area, are characterized by blatant consumerism. This consumerism is characterized by media based manipulation of consumers by producers, where in which consumers buy non-essential goods in order to maintain their producer-dictated lifestyles. Finally, according to the authors, modern cities are characterized by cosmopolitanism, that is an appreciation of more sophisticated and foreign products and services.

     After that obnoxiously long introduction, lets get on to the trip itself. During my visit to Beverly Hills, I made sure to not only explore the store that the article was based on, but, of course, Rodeo Drive. Furthermore, I drove around the area extensively, exploring both commercial and residential areas, or at least the ones that I could access. In addition, to seeing the four factors that Kling, Olin and Spencer discussed in their book (and discussed above), I noticed several other aspects of the city that relate to class concepts. Specifically, I noticed a reliance on automobility, a hallmark of the post-metropolis, a concept incredibly similar to the post-suburbia that the authors discuss, and the use of gated communities and a lack of sidewalks in residential areas to manipulate the type of people that are physically or socially allowed to enter the area. While these observations and the corresponding class concepts are interesting, in order to keep this blog from reaching an absurd length, they are out of the scope of this post.

     I would, however, like to discuss the ways in which Beverly Hills relates to the four hallmarks of “Postsuburban” cities. Let’s start off with decentralization. Decentralization is embodied in Beverly Hills in the way the city bases its economy on a very specialized area, the selling and distribution of high-end goods. Had the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area not been decentralized, Beverly Hills would either be strictly residential, as a periphery to the center, or would be characterized by the manufacturing and distribution of all products as the center itself. It is this differentiated multi-centrality that provides evidence to Kling, Olin and Poster’s claim that the modern city is decentralized. The economic reliance on information capitalism can not be tangibly seen, but can be abstractly discerned by the structure of Beverly Hills. This is seen in the similarity of stores in the area. That is to say, the information sector is present in the way the stores in the area match the taste, preference and economic level of its residents. On to the most important aspects of “postsuburbia” as it relates to Beverly Hills, consumerism and cosmopolitanism. As discussed above, the city’s economic reliance on distribution clearly indicates a consumer-dominated economy. More importantly, however, is the international aspect of these stores. Nearly everything in Beverly Hills is a more expensive, foreign, exotic and sophisticated version of things found in Westwood and other neighboring areas. Instead of Starbucks there are international teashops, instead of Macy’s and Nordstrom’s there are Gucci and Fendi stores, even already foreign, sophisticated, exotic and expensive products, such as BMWs and Mercedes, are replaced by even more exotic, sophisticated, and expensive products, such as Lamborghinis and Ferraris.

     While nearly every city in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area represent the postsuburbian idea in some way, Beverly Hills, as made evident by the LA Times article represents all four hallmarks in a very blatant and highly visible way.