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Dystopia

I am a pessimist. Therefore, no matter how hopeful other city planners might be, I will always believe that we are headed towards a technologically advanced yet dystopian society. Historically, city planners have been nothing but hopeful, only to develop a world filled with greenhouse gas emissions. We have been building a world based on the belief that human intelligence is the fundamental aspect of the developing world, thereby forgetting the nature that created us. Our egocentric minds have created a monster of a city and even with all the brilliant scientists, theorists, and planners, we are headed towards our own destruction.

I thought taking this course would make me more passionate and optimistic about making a change in our developing world, but it has done the opposite. In fact, we quite possibly might be too late in saving our world. Policy makers and city planners can pass bills, propaganda, and theories to mitigate the damage caused by our ancestors, but it can only do so much. Although it might be easier to plan for a utopian society, it is wrong to think that our actions will not snowball. That is, the destruction of our natural world currently is unretrievable.

Despite my bleak outlook on the future, I am still very much so interested in city planning. Transportation, accessibility, urban forestry, etc. make me want to believe that we are headed toward a better, more eco-centric mindset and society. I want to improve public transportation, to make all spaces inclusive to all persons, to promote zero-energy buildings and green roofs. As depressing as my mindset is, I want to prove my predictions wrong. Hopefully as a city planner, but if not, as a member of the community maybe I can improve on our society so that everyone has a better quality of life.

As this is the last blog post for this course, I am feeling sentimental that I will not be utilizing this page as much. I plan on continuing posting on this tumblr page (as long as I do not forget) as a way to record of the cities I visited but also so that maybe City Planner Alice can look back for inspiration from her younger self.

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Autonomous Vehicles

Larry Alton, a journalist for HuffingtonPost.com, Entrepreneur.com, and Business.com, wrote a blog post to explain how autonomous vehicles can positively impact the environment. According to Alton, “Humans hold environmental power with autonomous vehicles…[and therefore] autonomous vehicles could potentially be huge energy savers”(Alton 2018) However he hypothesizes that in order to promote lower energy consumption through autonomous vehicles, the government should intervene to create new energy-efficient policies such as limiting the number of vehicles per household or a minimum fuel efficiency rating. Therefore, reinstating that although autonomous vehicles, “have the potential to cut energy consumption by a whopping 90 percent… the environmental impact of self-driving vehicles depend primarily on what [people] choose to do with them.” If we want a more energy-efficient society, we need to take advantage of our technological advances and choose to create one.  

The main argument from the article is based on the recent study conducted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), which is a part of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The research, Autonomous Vehicles Have a Wide Range of Possible Energy Impacts, found six positive effects of self-driving vehicles, and concluded that there is a potential for, “nearly 90% fuel savings…to more than 250% increase in energy use”1 (Brown 2013) (where more energy usage leads to more fuel savings). In addition to the study conducted by NREL, the article also uses data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) that states that, “automated vehicles could be programmed to follow all of the eco-driving best practices, resulting in consistent achievement of the highest possible fuel economy for each vehicle” and that “fully autonomous vehicles could drastically increase VMT [vehicle miles traveled] due to the ease of travel and more travel by underserved populations (such as the elderly and disabled)”2 (EIA 2017) Published by Blue& Green Tomorrow, this article sources two main studies held by government organizations and other articles about autonomous vehicles.  

This article can be related back to how transportation impacts our environment. We have learned how our transportation needs and expectations have continuously harmed the air quality and fuel usage and how our society is aiming to make changes through policy change and governmental influence. I thought this was a really important way to also bring technology into the solution. Through autonomous cars, we can lower the number of accidents that happen, have efficient fuel usage and clean our airs. There is also a financial aspect to the autonomous cars and how they will impact the economy through lowering the demand for insurances (due to a lower amount of accidents) and lowering the number of fossil fuels needed (for these self-driving cars can be 100% electric). In addition, there is a proposition that self-driven vehicles will be designed to accommodate people with disabilities and provide ease of travel towards people with disabilities. Thereby introducing automated vehicles, environmental and accessibility changes will occur in city planning through transportation. 

However, Alton fails to mention the danger of introducing more autonomous cars into the city space. With the invention of smarter cars, there has been an increase in automobile accidents. A study conducted by Ola Svenson, found that of the 161 subjects tested, 90% claim that they are better drivers than average. (Svenson 1981) In addition, another theory found that with the invention of safer cars, more people were found to compensate that safety with riskier driving. For instance, “Driver training or a mandatory course of driving on slippery roads does not reduce accident risk. Such training does indeed improve skill, but it apparently increases confidence even more, with the end effect that driver education graduates show a higher accident rate per capita.” (Wilde 1998)  This concept, called risk homeostasis proves to be true in many other cases. Therefore I personally am against the idea of autonomous cars being the future. The safer we presume we will be in the cars, the more recklessly we will behave. I predict that more and more people will be caught under the influence while maneuvering autonomous vehicles. Therefore, in the slight chance that the machine sensors fail, they will be too inhibited to take control, leading to more freak accidents. 

Alton, Larry. “How Self-Driving Cars Could Impact the Environment.” Blue and Green Tomorrow, 25 May 2018, https://blueandgreentomorrow.com/environment/self-driving-cars-could-impact-environment/.

 Svenson, Ola. “Are We All Less Risky and More Skillful than Our Fellow Drivers?” Acta Psychologica, vol. 47, no. 2, Feb. 1981, pp. 143–48. Crossref, doi:10.1016/0001-6918(81)90005-6.  

 Wilde, G. “Risk Homeostasis Theory: An Overview.” Injury Prevention, vol. 4, no. 2, June 1998, pp. 89–91.  

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Air pollution has a direct impact on the health of the environment. The National Lung Association stated in their “State of the Air 2018” report that, “the number of people exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution increased to more than 133.9 million people, higher than the 125 million in the years covered by the 2017 report.” (NLA 2018) In addition, the degradation of air quality is not only detrimental to human health, but the environment as well. As a student residing in the Bay Area, I had a first-hand experience of what it is to live in an area with Very-Unhealthy Air Quality standards.

The air quality in the bay area reached very-unhealthy standards due to the fires. In Berkeley, Chancellor Christ only agreed to close the school only after the AQI reached 230 and after students created an online petition to close lecture halls. The petition provided to be successful with over 16,000 signatures. The student's complaint was inspired for Although UC Davis and other nearby universities had already closed their campus, and both had similar AQIs, our university did not cancel instruction. I personally stayed at home and left for Thanksgiving break early because natural disasters and the thought of impending doom can trigger me. However, after much debate, our school closed down (thankfully) so that can ensure the safety of the students. 

Before leaving, I had the opportunity to measure the number of particles in our air with a Dusttrak. The Dusttrak, is a hand-held machine that monitors the aerosol particulates in the area. The study found that the higher the average income the neighborhood had, a higher number of particulates were found. Although this was due to special circumstances when the city was affected by local fires, and we hypothesize that in days with good AQIs, areas with higher incomes would have lower amounts of particulates. For topography greatly determines whether or not the air quality gets cleared. 

The post-apocalyptic Berkeley will not be missed, and ironically, I found myself relishing in Los Angeles' air quality. Now that I am back in the bay area, where the air has been cleared, and the fire has been almost contained, I am glad that Berkeley does not have as much smog as Los Angeles. 

For the first time in almost two weeks, the Bay Area can breathe again [OC][4495x2997]

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Cars cause more harm than good.

Cars lead to the downfall of transportation and consequently, cities.

The invention of the Ford Model T is idolized throughout history because cars symbolize wealth and freedom. However, according to World Health Organization, more than 1.25 million people die as a result of traffic accidents annually. In addition to the deaths, "between 20 and 50 million more people suffer non-fatal injuries, with many incurring a disability as a result of their injury." (WHO 2017) Despite the horrifying statistics, cars are considered to be a necessity to easily maneuver the city. Although streetcars were a fast and efficient method of transportation, the introduction of automobiles caused their decline. According to Peter Norton, a historian at the University of Virginia, “Once just 10 percent of people were driving, the tracks were so crowded that [the streetcars] weren’t making their schedules.” (Stromberg 2015) In addition, the growing affordability of the automobile led to roads being gridlocked and city planners focused on rebuilding areas to build urban highways and parking lots.

Although cars are a decent form of transportation, another issue of using cars is the growing need for parking spaces. Therefore, the increased number of parking lots has become an aspect of urban blight often overlooked by the community. Parking structures rarely generate any revenue and are used to house cars. For cities as New Haven and Hartford, constructing new parking spaces hurts the city more than the city planners realize. University of Connecticut researchers concluded that by having a required minimum of parking spaces, "cities are basically forgoing tax money" because "parking garages tend to be taxed less than other developments." (Yu 2014)  The researchers also found that this common construction practice, "can inhibit development, fragment the city, and make traffic way worse by suppressing people's ability to walk, bike or take transit." (Breen 2014) In Hartford, the researchers calculated a forfeit of $1,200 per year per parking space. According to Norman Garrick, Associate Professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Connecticut, "[the forfeit] amounts to a subsidy of more than $50 million per year for all the parking in downtown Hartford. To put this number in perspective, all the real estate downtown contributes just $75 million in municipal revenues each year. In contrast, the subsidy for parking in downtown Cambridge, Mass., amounts to just over $1 million per year on municipal revenues of $50 million.” (Breen 2014) Instead of building more parking structures to accommodate the growing number of automobiles in the growing city, city planners need to effectively encourage public transportation. For not only are parking structures economically draining but they are also urban blights. Parking structures are not aesthetically pleasing and thus making the city less desirable and attractive.

By designing a city around personal transportation forms, we are making the city less and less habitable for humans. If we have implemented public transportation in city planning more and not fall subject to the need for personal automobiles, we could have more spaces for economic growth.

References

Breen, Tom “Urban Parking at Any Price?” UConn Today, 26 Mar. 2014, https://today.uconn.edu/2014/03/urban-parking-at-any-price/.

Stromberg, Joseph. “The Real Story behind the Demise of America’s Once-Mighty Streetcars.” Vox, 7 May 2015, https://www.vox.com/2015/5/7/8562007/streetcar-history-demise.

World Health Organization. Road Traffic Injuries Fact Sheet. May 2017 [cited 2018 November 26]. Available from URL: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs358/en/

Yu, Alan. Study: Hartford, New Haven Hurt By Abundance of Parking. http://www.wnpr.org/post/study-hartford-new-haven-hurt-abundance-parking. Published Online 31 Mar. 2014. Accessed 27 Nov. 2018.

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The Skyscrapers of Hong Kong photographed by Ming Chun Ngan [3860 x 5790]

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Swimming in Self-Doubt

I have been going through a lot of mental stress over the past few weeks. Therefore, I will be taking a break from a critique of the cities I have visited and try to explain my personal thoughts in this blog post.

“You want to be a city planner? For the government, right?”

“…sure.”

Although meeting new people is exciting, I dislike it when they are curious about my career choices. That is, city planning is a niche major and not a lot of people are aware of the different factors that create an urban space. Therefore, when I meet new people and explain my field of interests, I end up talking about my future. At first, I digress about topics such as accessibility, sustainable design and transportation and how vital they are for quality of life in cities. Then, they ask if I want to be employed by the government. Before, I used to believe wholeheartedly that I would become a policy writer or a governmental official and answer the question with zest. But with graduation looming so close, I dread the question, for I have no answer.

I love questions and answers. In my friend groups, I ask questions and relish in retaining the information they give. Recently, I have been avoiding inquisitions pertaining to graduation and careers, because those two topics are often triggering to seniors. Personally, questions pertaining to my future has made me question the fundamental reason why I decided to pursue studying city planning. Despite my interests in city regional planning, the idea of pursuing a career in this field as a woman of color is not only frightening but also bleak.

Environmental design is a field dominated by white men. The recognized architects such as Le Corbusier and Frank Gehry, resort to city planning as they progress in their professional careers. Although they might have designed innovative buildings, their proposed city plans are controversial and unattainable for most cities. Yet, we still study their theories in class and we praise the work they have done for the urban planning community. So how is it that I, a woman of color, without any architectural background, would succeed in a field made for acclaimed architects?

Will my opinions be validated? Will I become recognized? Will I become satisfied with the work I have done? Will I even get hired by the government or a privately-owned transportation company? These are only a handful of questions that have been running through my head. Compounded with my anxiety, it has been quite stressful. Maybe as I go further into the field, I will be able to answer all my questions. But as for now, I am swimming in self-doubt.

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Berkeley

The more time I spend in this city, the more I grow to love it.

Historically, Berkeley consisted of farms and ranches, yet recent developments have detached the city and its dwellers from it. That is, there are more people concerned with the political protests that occur on campus rather than its agroecology. Although political activism is important and we need more people involved in politics, Berkeley's lack of focus on its farming background brings insight into the issues of city planning. The city is pretty new and continuously growing, therefore we need to improve on some urban regulations so that we are prepared for the future. For instance, visitors/drivers constantly complain about the numerous one-way streets and their ineffectiveness. However, despite travelers preferring two-way streets because it makes driving more convenient, traffic engineers believe otherwise. Many transportation planners believe that one-way streets are a smarter way to effectively control traffic, especially in smaller downtown areas. As the university grows and accepts more and more students with the continuous population growth of Silicon Valley, if we want to continuously regulate the traffic, the city planners should plan on reducing the number of one-way streets in the downtown area.

Although traffic regulation is critical in maintaining a well-organized city, if we want to fix anything, I believe we have to go back in history and focus on the agroecology of Berkeley.  Agroecology, the study of ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems, applies activism with farming and makes it political. By studying the agroecology of Berkeley, we can slowly pinpoint the critical parts of the city and what we must do to improve on these conditions. When we study the urban and rural agroecological food systems in Berkeley, we learn of food insecurity, inequity in jobs and issues with diversity. In addition, based on the data collected by the SFGATE, Berkeley is the most expensive college town in the U.S., with its median house price at $1,000,000. The title of most expensive college town comes with many issues such as housing inequalities and food insecurities. However, it is also important to recognize that the issues of Berkeley stem from the nation's insufficient investment in higher education. Therefore, if we want to improve on the quality of lives of all residents of the city, Washington D.C. needs to be more diligent with managing governmental funds. Such as lowering the amount spent on Defense (for we are not in constant threat of war) and spending more on Education. Therefore, through examining Berkeley in an agroecological lens, we can realize that city planning issues, housing inequalities, and food insecurity leads back to negligence in governmental funds.

If we redirect the nation's attention from the violence present in Berkeley's activism and focus it on the inequalities and the injustice the activism is about, then maybe city planners would get the necessary support to improve the city. However, I am not claiming that the city needs to stop all activism and protests. Rather, I am suggesting that the although the public needs to listen to activists and their protests, they also need to focus their interests towards improving Berkeley though agroecology. By focusing on a more sustainable agriculture, we can aid in fixing issues with food insecurity as well as inducing labor and thus lowering income inequality. The lowering of income inequality will thus aid economic growth which in turn will provide more discretionary funds for the local government to spend on urban planning. Since UC Berkeley is known for many firsts, as an aspiring city planner, I hope that in the near future, we can implement a lot of change in this growing city. For city planners, Berkeley has many issues but also effective solutions. As we grow into a bigger college city, I am curiously excited about how much the quality of life improves for Berkeley community members.

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San Francisco at the golden hour. [6240 × 4160][OC]

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Detroit

Detroit, Michigan is fraught with city planning problems. Although no one can really predict which cities will fall into blight, Detroit was built on a single industry and fell once the auto industry relocated. For instance, the Michigan Central Station was once a very popular train station that no one thought would fall out of business. From 1913 through 1988, the Michigan Central Station, “shipped Detroiters off to war [and] brought them home…it was Detroit’s Ellis Island…filled with the sounds of hellos and goodbyes, panting locomotives and screeching wheeled steel.”  However, due to the introduction of government subsidized highways and automobiles, the rail system fell into a decline and thus became only a symbolic building depicting the grandeur that was once the MCS. Now, despite its rich history of traveling Detroiters, it has become an abandoned building, a space for the homeless and vandals. 

Since its economic downfall in 2013, Detroit has been making a comeback from urban decay. The new city planners of Detroit need to make sure that the city does not fail again. Therefore, they need to reduce the racial separation in the city as well as bring in different industries to support the local economy. According to the report by The American Institute of Architects Sustainable Design Assessment Team, Detroit needs to, “preserve and enhance the city’s healthy neighborhoods, rebuild the city’s economy around new industries and opportunities, build Detroit’s human capital, reconfigure the use of the city’s land to create a greener, more sustainable city” (AIA 2008) This report, conducted before the city’s major bankruptcy is accurate. The city needed to improve all of their ongoing problems which will, in turn, improve poverty, crime, and urban blight. One start is with educating the younger members of the population. In Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit Summer was created to empower the youth to freely express themselves through hip-hop and slam poetry. There are also groups of people teaching youths how to treat gunshot wounds because the city has one of the highest rates of fatal and nonfatal shootings in the country. The empowerment and education of younger children will get them to be disinterested in the life of crime and improve the city population’s quality of life. In addition to the community’s efforts to make the lives of children prolonged, the city is starting to attract investors from tech companies. 

In addition to educating the younger population, the recent economic fall made land cheap and Ford is planning to move back to the city as well as numerous startups. The once abandoned Michigan Central Station is going to change with Ford’s new renovation project: to turn the once bustling Michigan Central Station into their campus, “with 2,500 Ford employees…[to] work on autonomous and electric vehicles, and design urban mobility services and solutions that include smart, connected vehicles, roads, parking and public transit” (Lawler 2018) Though expected to cost upwards from 20 million, Ford is hopeful that the campus space will facilitate in their rebranding to a mobility company as well as boost Detroit’s local economy through smart transport. At first glance, it appeared as though Ford was investing in transit-oriented development. But by planning to renovate the space into a campus dedicated to work on autonomous and electric vehicles, Ford shows that they can quickly transform alongside the industry to solve mobility issues and increase the community’s quality of life. It is transit-oriented development without transit options, but a place, “where Ford and [their] technology partners can design and test services and solutions focused on improving people’s lives” (Ford 2018) By creating the space for testing new autonomous vehicles, Detroit has a chance to improve their industry with transportation with the help of Ford. However, I believe that the company and the city both are overconfident about the reconstruction process. 

Although it is a big investment towards building a stronger economy for Detroit, I believe this plan is a little too ambitious, considering the fact that the city still needs to be careful. The city might have exited bankruptcy, but there still is great income inequality. The Ford campus is situated in downtown Detroit, an area where investors are looking to purchase buildings at cheap prices. Ironically, this is also the area where 39.4% are living in poverty and there is no doubt that the development is centralized around those with higher incomes. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan supports Ford’s decision to enter the city stating that, “[he is] not threatened by Ford being involved there. If they succeed, it's going to pay off for everybody…We want Ford to be remarkably successful with all their ventures” (Howard 2018)  Even with the prospect of Ford’s success, households with lower incomes will be negatively impacted with the new development through the tax increases needed to finance the campus’ development. Hopefully, the addition of the new Ford campus will boost Detroit’s economy so that by 2022, there will be a lower amount of people living in poverty. 

The introduction of tech as well as transportation to the city will once again revitalize the city. So far, the city planners of Detroit have done well to garner the attention of outsiders to move to Detroit and make it a better place for all. However, they also need to keep in mind that with the influx of new tech companies, Detroit does not experience gentrification. The racial divide in the city is pretty severe and as new companies improve the economy, politicians need to make sure that all income levels can co-exist in Detroit. 

***This blog post is an expansion of reading response #8. below are the additional sources for the Michigan Central Station***

Ford, Bill. Ford Motor Company. “A New Kind of Proving Ground: How We’re Reimagining the Future of Mobility in Detroit.” Medium, 19 June 2018, https://medium.com/@ford/a-new-kind-of-proving-ground-how-were-reimagining-the-future-of-mobility-in-detroit-35fc20e30343.

Howard, Pheobe Wall, “Dearborn Mayor Backs Ford Expansion to Michigan Central Station.” Detroit Free Press, https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2018/03/23/ford-michigan-central-station-dearborn-mayor-jack-oreilly-reaction/448981002/. March 23, 2018. Accessed 25 June 2018.

Lawler, Richard “Ford’s Future Transportation Plans Include an Iconic Detroit Train Station.” Engadget, https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/20/michigan-central-station-ford/. Accessed 25 June 2018.

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Russian River

Thomas L. Daniels’ research journal on the development of American cities, connects city planning movements in a linear matter and explores the different advantages and disadvantages of each major American environmental planning. Daniels separates the different movements into five eras and provides a verbal and visual map of how sustainability slowly became incorporated in city planning. Although Daniels’ linear timeline creates an easy and informative read, it is his ability to connect economics, politics, and ecology to sustainable design that makes the journal insightful. In addition, he still remains hopeful that the, “goal of sustainability holds promise as a new paradigm for environmental planning.” (Daniels 190) He concludes his paper by offering four different actions planners can take to improve America’s role in sustainable design. According to Daniels, planners need to: 1. minimize sprawling development patterns and work to redevelop low-density sprawl into urban places. 2. Use regulations and financial incentives to promote environmentally friendly business practices and consumer lifestyles. In addition to the planners actively trying to improve on the cities, Daniels also states that Americans need to adopt a land ethic while, “major political parties should embrace environmental planning and sustainability.” (Daniels 190) His arguments coincide with my opinions on the future of city planning as well. An issue I found with city planners and society, in general, is their inability to justify sustainability. Sustainability is common sense, those who are against it, are wrong and thus ignorant. However, once we adopt a land ethic and think more eco-centrically, we learn that those who do not support sustainability (those with ego-centric or anthropocentric views) are doing so based on opinion rather facts. Daniels’ recommendation for changing one’s ecological worldview thus simplifies sustainability.

Although this reading was for another class, I felt as though the readings were applicable to Sonoma Valley. I visited Sonoma Valley with my friends and discovered the Russian River. The River flows southward and is the second largest river that flows through the Greater San Francisco Bay area. My encounter with the river was quite depressing for while the river is safe for swimming, the weekend I was up in the valley, signs lined the river stating that the river was closed due to pollution. The reason for the river's low water quality was due to polluted urban run-off. In the Sonoma Valley, their urban areas have a high amount of pollutants such as pesticides, oil, fertilizers, heavy metals and litter that drain into the river. In addition, their storm drains that lead into the Russian River does not have any filters to keep their river clean. This is a classic form of an ego-centric mindset with urban planning. Whereas we constantly upkeep the streets with impervious surfaces so that our vehicles can travel smoothly, we fail to make filters so that we can help maintain the water quality of our natural resources. City planners should not forget to incorporate sustainability with developing the city. As city planners, we should learn how to make cities work harmoniously with our environment and strive to lower our carbon footprint. Therefore Sonoma and Mendocino Valleys should make sure to insert filters in all of the storm drains. Although the issue of lack of filters make the water unsafe for humans to swim in the river, the pollutants also make it unsafe for animals that call the river their home. In addition, there should be regulations that restrict the amount of litter on all of the counties. There should be signs along roads that state the legality of littering so that people are discouraged to throw their trash out whenever. However, it is really important to implement a mindset that adopts a land ethic. Although many city planners already have a mindset of environmental sustainability, we need to try harder so that the public also adopts this way of thought. Policies only do so much. Therefore city planners need to implement the help of the community so that being environmentally friendly isn't just the role of those in charge but the public as well.

Thomas L. Daniels (2009) A Trail Across Time: American Environmental Planning From City Beautiful to Sustainability, Journal of the American Planning Association, 75:2, 178-192, DOI: 10.1080/01944360902748206

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Los Angeles

The city I grew up in has many flaws and imperfections. As the city grows and population increases, the issues of sprawl, congestion, pollution, and social inequities, become more and more visible. The discrepancies between upper and lower class are clearly shown as one makes their way across the city. Whereas the west side of Los Angeles has clean and well-maintained streets with white-picket fenced homes, the east is its antithesis. The unmarked streets are littered with potholes and cracks and the homes looked unkept. The urban planners of Los Angeles have made the city a Marxist nightmare. They have left the city to develop by focusing on capitalistic gain rather than developing the city to fit the needs of the people. 

In a post-modernist stance, Los Angeles is an ideal city. The city is designed to lure more capital and investment into the center of the city so that development is based on telecommunication and most importantly, consumers. However, the consumption-oriented style of development is a Marxist nightmare as well as unsustainable for the growing city. Los Angeles is so focused on maintaining the economies of downtown and West Los Angeles that they often overlook the needs and necessities of Central Los Angeles and East Los Angeles. In addition, the city is experiencing a lot of displacement with the growing industry. Issues of gentrification are arising as Downtown becomes more successful. The Philipino community in Echo Park, as well as the Korean Community in Koreatown, are being pushed out as new developers "revitalize" those areas to make the space accommodating to the richer elites of Los Angeles. 

Los Angeles has many issues with maintaining water, recycling, mobility, diversity and income inequality. However, in a city planning perspective, this messy megacity is a gold mine. There is so much promise as to how the future city planners will learn to manage the city. It is one of the largest and diverse cities and rather than allowing gentrification and displacement to take over, the planners should find a way to accommodate all the different cultures into a harmonious city.  One way to keep the culture is by taking public polls to ask all the different communities what needs to be improved in their part of the city. In addition, there should be more investment in the bleaker areas of the city so that in the future, the city has fewer discrepancies with the different social classes. As much as I have learned to dislike the city, there is so much to do to improve it so that one day, everyone can feel comfortable in Los Angeles. 

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Rose Colored Glasses

“You know, it’s funny; when you look at someone through rose-colored glasses, all the red flags just look like flags” –Wanda the owl, Bojack Horseman

I decided to declare a major in city planning with the thought that cities were the most wonderful aspects of the human settlement. The more developed it was, the more modern the buildings were, the more beautiful it was to my eyes. The bustling city with constant construction work, as well as innovations being created left and right, was my utopia. It wasn’t after my third year living in Berkeley, I realized how wrong I was. Hence, the quote from Bojack Horseman. When you look at something (i.e. in my case a city) in rose-colored glasses, all the red flags just look like flags. Hidden by the excitement of new gadgets, buildings, and designs, we forget gentrification, homelessness, red zoning…the list goes on and on. In the end, a city is like a Claude Monet painting; it is pretty from far away, but a chaotic mess up close.

I used to see San Francisco with rose-colored lenses. The bright lights, city-scape, different districts, and bustling economy, was breathtakingly familiar to me, a girl, born and raised in the heart of Los Angeles. I would explore the city, visit the different districts and try to take in all the culture present. I knew of gentrification in the Mission, for Clarion alley was the first place I visited. But it was after three years I knew how dire the situation was, the rose-tint faded from my lenses. The homeless people I once ignored along Market Street were clearly visible and so were the expensive boutiques that sprung up along Grant Ave. in Chinatown. My friends and their families were forced to relocate due to the financial district growing and growing, thereby swallowing up all the culture and history and spitting out superficiality and modernity.

I used to love walking up and down Market Street and people watch. I used to love modern skyscrapers with glass windows. I loved the idea of a modern homogenized city. There was something pleasing about everything looking similar and neat. I wanted to create that city. But seeing the problems of San Francisco being modernized first hand, I was able to realize how insane my perfect city would have been. I was planning to lock people into a world without culture, nature and thus into loneliness and homogeneity. In a sense, I forgot the real reason why I loved cities. Although innovation and grandeur and my love for minimalism might have made me notice modern cities, it was the different cultures and people I were exposed to that made me love the city. The buildings only make up a fraction of the city, the rest are people, their cultures and their histories. Cities are large melting pots where different generations can live and celebrate their differences.

Now, I have a different idea of a perfect city. It is no longer this mass produced city without character. But instead, it is a place without zones, where a modern hipster coffee shop can be next to a Chinese Bazaar. Both paying rent that is reasonable to everyone. A place where different people can come together and appreciate the different cultures. San Francisco is far from that, but maybe one day, I can help it lose it’s homogeneity and gain more personality.

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Paul Richardson. San Francisco Skyline - Timelapse Tuesday 4k. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qch3elUJnXI. Accessed 27 Sept. 2018.