LA landscape and transportaion - Essay Example

Advertisements were on walls and benches and were in both Spanish and English to reflect the most common languages spoken by the passengers. The content of one of the advertisements on the bench was American Apparel, a fashion retailer. Another advertisement was about a newly released movie. The advertising was clearly targeting the students who use this bus stop a lot and would be interested in fashion and films. Other than the campus the main accommodation in this area is simplistic housing for a predominantly Mexican and black population.

There is a distinct difference between the two areas. The residential roads are quite poorly cared for and the housing is a uniform, drab white in color and the buildings quite old. In contrast the campus was vibrant with colorful orange based buildings I noticed that the driver was a black male on the way out and on the return our driver was a black female. There were approximately 9 people on the bus other than me, 8 of who were Mexican and 1 who was a black male. Overall the people on the outward journey were past their 30s in age, and they did not seem to have lots of money.

At no time did any prosperous looking person get on the bus. I had expected more diversity. If I had relied on the statistics I would have expected to see more whites, blacks and Asians than any other group. In fact the majority of people I saw was Mexican. This does not mean that Mexicans predominated in all the areas the bus drove through; only that more Mexicans were on the bus at the time I was on the bus. Whether this is true at other parts of the day and on all days of the week I do not know.

The other thing I cannot be sure of based upon that bus ride is that the majority of Mexicans actually take the bus. It could be a more local phenomenon, that is, only people who work for specific companies take that particular bus as it drops them closest to their destination.4) The bus route took me through a wide variety of architecture and built-up surrounds as it passes from a predominantly University environment through to the vibrancy of Korean town, downtown LA and Beverly Boulevard with noticeable dirt and neglect of public places the further away one is from the suburbs.

Poverty and dirt do not have to coincide in the same space, yet on this journey they seemed to do so. This may be why certain areas get bad names and the people who live there take on the reputation of the area in which they live. There was very little open space and no farmland. I didn't notice any parks etc on my journey. It was all either accommodation or places to earn or spend money, especially the closer we got to the suburbs.Likewise the emphasis and language used in advertisements altered to reflect what the marketing people perceived to be the concerns of the locals of a particular area.

There would be advertisements in one language only, as if it was assumed that no-one passing through