Observation
The neighborhood I went through was very well put together. It was clean, very well decorated, and it still had a sense of "home" to it. My neighborhood looks somewhat similar, well kept together and very quiet, but we don't have school's, churches, stores, restaurants, etc. in my neighborhood.
Speculation
I believe Baldwin Park was created so that people who felt they were more important than others, and that did not want to live next to some white-trash redneck, could live in a little community and never have to leave. There are school's, churches, clothing store, etc. in this neighborhood, I mean why would you want to leave if you were able to afford to live there. Baldwin Park is a very private kind of place, and they seem to like to be excluded from the "outside world".
Analysis
Baldwin Park is there for the people who do not like to be interupted by "hooligan's," and such. They are very braggartly, and seem to think they own the world just because they live in Baldwin Park. You are not allowed to be different from the rest of the houses, an example would be you need to ask the HOA to plant a garden, and if they do not approve of the plants then you are not allowed. Your grass is cut for you, and you must have a small vehicle, or atleast small enough to be parked out front, even though the driveways are in the back.
Evaluation
Baldwin Park was built in this area due to it's vast amounts of land, it's history, and where it is located. It is a very good neighborhood with low crime, and it has a very good geographical situation. For those people who need to leave Baldwin Park, they are very close to downtown, and it's just a very convinent are for the community to be located in.
Nice job on your observations. However, what did you notice as far as the spacing and architecture of the buildings? What about the street patterns and the their width? What about traffic, both car and pedestrian? What about the buildings? Were any buildings “mixed-use?” In other words, did you see any buildings that served as both residences and businesses? What about the homes? Where were the cars? Were there driveways? Did you notice the parks? Did the community have amenities such as community pools and gyms? What about the schools?
ReplyDeleteWhere's the pic or your compare/contrast?
Don't forget that you're trying to understand the concept of urbanization. Baldwin is a great example of what urban planners have been trying to do, which is to stop the suburbs. For more info, check out the following link:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/00/earthpulse/sprawl/index_flash.html