Irvine Walk Around (15+Miles from LA)

Week two has come to an end, which means it is time for another post. This week I headed out to the city of Irvine to spend the weekend with my girlfriend at UCI; which is approximately 52.8 miles from UCLA. It amazes me that our reading for the week consists of Orange County, and in particular Irvine. As I drove to Irvine, I noticed that the freeways/highways in the area were large, presumably to withhold hundreds of residential commuters, which evidently there were plenty of automobiles on the freeway along side mine. This incident verified the reading in “Post-suburban California,” which states that some highways are 8-12 lanes wide, giving Orange County the availability to hold many commuters. Visiting UCI enforced my knowledge of it being a commuter city because I noticed that the school structure is set for commuter students, as well as the structure of the city being set for residential commuters, in aspects of places being spread out forcing residents to often commute everywhere.

 Irvine is structured differently compared to the city of L.A. Housing in Irvine is structured just as the reading stated with private enclosed areas with a lot of gates. My girlfriend and I decided to go shopping and noticed that most of the shops were grouped together, and were all fairly similar. This was due to the fact that most of these places were built in 1970’s and 1980’s, which were designed for efficient shopping. A great example of this is the Irvine spectrum and Fashion Island, where my girlfriend and I spent some time and of course had a large range of shops to choose from within the area.

Another thing I noticed was that near the 405 freeway, there were many large multi-floor buildings with big corporations. All of this demonstrates the consumerism aspect in Orange County and how the city grew (Post-suburban California). A great example is the MetLife building, which demonstrates the growth of the city and how large corporations are part of the Irvine community. When I reflect on the functioning of Irvine, I can see the city being based on mechanical solidarity, for the fact that there is an emphasis on the value of American consumerism and commuter groups, and not so much individuality. This can be understood in view that people live together in the same community and accept the values of outer area (Emile Durkheim "The Causes [of the Division of Labor]" from The Division of Labor in Society (1893) "Organic Analogy" from Dictionary of Sociology).

I am glad I decided to visit my girlfriend in Irvine; I didn't notice that while doing so would tremendously help me with my assignment and better understand this week’s reading.  Irvine is a growing city, and as stated in the Post-suburban California reading, it triggered memories of what I saw and helped me understand Irvine’s structure, including UC Irvine. After week two, I have learned that the structure of Irvine and its different formation of the city, has formed an impact in society and on its own future.

Edit (12/07): As we’ve gone more into the course, I would like to note more relative information in regards to this post, especially in perspective of the 2^nd half of the course. *For instance, Irvine is great example of American suburban designed for working men and stay-at home women. While visiting, I could see many women located in their area of domain, which is the home, as stated in Chapter 26, City A/Genders by Sophie Watson. Irvine’s suburban atmosphere also supports gender is a floating signifier. Also, Irvine supports Marxian view of capitalism in the city because it allows the residents to believe they are achieving the American Dream, therefore, they are okay with being exploited by the individuals who have the means of production (Bourgeoisie).* Also, in nature, inequality is demonstrated in Irvine but in the positive sense, viewing that they are a wealthy city, they have access to parks and recreational areas.