Blogging Social Differences in L.A. Week 10: North Hollywood: A slum next to a suburb

North Hollywood: A slum next to a suburb

For my final blog I was partially inspired by one of my very first blogs regarding my hometown, Burbank. The responses I received were the main reason I decided to follow up on that post. In my blog for Burbank, it seems like I glorified the town a bit, which may be true. But it was one response that someone posted to it that asked if there was a big difference between Burbank and its neighboring cities. With that in mind, I decided to answer that question with this week's blog.
North Hollywood is Burbank's neighboring city and yes, you can tell the difference between it and Burbank. I decided to walk into that part of town to experience the differences. Walking from what is considered Burbank into what is North Hollywood, you can already see the changes. Once you pass that sign that says, "Welcome to Burbank" and step into North Hollywood, the streets completely change. The streets that the people drive on immediately get bumpier and have a ton of pot holes in them whereas Burbank is always up to par on keeping their roads clean and free of any imperfections such as pot holes. Walking down the sidewalk in North Hollywood, the shops are run down and old, and some are pretty sketchy looking. If this were at night, I would have definitely felt a little more uneasy and completely unsafe walking these streets. The funny thing is, well probably not funny but more on the sad side, is that my mom tells me that north Hollywood has improved so much more over the years compared to what it used to be. (Which I do admit, there is one area of North Hollywood that has updated a bit with a new "luxury apartment" complex and some eateries which is by the train station.) But besides the minor improvements, North Hollywood has remained a slum compared to its neighboring city, Burbank. As I walk along and see the various run-down shops, I run into a liquor store that I'm sure many people have seen in the movie Clueless. It is the scene where Cher is left alone in the valley after a party and gets robbed at gunpoint in front of the Circus Liquor Store. Well, this is the same liquor store I am speaking of. While I may seem like I am exaggerating the dangerousness of North Hollywood due to a scene in a movie, if you "google" North Hollywood, you can find that it is no stranger to guns with one of the top searches being "North Hollywood shoot out".
Now, walking along Burbank Blvd. in North Hollywood, I not only take in the looks of the streets and the shops that surround them, but the people who also walk the streets. The majority of the people I see along the streets are Hispanic. I occasionally see a Black or White person, but for the most part I see Hispanics of all ages. There are some kids, probably high school age, roaming the streets probably looking for something to do since they aren't at school and there are people sitting outside their shops. I'm thinking that they may be standing outside their shops since the shops are run down and not in the best condition. Who wants to be sitting in an old run-down shop, when they don't have any customers, that probably doesn't have any source of air or heat system. So, my overall view of North Hollywood, compared to its neighboring city, Burbank, is dirty, run-down, and not as safe.
With these thoughts in mind, it reminds me of what we learned about neoliberalism. If we continued at the rate of that system, no wonder North Hollywood remains in the condition that it is in. Being full with low-income minorities, North Hollywood has a very low chance of improving if the state of the city counted on these individuals. By the looks of the city of what I saw, these people in North Hollywood are making just enough to afford a run down apartment for themselves and their family and can't afford for a little more expensive place in a much cleaner, safer location. If the people and town was given help from the government such as welfare or even green up the place by cleaning and fixing up the streets or adding a local park, North Hollywood and its residents would be in a much better place.