Rich and the poor, the widening gap. (Los Angeles, Torrance: low income, apartments)

[shaKEEn]

As we know, the middle class is shrinking and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening in Los Angeles. As an architecture major student, I want to design a building that makes an individual experience this situation. I wanted to incorporate the widening gap between two social class in L.A. Therefore, I want to hear your opinion about the experiences each group faces in L.A. Also, how does the future look for this two groups? Will the gap widen or shrink? Is there a solution?

[greggd]

Originally Posted by shaKEEn

As we know, the middle class is shrinking and the gap between the rich and the poor is widening in Los Angeles. As an architecture major student, I want to design a building that makes an individual experience this situation. I wanted to incorporate the widening gap between two social class in L.A. Therefore, I want to hear your opinion about the experiences each group faces in L.A. Also, how does the future look for this two groups? Will the gap widen or shrink? Is there a solution?

Are you looking to design a building that would house both upper income class households and lower class income households so they can experience eachother?

That is simple, build a structure with two seperate entries and various floor plans. Rent based on sq ft of the unit. In 6 months the lower income section will be worn out and the upper income section will still look new.
details: go to van nuys.

Eventually the upper income will move out and live in a nicer building. Those unit will be split and rented to the lower income households. The units will further deteriorate and a nice young lawyer who wants to make money while feeling good about himself will sue the building owner for the conditions created by the tenants. They will settle and the families will get a little bonus for being slobs, and lack of any kind of family or financial planning.

Also, both sides of the coin already experience the other. Who do you think cleans and services the estates? Who do you think hires low income non-licensed, contractors to save % on their remodel projects, production costs etc. knowing they are undermining the system for their immediate gain.

[timelesschild]

OK, here's an idea. Establish a paradigm where:

Private space = rich
Transition/circulation space = middle
Public space = poor

Then design your project, and remove the circulation/transition spaces. It will make the point.

[shaKEEn]

:-s:-s:-s:-s:-s:-s

[shaKEEn]

Thanks....

[JTGJR]

I'm going to tell the story of a boy. Up front, I'm going to apologize for it's length. And for those who don't want to read it, here's the answer to "how does the future look for this two groups? Will the gap widen or shrink? Is there a solution?"

Until people take responsibility for their own lives, the future is grim, the gap will widen and there will not be a solution. There's an overall sense of entitlement, "what about me?," and "it's not my fault, it's theirs!" mentality these days. This mentality is not limited to any class in society. It's rampant in ALL socioeconomic categories. But there are many who want to discount personal responsibility and blame their all of their problems on the "rich." I have a post someplace on this board wondering about the term "working class." Yes, there's a definition, but most who peruse this forum don't fit the definition and I ask "why not?" But, as long as we dummy-down everything to the "working class" we're, by definition, telling people that no matter what you do, where you live, or how you try . . . you don't stand a chance because we're putting THEM there and we're putting you HERE. Now the story . . .

There was a boy born to middle class parents in Texas, long ago. These parents viewed their children as more important than life itself. They didn't coddle them, but they provided for them, educated them, molded their morals, and were always there when needed. The family was uprooted a few times due to "dad's" job, but they always handled the move. Mom was a homemaker and kept things together.[DISCLAIMER: I am NOT advocating that mother's stay home and not work. This was the 60's for gosh sake]

At age 10, the boy would travel the neighborhood mowing lawns for whatever the neighbors would pay. He was responsible for keeping his own yard in order as well as finishing his chores in the house. When the family moved to Southern California in the early 70s, the boy wandered the neighborhoods looking for lawn mowing customers. In the summer, he took jobs thru the summer job bank. He worked yard and retail jobs. At 15, when Marineland called his older sister about work, his mother said "she's employed, but my son is looking for a job this summer." The boy worked for Marineland, year-round, for the next 3 years. Until he left for college.

The boy left California to go to college. Yes, his parents had socked away money to send him and his two sisters to college, but it wasn't quite enough. Once away, it became clear that $$ was going to be needed. So the boy-man looked for jobs that would accommodate his class schedule. He scored a job as a photographer. He had taken up photography as a hobby during high school. It helped pay for the partying, etc. at college. When summer came along, his father helped him score a job working on the conveyor line at the old Prestone Antifreeze plant in Torrance. He worked there for the summer, loading crates and watching bottles go by on the conveyor belt. With a month left in the summer, the boy-man had had enough of the "manual" labor and quit. The next day, his father made him go to the getleman who helped him get the job . . . and apologize for leaving early and without warning.

Still working as a photographer during the school year, the man-boy scored a job working for an airline at LAX the next summer. He was a baggage-buster and also certified to re-fuel aircraft. When school was coming back into session, he was able to transfer to an airport near his school and worked an 8pm to midnight shift for spending money. Unfortunately, after a year, he lost his shift because a friend and father that he worked with, needed his shift. He understood.

Fast forward a number of years of employment, living in apartments, and scraping to get by in LA after graduation. The man meets a woman who has just completed law school. Both, by this time, have college loans to be paid. Eventually, they're all paid off. Neither of them walked away from them, expecting that someone else would pick up the tab.

Fast forward again to the current time. The man and woman live a comfortable life. They don't live paycheck to paycheck because they understood their jobs were always in motion. They're not "rich" by South Bay standards. But they've lived in the same house for 16-years. They're active in their community. They're active at their children's schools and they're active with charities to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars last year. They pay 1/2 of his parent's mortgage now because, according to his parents, they've "just lived longer than they thought they would." And the kids wouldn't want it any other way.

These were the principles that many lived by in the baby boomer generation. Many in the later generations have these principles as well. But, an some point in time, many decided that it was more desirable to buy a 52" HDTV than to pay their bills or to figure out where the mortgage payment would come from 6-months from now . . . when they had to actually start paying for the TV.

How do you design a building that makes an individual experience this situation- "I wanted to incorporate the widening gap between two social class in L.A.?" You don't. You design a building everyone can either live in or aspire to live in. If we continually try to dummy-down everything we're, by definition, telling people that no matter what you do, where you live, or how you try . . . you don't stand a chance because we're putting THEM there and we're putting you HERE.

I'm off the soapbox. Flame on.

[ChucKie D]

A Random Note From nOr CaL: Another beautiful mind from my Generation Y sHAkEEN, I'm with you bro, i saw your article and it reminds me of myself, think! that all i can say, our generation will do something trust me, we are all just waiting, waiting, if you catch my drift..... p.s. this doesn't have anything to do with the last post, the guy is right about blaming others and work ethics, but live this to our generation if he wants to a build a building let him do it, back then everything wasn't as expensive and corrupt, but you have great points....

[shaKEEn]

jtgjr: thanks for the insight. What i want to do is exaggerate the idea of the gap between the rich and poor in order to education the public about this situation. Most of the people who live and work in Los Angeles is not known to this problem. Thanks again for your insight, its intriguing.

Chuckie D: i believe in our generation :-D...

[Prince of Lombards]

Just build living space for the rich. When working class and middle class people inquire as to where their space is, tell them it's been outsourced to a low cost foreign market.

[goodbyehollywood]

I think it's a lovely idea, but it would be tough to pull off in status-conscious L.A. The rich don't want to live with... or anywhere near... the poor. The politicos may talk about it, chastising everyone for not caring and promising they're different... then they drive home in their BMWs to their gated communities.

I think the gap is widening. The middles and upper middles are leaving, while the illegals and the young and hungry are coming in. I hope that changes.