Michael Dear carefully discusses the post modern city and the characteristics associated with them. Meanwhile, Cheng illustrates the controversy in West San Gabriel Valley in California caused by the community demographics and changing environment. If we place the empirical terms regarding urban dynamics Michael Dear introduces in his piece on the Los Angeles school onto Wendy Cheng’s article on “Remapping Race in Suburban California” it is clear there is some overlap. I would like to demonstrate how West San Gabriel Valley residents experience minoritizaiton, the Politics of Nature, and the city itself being a dual city. I have drawn from Dear’s article to use his jargon to explain the urbanism West San Gabriel Valley is encountering.

Minoritization is prevalent in SGV due to the hierarchy of political figures in the community. Dear defines minoritization as “the population feeling as other; is the order of the day, and where most city dwellers feel distanced from the power structure” (Jencks, 1993, p. 84). The residents of SGV feel disconnected from the power structure because the people in power have different agendas than most people in the community. Although, Latina/o residents tried to access city politics, “white elite’s continu[ed] to have control over city politics” (Cheng, 136). One quote which illustrates the maintenance of ‘other’ in these communities while these specific race/ethnic groups hold power is, in the West SGV, Asian space and Spanish/Mexican space were triangulated vis-à-vis whites: in municipal politics, white elites were able to dictate the terms of belonging, often validating Spanish space as central to the identity of the area, while continuing to treat Asian space as perpetually foreign” (Cheng 132). This quote illustrates that even when Asians and Spanish/Mexicans dominate the area, they are still minoritized and their voices are not heard. The white elites are in minority and yet they dominate the decisions made in the community without regard to the cultures of other community members. This reinforcement of minoritization in SGV creates a divide in the community and ultimately, demonstrates a postmodern place.

Secondly, SGV has manipulated the nature of the community by implementing sports fields over the cultural park which was designed by a Mexican immigrant, Benjamin Dominguez. This park was part of SGV’s nature. The idea of Politics of Nature originates from Dear’s article stating, “there is often a careless unrolling of the carpet of urbanization over the natural landscape for more than century” (Dear, 22). By erasing the park, which provides the city with nature, the people in power, implemented a soccer field and baseball field which “were met rapidly with opposition” by the other residents of the community. This was not only erasing the natural beauty but also a cultural tie many residents had to the Monster Park. This illustrates yet another way SGV is a postmodern city.

Lastly and most evidently, SGV is a dual city. Dear defines a dual city as, “an increasing social polarization” which has become increasing salient in SGV. SGV specifically is divided North-South and East-West. The author cites the reason of this division being “the more subtle struggles in the civic landscape as well as in local politics” especially the economic and geographic growth SGV has recently encountered. These division are also through social class where “most those living north of Harrington were servants and laborers (Cheng, 142). These specific examples highlight how SGV is a dual city which again labels it has an urban center.

It appears these qualities of the city are detrimental to SGV. Many of the residents feel they do not have a voice and no longer feel a sense of belonging to their community since their culture is being erased through modernization and technology. However, I still wonder if this is specific to SGV due to the demographics and agents to frequent this community or if there are other communities who are experiences these issues?

Life in Golden Valley felt very familiar. Since I grew up in a small, rural, and isolated town (Presque Isle, Maine) I very much understood the connections between community members and the lack of anonymity. Hunting is a large part of my family and we often spend an entire day without reception just to be out in the woods. The homogeneity and small population create a tight-knit grouping. If something happens, everyone knows about it.

The first thing that came to mind during this reading was conflict theory. I had trouble thinking about the purpose of this community if they are not beneficial or efficient for society and most importantly they tended to be detrimental to themselves. The poverty alleviating strategies were not taken advantage of due to personal pride and the negative social factors which accompany these decisions. The connection to place tied the community members down to this specific town.

The town’s issues all seemed to be rooted in social stigma’s community members were afraid of having placed on them. Men would rather receive federal benefits than work a job which was femininely labeled. Families in this town survived on the hard work of a father figure. Masculinity was measured in the way the man provided for his family. The town suffers from unemployment because of the gender roles the town members continue to hold on to. The expert question I introduced in class involved the idea of social pressures reducing efficiency in Golden Valley. I wonder if there is any way to stimulate the economy with specific gender roles? Should the government be responsible for this even though this town is so isolated? I feel as though tourism could be used here, however, this would take time since the town is off the beaten path. The solution comes down to the importance of happiness or production. Production and efficiency seem to win repeatedly in the United States. If the government were to get involved, they would most likely help these residents relocate to other rural area’s but these areas would have industries for the men or women to work in. Personally, a job fair located in Golden Valley like what happens on a college campus could be beneficial for the community so they could learn about area’s similar in demographics to them and be introduced to new opportunities. Given the small size of Golden Valley, the entire community could relocate to the same area and continue to build their community in a new environment.

Lastly, if the members of Golden Valley moved away to larger areas with more diversity, I believe it could be eye-opening for them because of the new sense of community they would be walking into. In Golden Valley, there are strict social norms due to the homogeneity of the community. They look at life, morals, and value through the same lens because they are so similar to each other. Yet, if they move to another area, this will not be the case. I wonder how they would interact if placed in a new community with much more diversity than they are used to. Would they still form the same bonds? Would parents still be watchdogs for other parents children or would they keep to themselves? This would be a true test of how impactful and environment can be on those inhabiting it.