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Jasmine Medina
Professor Malvin
English 114B
17 May 2016
The Reality of Los Angeles
Los Angeles! The city of lights, the city known for rich and famous celebrities. There are
numerous stereotypes about the city of L.A. Many tourists believe they will find a movie star
walking down the street. Photographs of this beautiful city are shared all over the world, which
make people believe it is a huge amazing city. Taking a stroll through Rodeo Drive, or passing by
gigantic mansions might be exciting but many people overestimate the lifestyle of its residents.
Often people loose focus of the big picture and do not realize reality. Although people perceive
L.A to be a city of wealth, majority of the population lives in poverty.
People from other states, even countries, migrate to L.A. in order to seek a better future.
Those individuals often come from low income families and add to the minority groups in Los
Angeles. Dennis Romero states, Los Angeles is a brown city. Nearly three-fourths of us belong
to at least one minority group, according to the U. S Census. He also states The per-capita
individual income here is $27,749 (L.A. Weekly). This income that she addresses falls below
the poverty line , insinuating the cost of living in L.A is not as affordable as people believe. Alice
Walton reports New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show that poverty is greater in Los
Angeles County than in the state or country as a whole, with 18 percent of individuals falling
below the poverty line (KPCC). Many individuals do not intend to seek these statistics because
they are influenced by the stereotypes of los Angeles.

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Many people visit to L.A to see the beauty of Downtown. It is a great scenery to
experience and the vibes of restaurants cafes, dining next to tall buildings makes the experience
more enjoyable. However little attention is put to even notice the man begging for a couple of
dollars down the street to buy himself a meal. Two miles from the beautiful lights and building
lies Skid Row, an area where numerous of homeless people live out in tents and blankets. It is
devastating to see these people fall into drugs or just live there because they have no source of
income. The drastic difference of lifestyles from those in Skid Row to the people that live in
Gigantic mansions is unbelievable. So much attention is focused on the wealth of LA but the
people who actually live down Skid Road aside from not having sturdy roofs over their heads
struggle to eat and lack access to health care. The most common cities that tourist strive to visit
are Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice; all cities that are highly spoken of. Not to mention these
cities have large number of homeless people. Doug Smith reports, not surprisingly, the highest
concentration fell in the five downtown census tracts, including skid row. Venice came next,
followed by Santa Monica and Hollywood and smaller clusters in Lancaster, South Los Angeles
and Pomona (Los Angeles Times). Beverly hills is also a common area where tourist like to
visit because of the abundance wealthy lifestyle. In the poem The Tent People of Beverly Hills
James Ragan, expresses the environment of Rodeo Drive. He also conveys the rich lifestyles an
individual is perceived to live, toward the end who expresses the paradoxical view of L.A. Ragan
states, once we move within the final inch of breath, there is no other. Ragan states There are a
million tents in the universe with holes we mistake for stars. Regan expresses how many
individuals do not realize the world they live in. He/she does not look at what is surrounding
them. Individuals are blinded by the luxurious life they live and do not look beyond there

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fortune to see the reality of other peoples struggles. The second line, states the word holes
which refers the imperfections of the city. The word stars can be interpreted as the luxurious
materialistic things in the city. The area of L.A is only seen for half its reality.
When people think about L.A. they automatically picture cities such as Beverly Hills,
Hollywood, Rancho Palos Verdes, or Malibu but never stop and think of the smaller inner cities
in between. Theses cities also make LA and should not be ignored. Majority of people who that
live in theses cities priorities are making sure their power and hot water is running. These
individuals work extremely hard for minimal wages that do not allow them to explore L.A. and
see the cities that are only a few miles away from their own home . Another one of Los Angeless
stereotypes is that it is an area of beaches and that everyone surfs. This is partially true because
L.A. is surrounded by multiple beaches but many of the population in inner cities do not go to
the beach often. In the short story Golden Days by Carolyn See, the author demonstrates many
different areas of L.A. while she is looking for a home to settle in with her two children. See
states, They say L.A. is large, but they lie. Its true there are a zillion places no one in his right
mind would like: Lakewood, Torrance, Brea, Compton, Carson, no one real lived there, any
more than real people lived in those grey asphalt boxes that line the road between New Yorks
airport and its island. (See, 716). See names these cities in a sarcastic manner, making fun of
them because the people that live in theses cities struggle to keep it moving. She is also making a
comparison between asphalt boxes and the cities she mentioned, portraying how people live in
what they can afford. Many people tend to exclude these areas of L.A. because of how they are
do not want Portray LA as a city where the everyday people struggle to be happy. Instead the

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cover it up only portraying the good life. Living in these areas is more affordable for the
people from a bad economical stage. There are a small percentage of wealthy people but
somehow these individuals are able to exclude the people living in poverty to keep la from
having a bad reputation.
The county of Los Angeles is continually being judged as a whole but not many take the
time to look at the small pieces and cracks that L.A. has. Los Angeles continues to have positive
stereotypes because of the few wealthy cities are able to over weight the problems from
unfortunate cities. Movie stars, wealth, tickets to fame, are all false perceptions many people
have. There is wealth and movie stars but that is only a small part of what makes the county.
Poverty is huge but it is also hidden. People need to stop believing the stereotypes that are often
portrayed. Individuals should look deeper into the reality of Los Angeles and ask them selves
what they can do to help instead of focusing their effort to cover up the issues of so many
families living uncomfortable lifestyles.

Work Cited
Romero, Dennis. Why Los Angeles Hates Hollywood LA Weekly. January 28, 2016
http://www.laweekly.com/news/why-los-angeles-hates-hollywood-6534646
See, Carolyn. Golden Days. Writing Los Angeles. Ed.1 David L. Ulin. The library of America
2002. (716-717) Print
Smith, Doug. L.A. County has its most accurate count yet of its homeless population. Los
Angeles Times. June 04, 2015 http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0604homeless-count-20150604-story.html
Ragan, James. "The Tent People of Beverly Hills" Womb-Weary, Carol Publishing (out of print)
1990
Waltson, Alice. Los Angeles poverty rate greater than California, nation. 89.3 KPCC.
December 03, 2014 http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/12/03/48450/los-angeles-povertyrate-greater-than-california-n/

Evaluation Letter
The first essay of a new class is always difficult, only because every professor has a
different way of teaching writing style, etc. It gets easier adjusting to a new professor after an
essay is graded because an individual is able to make connections between their old writing style
and make adjustments the new style. Understanding the prompt was my biggest struggle.
Because the prompt was very broad and open it was really hard for me to begin. Once I started
the essay I could not connect the prompt into an argumentative essay. I did experience writers
block a couple of times, I was two pages down and had no more information to argue my point. I
could not think of any more statements that would contribute to my thesis without using
repetition of what I had already previously stated. I could defiantly use more practice citing my
work. My work cited page needs a lot of work that I am aware of. I often use Owl Purdue but
when looking at other cites the format tends to differ which leaves me indecisive of the correct
way of formatting a work cited page. A question I would like to seek is if there is any website or
section in the book where I can use as a guide when constructing a work cited page.