Urban Context

My family migration ended up in Norwalk and Bellflower California. The neighborhood I live in with my dad in Norwalk is about 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles. We live near the Norwalk city hall and courthouse. We also live near a public library, park, and sheriff station. There is also a major grocery store and shopping center near us. My home is in a working-class neighborhood, but there is a high percentage of Hispanics living there. Some factors that played a role in where my dad’s side of the family chose to live was near work, amenities, and the environment. My dad worked at the U.S. bank in Downtown L.A. so he wanted to stay close to a freeway (the interstate 5) that would take him to work. Also, the amenities of the library, park, and grocery store nearby makes it easier to shop and have entertainment for us kids. The environment is also better then his previous city which was Huntington Park because there is more space for the homes and it is not as cramped so he could have multiple cars on the street while not having to worry about other people damaging or trying to find parking. My dad’s home fits into the sector model in which we are located in the middle class residential area. Some similarities to the model is that there are not many factories or industries in our proximity to the house since it is mostly just neighborhoods, and the homes near us are worth a pretty high amount. 

My mom moved in with my dad when she gave birth to me and my brothers, but when they divorced she decided to move to Bellflower. I grew up in this neighborhood more than at my dad’s because I lived with my mom most days of the week and we moved when I was 4. We live in an apartment on woodruff which is on a main street in Bellflower that is also surrounded by many other apartments and liquor stores as well as gas stations nearby. I would say that we live in an immigrant enclave mixed with a working-class neighborhood. Some factors she considered when moving was the environment, and expense, as well as the amenities and exclusivity. Since she was recently divorced and a stay at home mom, she could not afford something pricey and chose a small two bedroom apartment for us. This housing location and environment is more similar to the concentric zone model because it relates closely to zone 3. Zone 3 is the working class zone where lower middle class workers live. Bellflower has definitely improved since I was younger, although there are still mainly lower middle class workers living here. There used to be many abandoned buildings in the nearby downtown area and also there are many small farms nearby that are taken care of by Hispanic families which supports the idea of a historic immigrant enclave. Some exclusivity that we have access to is a pool and laundry room which is only available to the apartment tenets.