Last week, Gabriel Morse examined social difference in Long Beach. He first summarized Ernest Burgess’s model of cites, and specifically focused on the “zone of deterioration” concept in Burgess’s model. He explained how this model applies to his hometown of San Francisco and goes on to speculate that the model holds true for Long Beach. Gabriel theorized that his friend’s house was in the zone of deterioration as it is located within a 1.5 mile radius of the central business district (CBD) of Downtown Long Beach. By observing indicators of lower socioeconomic status near his friends house as well as indicators of higher socioeconomic status across 10th Street, he concluded that 10th Street is the dividing line between the zone of deterioration and the working men’s zone, with the side closer to downtown being the zone of deterioration and the opposite side being the working men’s zone. Gabriel argument that proximity to the downtown, as in Burgess’s model, was the defining factor for the zone of deterioration in Long Beach is too simple.
I do not feel 10th street is an appropriate marker with proximity to Downtown. 10th Street is oriented in the East-West direction and Gabriel’s location was much too far East of Downtown for 10th street to be used as a yardstick. Furthermore, I argue that proximity to downtown should not be used as a defining factor for the zone of deterioration of Long Beach. Burgess even states in the article that, “It hardly needs to be added that neither Chicago nor any other city fits perfectly into this ideal scheme.” Other factors are at work here.
Congregation Ale House, a nice bar near
the downtown core of Long Beach
Long Beach has its socioeconomic gradient oriented from poorer areas west towards the port and wealthier areas located east towards Orange County, with some additional wealthier areas south towards the beach. It is true that Downtown Long Beach is located in the west, close to the port. But there are upscale, luxury apartments and high rises along the beach just a few minutes from the CBD of Long Beach. In addition, Downtown Long Beach is in a state of revival Approximately 37% of Downtown Long Beach residents make more than $50,000, and gentrification has resulted in numerous nice bars and restaurants in Downtown and adjacent areas.
Map of zip codes in Long Beach
A brief look at median home prices of 12 zip codes in Long Beach puts 90802, 90804, 90805, 90810 and 90813 as the bottom level of the price gradient. These five zip codes have median home prices ranging from $199,000 to $250,000. Two of these zip codes are in Downtown, which supports Gabriel’s analysis. Yet the fact that 90810 borders the port and 90805 is far north of Downtown, takes away from his analysis. Four of five of these zip codes, including those in Downtown, are along the border of Los Angeles River and the Port of Long Beach. In addition, the zip code 90806, located directly north of Downtown, has a median home price that is $100,000 more than all of these locations, estimated at $327,000. Also bordering Downtown are the zip codes of 90814 and 90803 which have median home prices of $480,000 and $630,000, respectively. In addition, there are three other zip codes at the edge of Long Beach which have median prices ranging from $370,00 to $430,000; pricey yes, but the two previous zip codes are significantly more pricey. While it is not the most detailed method to quantify and analyze how “nice” each neighborhood or zip code is since zip codes are so large, the median price of each zip code shows a trend of lower priced houses on the West toward the port, and higher priced homes near the beach and Orange County.
I would argue that the zone deterioration is better located around the port of Long Beach. “The port district of Long Beach, like many of the port districts studied, is characterized by residents with incomes below the average for their metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and unemployment and poverty rates above MSA levels”, states a report on the economic status of port districts in the United States. Poverty levels are much higher near the port than the rest of Long Beach. Houses here, from my experience, have very obvious markers of “urban blight.”
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