California City Essay

My visions of California before taking this course was a sunny, beautiful, happy, and carefree place and those visions were partly because I visited there nine years ago. Upon my visit I concluded that I wanted to move there when I was ready to start a family. My visit to California had left a tainted image in my mind, an image of a place where I could leave all my cares behind in hopes of staring anew, and confuses me the most about this strange obsession is the fact that I have no memory of any particular events that lead to my obsession over California. When I first visited California I was only 13 years old, and at the age of thirteen there isn't much you can do, your options are very limited. My mom and I stayed at a hotel downtown LA for an event where we did the basics, sightseeing, but noting extraordinary. So why is it that I'm so obsessed with the states?

Physically, California is a beautiful place with lots and lots of space. Downtown Los Angeles was not like the typical downtowns in cities like Chicago, New York, or even Atlanta, but it was more spacious and "clean". I didn't see a lot public transportations around like the ones that frequently amass typical cities with a heavy population of commuters, which meant less traffic and less noise. California, for many of us, is like the Promised Land to the Israelites, a place of complete bliss, delight and peace. While I was there, I found myself at peace and when I returned to Chicago, O'Hare airport, I felt as though my peace was disrupted, disrupted by loud horns honking at pedestrians and big busses taking up massive amounts of space. I found myself agitated and annoyed while wishing that I were back in California. Strangely, I didn't bring back any eventful memories from California but I did, however, bring back a feeling of peace.

It doesn't help that popular music and videos contributes to the illumination of our desires for California, "greetings loved ones, let's take a journey". Katy Perry, a popular recording artist, sings of California in her number one single, California Gurls. When I hear that song I immediately take out my computer to browse cheapticket.com, praying and wishing that I will magically find cheap airfares to California, in hopes of experiencing what she sings about, "I know a place where the grass is really greener. Warm, wet, and wild there must be something in the water. Sippin' gin and juice, laying underneath the palm trees. You can travel the world, but nothing comes close to the golden coast". These are the images that constantly haunt me when I hear this kind of music or see videos about California. In the video, Katy Perry is walking around in a place that appears to be heaven, eating Candy canes, and laying in the clouds, and for the individual who has never been, their desires grow stronger after listening to California Gurl, "curiosity kills the cat", and like I, many will dream of moving there.

California's politics and history illustrate one of the characteristic tensions in American culture today because California is hegemony over all the other American states. Its as if all the others states are racing against California in hopes of catching up, or even getting ahead. Take a look at this example where we have a newly developed gated community. This community allows for single families to build their homes whichever