Perez 1 Wendy Perez Professor Filbeck English 114B March 25, 2014 Modernizing Costal Communities Fisherman's Village

is a mall where commercial boats are kept and is a tourist attraction located in the world's largest man-made small boat harbor in Marina del Rey, California. Marina Del Rey is a beautiful place, most known for its docks and being so close to the beach. This place is usually mostly visited by tourist because it is full of activities and things to do such as: parasailing, fishing, fine dining and trips to Catalina Island. Anyone can walk down the street also known as "Waterfront Walk" this is a wide sidewalk where you can walk along the docks to view the boats and water, smell the fresh air and enjoy a walk beside the harbor. Just being a few blocks away from the shore, leading to Marvin Braude Bike Path. The path is a coastal bike path that passes through Marina del Rey and allows you to safely travel around the harbor on bicycle. The Fisherman's Village is surrounded by little European village type houses where they sell food souvenirs. You can also rent a sailboat, motorboat, kayak or Jet Ski. On weekends during the summer you can take a free shuttle to Fisherman's Village from various points around Marina del Rey and Venice Beach. The village is perfect for anyone who is looking for a relaxing place to see boats and go sightseeing. It is settled between Shanghai Red's restaurant to the south and the Windward boatyard to the north. I've been to the Fisherman's Village many times before, and I can say for a fact that it is always changing, they are constantly building apartments all around the village as well as the shore. Most of the people that come here are local or tourist, people walking their dogs, jogging,

Perez 2 taking pictures of the boats, or fishing. But around this area everything is seemingly more expensive. The people look like they are upper class, and you don't see many homeless. There does seem to be younger adults, but also the elder. Most of the people around here are just hanging out, drinking coffee, having lunch and chatting. The social class seems very much upper, and everyone dresses with the typical "laid-back" California style with certain elegance. You can even noticed by their cars, in the parking lot the cars usually consists of Mercedes Benz and Lexus. Like any other community next to the shore, a lot of the housing is located near the ocean. This community is constantly growing and changing. This "village" suits its name; you usually do see people fishing, amongst other things. I do believe that the space fits its purpose, yes it's a main attraction for tourists but they also use this boat harbor to fish. Because the community is constantly building housing, which by the way is rented at very high cost, I find that this community is aiming more for the people with a higher social class. From what I see, I find it more aimed for both genders because there is a little bit if everything to please them. But more than anything I think Marina Del Rey is very modern, yes the Fisherman's village sustains it's village theme but everything around it seems to be up to date and very modern. There are many shopping centers located in this community, enhancing itself to a new time with population growing. After reading websites and reports of what's to come for this village, more gentrification is sure to come. According to articles, Fisherman's Village is getting completely rebuilt and redone, more places to stroll and wander to just sit by the water so an environment that's more pedestrian friendly (Glick Kudler ). This means tearing down the iconic colorful houses and building modernized building yet keeping the "village" look, something that has disappointed many inhabitants of this community.

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According to Joe Piasecki, The operators of Fishermans Village are contemplating a near-total rebuild of the venerable tourist attraction as Los Angeles County officials prepare a new vision for the harbor likely to involve a larger retail footprint, transportation upgrades and more dock space for recreational boaters and kayakers, these officials are looking for more business, but is it worth destroying the harbor? The opinions are very mixed, although some think its a crime destroying the houses, others think that an improvement is long overdue. Many localists agree that this project will be the best for Fishermans Village; they think that this will increase tourism and have economical gain. In another article, by Ronald A. Davison and J. Nicholas Entrikin, clearly states the classic model of urban public space that influences the assessment of impoverished public space of the Los Angeles metropolitan area overlooks the beaches specifically and the coastal area in general, meaning that Marina del Rey is not the only costal community that is being transformed into an urban and modernized theme, other Los Angeles area are being rebuild. Not only that, but this article also provides interesting homeowners opinions regarding the gentrification, many are excited and happy that officials are finally taking their opinion into consideration. Many discussions involve the means of making more beaches private for the public, The intuitive sense of public places as being eliminated by the steady expansion of the private sphere in modern life is only partially correct, in that it assumes a preexisting realm of the public that is being displaced (Davidson, Ronald A, and J. Nicholas Entrikin), this is only occurring because of the homeowners constant dispute against beach visitors. This is also happening because of the economical gain, instead of having beaches public and free access officials are making it so they can manage economical gain.

Perez 4 Generally speaking, theses two provided topics have many similarities. The costal lines are being fixed to fit the perfect description of modern, giving many something to dispute. Whether it is having Fishermans Village re-constructed or not, or making beaches less accessible to visitors. The problems are the same gentrification has taken its effect on the costal lines and economical gain is always something that is sought out. If we are striving to create a utopia, they are definitely in the right direction with their remodeling. Simply because it gives everyone advantages, the costumers and the officials looking for more business. But at the same time, that would mean destroying a harbor full of culture. There are definitely positives and negatives, coastal communities are being changed for the best. But is it culturally correct to change Californian beach experiences for tourist and for residents?

Perez 5 Works Cited Davidson, Ronald A, and J. Nicholas Entrikin. "The Los Angeles Coast as a Public Place." Geographical Review, 95.4 (2005): 578-593 Glick Kudler, Adrian. "Marina Del Rey's Fisherman's Village Getting Huge Overhaul." Curbed LA. 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <http://la.curbed.com/archives/2013/11/ marina_del_reys_fishermans_village_getting_huge_overhaul.php>. Piasecki, Joe. "A New Vision for Marina Del Rey: Fisherman's Village Contemplates Overhaul as County Officials Plan for Increased Harbor Amenities." The Argonaut Newspaper. 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <http://argonautnews.com/a-new-vision-for-marina-delrey-fishermans-village-contemplates-overhaul-as-county-officials-plan-for-increasedharbor-amenities/>.