Beverly Hills is a successful business case in history. It has an exclusive business street called Rodeo Drive. Rodeo drive houses some of the best fashion staples in the world. It represents the highest standard of taste and service. Beverly Hills is a sort of ruler to distinguish between the poor and the rich. Without this distinction all people would probably live in similar houses and shop in the same store. But to some extent it represents social development and by extension the economic prosperity of the state of California.
Social class is a form of discrimination. Its origin is thought to be the emergence of private ownership. Discrimination is an external manifestation of societal ills. More often discrimination is disguised as social progress. Separation of classes of people can happen along various lines. Perhaps the most familiar is racial segregation. Though this largely disappeared with the advent of nationalism, one cannot fully substantiate the extent to which it has been eliminated. Racial discrimination has largely become a class problem since most members of certain races have not gathered enough wealth. These disadvantaged races also either have limited access to education or they do not at present attach much value to education. This results in a situation where most members of a race have only basic education. Lack of advanced education may further compound the problem of social classification of members of a society. Class segregation infringes on other peoples rights. With the emergence of exclusive areas in a city, other residents and visitors who do not fit the description of a member are denied entry. Though it may be legally acceptable, it is a form of social injustice. Other lines of segregation are on the basis of wealth and fame. Some will argue that this is what ‘exclusive’ is all about. But even with that in mind separation of people along any line is not morally right because it harms those who occupy the lower end of the social spectrum.
Beverly Hills is located in the middle of Los Angeles County, surrounded by the cities of Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Culver City. Beverly Hills has an approximate population of 34,000 residents (U.S. census 1). The population of the cities surrounding it is several thousands. In a recent survey of shoppers in Rodeo Drive and Beverly Center, 75% of them came from the areas surrounding Beverly Hills. The remaining 25 % were visitors from other states and countries. This indicates that only a few people were willing to come and shop in Beverly Center and Rodeo Drive in spite of the distance. However, the high number of shoppers from the surrounding cities may indicate that social class did not influence their choice of a shopping center. It is highly likely that they enjoy coming to Beverly Hills because of the quality of service and not because of separation of classes.
The buildings in Rodeo Drive have unique architectural designs. The designs were influenced by various building styles. However, the most notable are those influenced by French designs. From outside one can almost always tell what building design influenced the designer. Unique buildings are probably expensive to build owing to the cost of the designs. Interior décor varies from store to store. The most exclusive decorations could cost as much as $20000. On the flipside residential houses do not come cheap either. Reports indicate that Beverly Hills is the most expensive housing market in the United States of America with median home price of over $2.2 million (Yoshikawa, Thomas, & Edward 247). In contrast another part of the city is home to several homeless families who live in the streets. Some live in houses that do not have furniture and windows (Wanamaker 9). This clearly shows how two groups of people living in the same city can be so far from each other.
The survey that was conducted sought to answer two questions; “What do you think of the price in Beverly Hills compared to other places?” and “What do you think of the service in Beverly Hills compared to other places?” Most respondents thought that prices are higher in Beverly Hills as compared to other places. Most shoppers also reported that service was excellent both in Beverly Hills Center and Rodeo Drive. As earlier mentioned Beverly Hills is one of most successful commercial centers in history. A question that immediately comes to mind is why people prefer to shop in Beverly Hills even though the prices are high. This may be partly answered by the fact that the latest fashion designs are available in Beverly Hills. As earlier mentioned in this paper Rodeo Drive is home to some of the best fashion houses in the world. Visitors come to Beverly Hills to buy the latest fashion items. Another probable reason is quality of service. The shoppers responded that they were attracted to Beverly Hills by excellent service. High quality service has largely assisted the city to win the sales battle. Hidden from all this fashion and glamour are those members of society who cannot afford the fashion items. To them a more pressing issue is where the next meal will come from. As one exits the city through 405 Freeway it is hard to miss families seeking for a little assistance. Perhaps the heavy spenders should spare a little change to give to those who need help.
Another contrast between the classes in Beverly Hills is noticeable when one visits the restaurants. It is not uncommon to see a queue outside a famous restaurant. Results from the survey indicate that 10% of the shoppers in Rodeo Drive came to Beverly Hills to sample the delicious meals on offer. However, some residents of the city cannot afford to wine and dine in these restaurants as food here is at a premium. In rodeo drive shop assistants work for 7 to 8 hours a day to earn high salaries while the manual workers toil for more than ten hours only to walk home with half the salary of the assistants (Beverlyhills 1).
To date no reasonable and effective method has been suggested to reduce the gap between classes in society. Class segregation is deeply rooted in society and it would take a lot of effort to achieve any meaningful result. It is also possible that members of society who belong to privileged classes will vigorously resist any attempt to make people equal. It is also reasonable to believe that such a thing as equality in society is not tenable. People have to belong to different classes to have a variety people if not for a better reason. The best we can do is to make laws that allow equal treatment of all people.
Works Cited
Beverlyhills. Web. 2012.
U.S. Census. Web. 2012.
Wanamaker, Marc. Beverly Hills. California: NUP, 2005. Print.
Yoshikawa, Hirokazu , Thomas, Weizner, & Edward, Lowe.”Identification of Causal Effects Using Instrumental Variables.” Journal of the American Rtr. (2009). Web.