When our family first moved to Palos Verdes six years ago, I was struck by the beauty and quietness evoked by the large vistas of sea and mountains and by the isolation from the multitudes of "Angelinos." Located on an ocean peninsula, it is a moderate, isolated community made up mostly of residential homes. Most residents work outside of the town, while some of the older residents are employed in retail stores within the town. The town offers a beach-front school along with many recreational parks and beaches. It seemed as if Palos Verdes was the perfect place to call home.
Over time, however, my first impressions of Palos Verdes changed dramatically. Where I once found it as a place of seclusion and permanence, it now seems as if the inhabitants are transient and unsettled. Because Los Angeles grew so rapidly and the location of its residents changed consistently, Palos Verdes seemed like a way-station stopover for catching one's breath. Often, friends from school would disappear and be replaced with new faces. Personally, I have nothing against change or growth as such, however I do still hold the belief that permanence is essential to the type of community within which one should want to live. When one is consistently on the move, he or she becomes a nomad.
The hills, houses, and greens are all important in making Palos Verdes what it is, a place many would like to call home. As a vacation home, Palos Verdes could not be so without a permanent group of friends and acquaintances that all share the same experiences. Living here has shown how Palos Verdes truly isn't the vacation home I wanted it to be; it does not have the permanent group of friends and acquaintances necessary. The town will make one feel like a visitor on his or her way to more interesting adventures despite knowing that Palos Verdes will be one's home for many years. No doubt, one lacks the wonderful experiences and memories gained from living in their home town if Palos Verdes is their place of residence: it is not the physical-spiritual base of operations that one's home town should be.
My self growing up in Palos Verdes, which was a predominately white area when I was growing up, my high school had only 2 African Americans by the time I graduated. Today while my sisters are attending the school in Palos Verdes they see a more diversity of cultures, including the African Americans. ...
My self growing up in Palos Verdes, which was a predominately white area when I was growing up, my high school had only 2 African Americans by the time I graduated. Today while my sisters are attending the school in Palos Verdes they see a more diversity of cultures, including the African Americans. ...
Richard Neutra "Place Man in relationship to Nature; that's where he developed and where he feels most at home!" "Richard Neutra A native of Vienna, Austria, Richard Joseph Neutra (1892-1970) had familial ties with the scions of the city's avant-garde community; Ernest Freud, son of the famed ...
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