Introduction:

 Look:  The streets are crowded with throngs of people.  It is a lazy day on NW 23rd street, for the first time in weeks; the sun makes its presence known.  Amidst the mothers and their daughters, oblivious window shoppers, happy couples… we stand.  Observers, we are, intently studying our surroundings.  Looking at the sea of images; we must not be distracted from our ultimate purpose: the deconstruction of social classes and how they have shaped the environment that is…UPTOWN 23RD.

The Trumpet Player

As I walk down NW 23rd street, the faint sound of a trumpet can be heard.  As I get closer I see a 50-year-old Hispanic man sitting on a low chair under the partial shade of an old oak tree.  He is playing improv songs in the b-flat blues scale.  As I walk past I see he has finished three beverages and I could safely say he has probably been playing for a few hours.  His small tip jar, however, contains only a few dollar bills and change.  I stay to watch him for a time and listen to his music for about five minutes.  In this brief period, dozens of rather wealthy looking men and women pass him.  Not one of these people stops or gives this man a tip.  As we take a photo, a new fifty thousand dollar Mercedes Benz E430 sedan drives through the view of our camera.  A mother and daughter out for mother’s day.  They have decided to come to NW 23rd to spend their money.  What struck me was the fact that this car, being driven maybe only 30 miles to and from uptown, would loose $20 of its resale value simply from putting on miles.  At the same time, this musician, who will play until his lips are numb, will probably not make $20 that whole day.  This distinction between class and income resonates heavily. NW 23rd between Lovejoy and Burnside has become a haven of stores and restaurants created by the wealthy for the wealthy.  Every building along this stretch of road has been renovated and transformed into some type of profitable industry aimed at the upper middle class.  All else is dust in the wind and I feel it will only be a matter of time until this trumpet player will disappear from this street forever.  The upper class that constructed the area sees no value in the quality of street music.  They are to busy rushing to buy expensive art that they will hang in their home to remind themselves of their own success.  This, the trumpet player knows; yet he still spreads his music to the people.  He knows his art is valuable as part of everyday experience and I hope he will stay.

The Bikers:

As the noise of roaring thunder rushes by your ears, just the same is the noise of the bikers you see in this picture.  NW 23rd is a place for many people of different kinds.  In this picture we have captured the essence of many classes of people.  This picture is a representation of how the rich have come to take over the poor; we see the side of cab on our right, the gleaming beauty of a convertible BMW on the other side, and the noise of the four bikers in the middle.  All the classes that participate at this location either to drink or to hang out over a beer or coffee come to enjoy one thing: the company of others.  As we see NW 23rd it seems to us as an outdoor shopping mall that is for the rich that can afford all kinds of gadgets and trinkets.  Yet the bikers still attend this meeting place even though they seem a little out of place.  When we go to 23rd we see fancy cars and business people dressed up in business suits, mothers and daughters trying to spend a little time together.  But then we still have the bikers who are resisting against this censorship.  The rich are coming and taking over the poorer community and yet the bikers are still holding on to the place they are being kicked out of.  The social forces that are affecting these bikers is their social class.  They are on the lower class and the rich and fancy are taking over their community.
The conflict of social class that we see on this street represents the change that happens when the rich take over the poor.  If we take a walk down 23rd and see plenty of people walking, drinking, and having a great time, it is a matter of time before the people start to fade, the shops disappear, and the traffic diminish.  If you end up walking to far on 23rd past Lovejoy this is exactly what happens.  If we look at the photo of the torn down sign of “Quality Pie” we can look straight across the intersection and see a fancy restaurant filled with people paying up to $50 a plate.  Why such a major change just across and intersection?  This is how we see the social construction of knowledge taking place right in front of our eyes.  Just like David explained very well about his picture with the trumpet player.  It is a matter of time before he is run off the streets and told not to play because he is not wanted.  Is this right?  I think not.  But it’s the cycle of life.  The survival of the fittest.

The Outskirts:

 While deep in the heart of the “trendy” 23rd street, it seems to go on forever.  Strangely enough, it really isn’t that large at all.  Six or eight blocks of homes turned into shops is all that constitutes the shopping area.  What makes it seem so large, however, is its condensed nature.  So many things packed into one block:  food stands, shops, people, tables, signs.  It can be overwhelming, this outdoor mall.  I am reminded of Las Vegas, where you would turn a corner and suddenly find yourself on the streets of a Paris themed mall.  Same idea, but a different image.  The 23rd street shopping area is, in essence, a mall that is striving fulfill a theme.  This reflects directly on the goals of whoever was behind the creation of this urban hotspot.  What I see here is a clever marketing scheme, capitalizing on the near by source of wealth that is…the West Hills.
 I walked down 23rd, and suddenly the sea of people parted.  The border had been crossed.  I stepped out into the intersection and found myself in a whole different part of town.  This area, it seems, does not have the kind of buildings suitable for continuing the on the trendy “23rd street” theme.  The picture says it all.  Standing in that lonely parking lot I turn around, A few hundred feet behind me…the crowds.  Ahead of me is nothing but the sad and empty remains of the once legendary “Quality Pie” store.  This empty shell is a testament to the old ways.  It conflicts with the coming of 23rd Ave, and the renovated commercial look.  This abandoned region does not allow for the continuation of the new age shopping theme that 23rd is going for.  The idea is to put would be shoppers into a relaxed state by presenting them with the image of walking though a quaint urban neighborhood.  Patrons can take their time, enjoy the scenery, and spend a great deal of money mostly unnecessary trinkets.  As previously stated, the 23rd street shopping area was a quiet residential area, with a few markets further down the road, such as the Quality Pie facility.  Now those are gone, and the homes transformed.  It is a parallel really.  Looking back to the stores from where I stood, I could see more clearly, the struggle that once took place.  Old versus new, and the old lost.  But that is how it is always is, isn’t it?  Progression into the future, it is the American way.

The Butler

 This wood carving of a European butler is so real is almost jumps out at you for the behind the corner in which he stands.  His face is a tight eager smile that says, “How may I serve you?”  A quality handkerchief hangs over his fine suit as he holds, outstretched in his hands, a tray on which rests a bottle of fine white wine.  Butlers serve the wealthy and that is also who this uptown street mall serves.  Like the Butler, NW 23rd caters to every whimsical desire to assure satisfaction.
 Most items in the stores in this part of town I found to be much like a butler’s service.  It’s very nice to have, but without the proper accounts, unlikely.  I am not accusing Chez Celeste restaurant of catering only to the wealthy, although plates are rather expensive.  The butler is here to simply attract customers and promote the idea the service at this place is as friendly and courteous as this wood carving looks.
 I continue up the street and leave the butler behind.  He stays and continues to stare out into the crowds.  He feels at home, however.  The people that created uptown out of the old run down homes and buildings have transformed the area into a frenzy of spending and class reinforcement.  The streets of uptown NW 23rd are filled with people.  97 out of 100 look to be white.  Exotic motorcars line the streets as gangs of Harley Davidson and Japanese sport bikes slowly cruise up and down the strip.  Sounds and smells come at you from every angle.  The colors change on each store.  As you walk, you will not see anything twice.  You will also never find anything run down like other parts of town.  The rich have created a Vegas in the desert, more like a mirage than reality, which will, like everything else, soon become dust of the Earth.
Conclusion
 We left 23rd and Lovejoy the way we found it.  We changed nothing, but observed everything.  It is interesting what one can find if they look beyond the surface of things.  What we found, on 23rd street, was surprising.  There is more to it than meets the eye.  Look closely and you will see the remains of a power struggle, the transformation of a neighborhood into an urban shopping complex.  We must remember that these houses were once lived in, the occupants were bought out in order to expand, and, perhaps, presented with an offer they could not refuse.  What we see now is the aftermath.  The power struggle is over, and all but forgotten.