元培醫事科技大學應用英語系英文專題報告 A Comparison of Los Angeles Culture to New York City Culture

Student: 廖學禮 Hyundai Liao、 鄭達貴 Moore Cheng、 彭俊棠 Tommy Peng、陳奕昕 Steven Chen、 曾淵呈 Steve Tseng、胡晏儒 James Hu、陳岱瑩 Chloe Chen

Student ID: 1011417015 1011417003 1011417011 1011417013 1011417006 1011417035 1011417014

指導老師 : Michael Jenks ​

中 華 民 國 104 年 1 月 7 日

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A Comparison of Los Angeles Culture to New York City Culture ​

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3 Table of Contents

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………..….P5 I. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………..P6 II. Methods..………………………………………………………………………………...P9 III. Results…………………………………………………………………………………..P1 0 IV. References………………………………………………………………………………P22

4 ABSTRACT

We have a great interest in Los Angeles and associated cities like Hollywood. We also are very interested in the very famous New York City. Based on pop culture and Taiwan news media, we already know some things about Los Angeles and New York City. With regards to L. A., we know about movie stars, surfing, Disney Land, Mexican­American people, and we know that it is a popular destination for Taiwanese and tourists from around the world. With regards to New York

City, we know about Broadway, the Statue of Liberty, New York banks and stock exchange, the

United Nations, and also how movie stars often live there, as well. We also have hints about each cities food culture, international culture and basic attitudes towards the world and life. In this research, we propose to compare the cultural, sociatal and regional differences between these two major cities. We want to learn about these two cities because they are important to American culture, and we want to learn much more about American culture. To make our comparison, we will do the following. We will find information on the Internet, in magazines, from TV news, and from newspapers as the first step in learning more. We will put this information into a 2­column side­by­side chart to compare each type of information directly. For example, we will put a New

York item about actors across from a Los Angeles item about actors. This is our second step. The third step is to analyze each side­by­side pair, compare and contrast them, and then write about each in our research paper. With these steps, we will learn how these two cities compare and we will learn a lot more about American culture.

5 INTRODUCTION

Our team wants to explore the differences and similarities between New York City and

Los Angeles. We already know New York City has many, many landmarks and famous places.

We also know it is a crowded city. We already know Los Angeles has some very well known universities and has many celebrities from Holywood. Because of sports teams, we also know about both city’s sports culture, at least a little bit.

We already know these things. So, we want to dig deeper. We want to know a lot more about differences in local culture. For example, we want to know people’s attitudes about life and living. We also want to know about differences in how people from each coast view things like education and lifestyle. Finally, we want to learn more about the history of each place so we can see connections between the past and present.

We have already found that attitudes can be quite different. For example: LA people feel they naturally know how to make a good salad. It’s just something many LA people just assume.

New Yorkers know how to make a good bagel. These claims of food specialties are very telling in regards to attitudes (Smith and Edwards, 1995).

We have already discovered a bit about their different views on things like education. For example, New York has many, many private colleges and many of them are elite, expensive and lean towards the liberal arts. Los Angeles seems to emphasize public education the most. There are private colleges, many of them in fact, but the vaunted schools are the public universities. We have already learned a bit about cultural differences. For example, the standards of beauty in

L.A. are much different from New York’s. L.A. is about focusing on looking healthy, tanned and athletic. New Yorkers, by comparison, seem to want to look like they are the walking dead. For

6 this, they take pride in untanned skin and flaunt their too skinny “top model” figures. In thinking

about this particular difference, it seems to us that some of the differences may be related to

climate. New York is often cloudy, and the crowded skyline tends to shade everyone most of the

day. LA is spread out and often sunny, so “getting some sun” is a common thing and dressing to

show that off is popular.

We have also learned a bit about the differences in history between LA and New York.

The histories of both places are very different. New York is the older. Written documentation of

New York's history began with the first European visitor in 1524. European settlement began

with the Dutch in 1609. The written history of Los Angeles city and county begins with a small

Mexican town that changed little in the three decades after 1848, when California became part of

the United States.

7 METHODS

Our research is all from the Internet.

Our first source of information is online travel guides and travel blogs.:www.globalsherpa.org/new­york­city­nyc ​ Our second source of information is from electronic books.http://www.history.com/topics/new­york­city ​ Our third source of information is from online magazines and journals.http://beimeigoufang.com/newsd/newsdetail_48.html ​

8 RESULTS

We have looked at the literature and have decided to compare New York City in the following aspects: History, Culture (including education), Ethnicity, Politics, Government

Policy, Religion, Arts, Sports, Geography (climate, demographics, etc.), Transportation/Traffic, and Commerce. Below, we present what has been said by others on these topics.

Some General History for the US

Native American and European contact. Settlers came from Siberia over the Bering ​ Strait land bridge about 15,000 years ago. Some pre­Columbian cultures, like the Mississippian culture, had state­level cities, well­developed agriculture and spectacular architechture. Because of diseases and violence, native American populations declined after contact with the first

Europeans.

Native Americans and New York and Los Angeles. Native Americans of New York

City are composed mainly of two different groups: Iroquoian and Algonquian Indians. Iroquoian ancestors moved into the Appalachians about 800 years ago, and Europeans Dutch found them there when they came to New York later. The Dutch built their communities and called the area

"New Amsterdam" and "New Holland". In addition, they also carried out transactions with the aboriginal people. Soon, there were many colonialists there. In 1664, the Dutch lost to the British in a war and that is when the British occupied New Amsterdam and renamed it "New York". In review, the first inhabitants of New York state were the Native Americans. The first settlers were the Dutch in 1613, who called it New Amsterdam. In 1664 the English claimed it and re­named it New York. About one­third of the military fights that took place in the American Revolution were in the New York area. In 1777, America was officially free of Britain and New York was

9 one of the original 13 colonies and states. Different states approved the new country’s

constitution at different times and New York approved the United States Constitution in 1788.

During 1789­90, New York City was the new nation’s capital.

In the Los Angeles coastal areas, the Tongva and Chumash Indians had lived for about

1,000 years. The Spanish came to the area in the 18th century. In 1781, Los Angeles became a

Spanish colony and it is at about that time that the first Americans came to it. But, In 1821,

Mexico won its independence from Spain and so Los Angeles became Mexico’s territory.

Finally, Mexico lost California in the Mexican­American War, and Los Angeles was officially

taken over by the USA. During all this, the native Americans were gradually displaced, or

otherwise affected fighting or disease.

Civil War and New York City. The northern and southern states in early United States ​ society had differences regarding Black slavery, which ultimately led the USA into the American

Civil War. Initially, states entering the Union had to either become a slave or free state in order to keep a sectional balance in the government in the Senate. New York City was part of a free state

(New York) and supported federalism and the freeing of the slaves. They were basically the center of the region that the southern states called the Yankees. Today, this name, “Yankees”, is proudly the name of the worlds most successful baseball team, located in New York City, the

“New York Yankees”. During the Civil War, New York was important as a manufacturing area and as a supply area for the “Blues”, or the northern army.

New York City during the American Civil War (1861–1865) was a bustling American

city that provided a major source of troops, supplies, equipment and financing for the Union

Army. Powerful New York politicians and newspaper editors helped shape public opinion

10 toward the war effort and the policies of President Abraham Lincoln. The port of New York, a major entry point for immigrants, served as recruiting grounds for the Army. Irish and Germans participated in the war at a high rate.

Civil War and Los Angeles. California’s role in the Civil War had most to do with the ​ northern part of California and the city of San Francisco in particular. But, regarding Los

Angeles in Civil War days, an author by the name of John W. Robinson discussed how even out in the far, far western United States there were northern and southern factions. It is not the purview of this present paper, but it suffices for us to say that many people in Los Angeles had a vested interest in the outcome of the Civil War and there were obvious contentions that took place in Los Angeles.

History and Both Los Angeles and New York City

New York City was central to one of the original 13 colonies. The first colonizers of the area were the Dutch in 1613, who called it New Amsterdam. In 1664 the English claimed it and re­named it as New York. About one­third of the military fights that occurred in the American

Revolution were in the New York City area. The state of New York, with New York City as its influential center, approved the United States Constitution in 1788, and it was the 11th state to do so. During 1789­90, New York City stood as the nation’s capital. From then on it increasingly became home to commerce and industry, and, with the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 and major railroad lines parallel to it, it came to dominate the prominent east­west commercial route of 19th century America.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to this country (New York) from the French government and was dedicated in 1886. It commemorates the 1776 Centennial. Beginning in 1892, the

11 European influx of immigrants came to America and became United States citizens via a place

called Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island National Historic Monument in New

York City are now popular tourist destinations.

Los Angeles appeared as a notable location in the late 1800s. LA has a few hundred years

of history. In 1781, a Mexican group of people in northern California built a town. By 1876, the

US Southern Pacific Railroad had built to Los Angeles; about 1890, the Los Angeles area found

oil, and this attracted a lot of talent. This began a large­scale development in Los Angeles. It was

a ranching and farming area primarily and moved into other industries as the population grew. It

had, and has, a major port that made Los Angeles a center of trade. Along with infrastructure

improvements on into the early 20th century, and discovery oil, transportation, the Los Angeles

area became an “American Dream” destination, which led to it’s being a 1930s regional. Of

course, with Hollywood, we know that it became one of the entertainment capitals of the world.

After World War II, military played a large role in the economy. The military established many

military facilities and military bases. With the rise of modern industry in Los Angeles, it quickly

developed into the largest city in the western United States. With various business, finance and

tourism booms, and with frequent immigration surges, the city has continued to expand, making

Los Angeles one of America's largest cities. (Website at: http://www.destination360.com ​ /north­america/us/new­york/history download on 2015/5/20) ​

Geography and Both Los Angeles and New York City (Steven)

Los Angeles lies on a hilly coastal plain with the Pacific Ocean at its southern and

western boundaries. Many canyons and valleys make up the region and that is what makes it an

12 area of diverse climates. Smog and air pollution are problems, especially in the coastal basin

during periods of little air movement. Other unusual weather phenomena include the Santa Ana

winds, which bring hot, dusty winds of up to 50 miles per hour from the surrounding mountains.

New York City is located on the coast of northeastern United States at the mouth of the

Hudson River. It is part of a state that is bordered by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to

the east, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and shares a maritime border with Rhode

Island east of Long Island and has an international border with Canada to the north and west.

Climate. NYC has four distinct seasons: Cool­warm­to­hot springs, hot and humid ​ summers, hot­warm­to­cold autumns, and cold, cold winters. There is sunshine and rainfall

throughout the year, without a real rainy season or dry season.

LA has dry and wet seasons. The dry period extends from May to October, which is

warm­to­hot. The wet season lasts from November to April and it is mild­to­warm and often wet.

However, though saying “wet”, the overall climate all year is relativily dry.

Population. ​

The City of Los Angeles is a very large one. It is the nation's second largest city by

population. The 2015 population estimate, according to California records, is about four million.

Los Angeles County is the largest county in the U.S, based on population. According to a recent

investigation, the LA County population as of 2015 is about ten million.

13 Culture and Both New York City and Los Angeles

New York City is one of the most famous cities in the USA and it has a rich culture and many things to offer to visitors. If you love the arts, then classical music, opera, theater and the stage are all here with some of the best performers in the world and in venues such as Carnegie hall. One of the most famous places is Broadway Ave. New York City is home to hundreds of cultural institutions and historic sites, many of which are internationally known. MuseumMile is the name for a section of Fifth Avenue running from 82nd to 105th streets in Manhattan. Many of the world's most lucrative art auctions are held in New York City.

By comparison, Los Angeles is often described as the "Creative Capital of the World”, and Los Angeles has more museums and theaters than any American City. It has a thriving music culture and art gallery scene, and there are more artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers and musicians living and working in Los Angeles than anywhere else. By the way, LA citizens developed the film culture of Hollywood over the years and that is a reason why Hollywood is so famous.

Los Angeles is also known for its mural art, and its thousands of examples of wall art are believed to outnumber those in every other city in the world. Mexican muralists such as

Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco have all created murals greater

Los Angeles area.

Attitudes Common in New York City and Los Angeles. New York “attitude” is a popular cultural phrase used to categorize the behaviour of New York City residents. It is generally defined by a tough environment. It is a secular and urban attitude, and New Yorkers have adapted this attitude to their busy metropolitan environment. Though it is often considered

14 abrupt and a bit rude, it is felt to define the people of New York City and significantly improves their economy. The city is the birthplace of many cultural movements. It can be seen that, in general, New Yorkers have high living standards.

Los Angeles takes the opposite approach to “attitude.” Los Angeles is always considered to be a sunny place with access to the sunshine of nearby beaches full of relaxing people on holiday. This more quiet life attitude is part of what determines the sparkle of fashion and

Hollywood stars. Los Angeles is a place of fun, relaxation and escape, and even in business the people here seem to dress to that standard. Los Angeles has a combination of gorgeous dress and casual fashion.

Performing Arts in New York City. The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is ​ located in New York City and currently there are a total of 12 performing group centered there.

In addition to general performances, the Lincoln Center also regularly holds special performances. Examples include the American Songbook, Great Performers, the Lincoln Center

Festival, the Mostly Mozart Festival, the Emmy Award­winning “Live From the Lincoln

Center.”

Broadway is the longest street in the world. It is the principal theater and amusement district of NewYork city. The west side of midtown Manhattan is centered on Broadway.

Thousands of stars have walked up and down the street of Broadway. It has been home to great shows and many different theaters. The Phantom of the Opera and many more hit musicals and plays have had their best runs there.

Hollywood is the birthplace of much of the world's fashion and is considered the world’s center of music and film. There is the entertainment industry and the world's top luxury brands,

15 leading the world's highest levels of fashion. There are also top studios such as DreamWorks,

Disney, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, etc. This is where fashion and technology find each other in the development of new art and performance.

Ethnicity and New York City

New York City has the largest European and non­Hispanic white population of any

American city. But it is also home to many ethnicities, such as Mandrin Chinese, Japanese and

Korean. They often live in the same areas and enjoy many traditional ways combined with New

York City lifestyle. Sometimes, there is a lot of discrimination visible in New York City just because there are so many people from so many walks of life.

Ethnicity in Los Angeles

More immigrants have come to Los Angeles than anywhere else in the United States. ​ L.A.'s immigrant populationis huge in the nation's second most populous urban center. Los

Angeles is home to people from more than 140 countries speaking 224 different identified languages. Ethnic places such as Chinatown, Historic Filipino Town, Korea Town, Little

Armenia, Little Tokyo, Little Bangladesh and Thai Town are found across Los Angeles. The city of Los Angeles and its metropolitan is also home to a large Middle Eastern population, including

Armenians and Iranians.

Religion and New York City and Los Angeles.

New York and Los Angeles has many of which are Catholic, because many immigrants make religious diversity.

Christianity , particularly Catholicism, was the most prevalently practiced religion in New

York ,followed by Judaism , with approximately hundreds million Jews in New York City and

16 over half living in Brooklyn. Islam ranks third in New York City and then Hinduism , Buddhism and a variety of other religions, as well as atheism .

Los Angeles is one of the most religious city of many types of religions and there are a lot of followers in Los Angeles, example various Christian denominations to more than 100. Since the Spaniards, Filipinos, and the large number of Irish Roman Catholic Church is the largest religious group in Los Angeles.

Since the Spaniards, Filipinos and the Irish Roman Catholic Church is the largest religious group in Los Angeles.There are numerous Catholic churches and parishes throughout

Los Angeles.

Los Angeles has lots of different ethnic populations of various religious organizations, example the Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Sikh, Baha'i, various Eastern Orthodox

Churches , Sufism and other.

Education and Both Los Angeles and New York City

The New York City education is provided by extensive public and private institutions.

The New York City Department of Education, with it’s public school system, is the largest in the world. New York City provides some of the most important libraries, universities, and research centers in the world.

Los Angeles also has private universities, but is more famous for the huge public system.

In K­12, there is the Los Angeles Unified School district that educates most of the city’s

800,000+ students. The University of California includes the famous University of California,

17 Los Angeles, or UCLA for short. Another university, the University of Southern California, is a private research university. This is also very famous, though as far as education is concerned, the

University of California dominates the college system in Los Angeles.

Sports in New York City and Los Angeles

Sports in New York City have a long history. New York City is home to the headquarters ​ of the NFL, NHL, NBA,MLB and MLS. Each of these professional sports league has a strong presence in New York. The city's two current Baseball is the city's most closely followed sport. ​ There have been fourteen World Series championship series between New York City teams. ​ Football is the city's second most followed sport, slightly trailing baseball. The city is represented in the National Football League by the New York Giants and New York Jets. Both teams play in ​ ​ ​ ​ MetLife Stadium in nearby East Rutherford, New Jersey near New York City. In 2014, the ​ stadium hosted Super Bowl. ​ ​

Basketball is one of the most widely played recreational sports in the city, and professional basketball is also widely followed. The city's National Basketball Association teams ​ are New York Knicks and the Brooklyn Nets, who became the first sports team representing ​ ​ ​ Brooklyn in over 50 years when they moved to the New Jersey for the 2012–13 NBA season.

Rucker Park in Harlem is a celebrated court where many professional athletes play in the summer ​ league. Because of the city's strong historical connections with both professional and college

18 basketball.

Sports in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles area is one of four metropolitan areas to host two Major League Baseball teams ­ the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League and the Los ​ ​ ​ Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League. The Dodgers are one of the most valuable ​ ​ franchises in MLB. The LA Dodgers were founded in Brooklyn.

Los Angeles have two NBA teams, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles ​ ​ ​ Clippers. Both use the Staples Center. The Lakers are one of the most valuable franchises in the ​ ​ ​ NBA. They have the most titles of all Los Angeles franchises, have gained 11 titles in LA and 16 overall. Their title count is second only to the Boston Celtics, whom have 17 titles. The LA

Clippers were originally founded as the Buffalo Braves in 1976, the team moved to San Diego ​ and changed the nickname to Clippers.

The region has two NHL teams—the Los Angeles Kings, which entered the league ​ ​ ​ when it doubled in size in 1967, and the Anaheim Ducks, which joined in 1993 as the Mighty ​ ​ ​ ​ Ducks of Anaheim.

Government and Politics in both Los Angeles and New York City

The City of Los Angeles is a Mayor­Council­Commission form of government, as originally adopted by voters of the City of Los Angeles, effective July 1, 1925 and reaffirmed by a new

Charter effective July 1, 2000. A Mayor, City Controller, and City Attorney are elected by City residents every four years. Fifteen City Council members representing fifteen districts are elected by the people for four­year terms, for a maximum of two terms. Members of Commissions are

19 generally appointed by the Mayor, subject to the approval of the City Council. General

Managers of the various City departments are also appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation by the City Council. Most employees of the City are subject to the civil service provisions of the City Charter.

The government of New York City is organized under the New York City Charter and provides ​ ​ for a "strong" mayor­council system. The mayor is elected to a four­year term and is responsible ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ for the administration of city government. The New York City Council is a unicameral body ​ ​ ​ ​ consisting of 51 members, each elected from a geographic district, normally for four­year terms. ​ ​

[1] All elected officials are limited to a three consecutive­term limit ​ The court system consists of ​ ​ two city courts and three state courts.

Economy and Both Los Angeles and New York City

Los Angeles. The economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, ​ entertainment, aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion, apparel, and tourism.

Los Angeles is the largest manufacturing center in the western United States. Other

significant industries include finance, law, healthcare, and transportation. The city is home to six

companies in the 2014 Fortune 500, and many other companies, including American Apparel,

Farmers Insurance Group, Herbalife, and Sunkist. Los Angeles has the largest economy in

Western America.

New York City. New York is a global hub of international business and commerce. ​

20 New York City's most important economic sector relates to its role as the headquarters for the

U.S. financial industry, known as Wall Street.

Tourism is a vital industry for New York City, which has witnessed a growing combined

volume of international and domestic tourists. Major tourist destinations include: Times Square;

Broadway theater productions; the Empire State Building; the Statue of Liberty; Ellis Island; the

United Nations Headquarters; museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art; green spaces

such as Central Park and ethnic places such as Manhattan Chinatown. There are so many places

people can go to visit in New York City. That’s why New York City is the largest economy in

Eastern America.

21

REFERENCES ​ Barron, James (December 8, 2005). "The Cookie That Comes Out in the Cold". New York Times. ​ ​ Retrieved 9 May 2013.

globalsherpa.org/new­york­city­nyc (2015). Internet page download on 2015/4/2.

wikipedia.org (2015). L.A. Internet download on 2015/4/9. ​ ​ 5 ways L.A fashion is different from New York fashion. Monday,September 24.2012 ,L.A ​ Weekly,by Whitny Firedlander.

360 destination, history of New York 2013/4/6 Wikipedia, sports in New York

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