Becoming Peripheral - Life on the margin of the San Francisco Bay Area

Abstract

This thesis attempts to examine the relationship between the San Francisco Bay Area and its Eastern periphery in the form of a case study of the city of Pittsburg and would like to understand some of the movements of people that are occurring from the Bay Area out to its periphery as well as theirmotivations. By studying social class in Pittsburg, this work hopes to gain a deeper understanding of such processes and does so by employing an apartment typology of two-story multifamily complexes as a medium through which to observe these changes. Pittsburg, it turns out, presents an uncommon case of a former industrial town that understandably is struggling to get by in a post-industrial economy, yet isn't faring as well as it should, given its vicinity to a strong economical hub such as the Bay Area. Reasons remain up for speculation, although it seems likely that it has been leap-frogged due to more attractive and pristine real-estate offerings far out in the Central Valley. Further, fear of violence and for one's safety reveals itself to be a powerful driver of migration from impoverished inner-city environments out to the periphery and questions whether the extensive focus on gentrification in many urban discussions doesn't neglect certain important lived experiences of the urban poor that are deserving of more attention. Finally, this work finds Pittsburg to offer a fair amount of affordable housing and accessibility to housing voucher recipients, thereby opening the door to the possibility of a socioeconomically more diverse environment. These findings suggest that the urban dichotomy of viewing the periphery simply as unsustainable sprawl is too one-dimensional of a conception and whether the periphery doesn't rather hold the potential for cultivating a socially more equitable society.