The Permeability of Walls in The Tortilla Curtain

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After World War II, the United States of America became a much wealthier nation. As America gained wealth and the populations in urban cities and transportation technology increased, many Americans spread out, away from the urban cities, to fulfill the common dream of having a piece of land to call their own. The landscape constructed became known as the suburbs, exclusive residential areas within commuting distance of a city. The popularity and success of the suburban landscape caused suburbs to sprawl across the United States, from the east coast to the west coast and along the borders between Canada and Mexico. By the 1990s, many suburbs surrounding major urban cities developed into being more than merely exclusive residential areas. The new kind of area developed out of suburbia, the post-suburban environment, has the characteristics of the suburbs and the characteristics of the central city, or what postmodern political geographer and urban planner, Edward Soja calls, ‘the city turned inside out' (Foster 1). The post-suburban environment, is “a fundamentally decentralized spatial arrangement in which a variety of commercial, recreational, shopping, arts, residential, and religious activities are conducted in different places and are linked primarily by private automobile transportation” (Kling 1). The multifaceted aspects of the post-suburban environment make it an attractive and dynamic space with opportunities of employment. Topanga Canyon, near Los Angeles, California, is such an example of a suburb space that's developed into a dynamic post-suburban space. Since the post-suburban space of Topanga Canyon is dynamic and filled with employment opportunities, it's attractive to Mexican immigrants who wish to have a better l... ... middle of paper ... ...xcluding Mexican immigrants and their culture from entering and influencing. The residents of Arroyo Blanco spatial identities can no longer be centered in suburbia, which is exclusive and separate. Their spatial identities will have to become decentralized and hybridized, which are the defining characteristics of the post-suburban landscape. Works Cited Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture. London and New York: Routledge, 1994. Print. Boyle, T. C. The Tortilla Curtain. New York CIty: Viking Penguin - Penguin Books, 1995. Print. Foster, Tim. “Into the Postsuburban Thirdspace: T. Coraghessan Boyle's, The Tortilla Curtain.” University of Nottingham, 1995. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. Kling, Rob. “Beyond the Edge: The Dynamism of Post-Suburban Regions.” University of California Press, 1995. Web. 6 Dec. 2013. Soja, Edward. Thirdspace. Malden (Mass.): Blackwell, 1996. Print.

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