Community studies

BY COLIN FARRELL
URBAN LIFESTYLES AND CULTURES PHOTO WALL
COMMUNITY STUDIES
FINAL PHOTO WALK ASSIGNMENT

URBAN LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE
WHAT IS URBAN LIFESTYLE & CULTURE?
Urban culture is the culture of towns and cities. The defining theme is the presence of a great number of very different
people in a very limited space - most of them are strangers to each other.This makes it possible to build up a vast array of
subcultures close to each other, exposed to each other's influence, but without necessarily intruding into people's
private lives
Key contributing factors to this topic:
Age
Gender
Race
Ethnicity
Religion
Declining middle class
And urban lifestyles.

WHY DID I CHOOSE THIS TOPIC?
The reason I decided to choose this topic for my ﬁnal photo
walk, is we live in such an interesting area that has so many
different cultures and lifestyles. Theres such a blend of race,
ethnicity and religion in such a small area. Buffalo is a
wonderful place that is up in coming, that has so many
hidden treasures.

AGE
How does age effect urban and cultural lifestyle?
As stated in our text, demographics of urban population differ from those of rural and
smaller places. Urban populations are much younger in nature and is also true in many
developing countries. The populations aren't younger due to birth rates, but rather the age
of the immigrants who migrate to these new developing countries. As a result, this is why
certain areas have more bars, more places of entertainment, more crime, and more social
change.
As college students, we are apart of this urban population that is taking part in these
urban lifestyles. As the weekend rolls around most people go out, whether its to Chippewa
or local bars. As the weather gets nice, we start going to concerts and doing more outside
activities. The crime part in my opinion is the smaller part of this cultural lifestyle, most
kids aren't getting arrested and into trouble every week, but it happens.

GENDER
HOW DOES GENDER HAVE AN EFFECT ON URBAN AND CULTURAL LIFESTYLE?
Gender also coincides with age. The pattern of urban-rural sex rations differ for developed and
developing countries. Less developed countries have higher rates of males because the migrate into
cities where they leave the women behind to tend to the farm. Unmarried men tend to be be less socially
integrated than husbands and have weaker social commitments to society. Younger single males also
tend to engage in more disruptive behavior such as, drunkenness, gambling, prostitution and crime. In
more developing countries, women tend to leave the rural areas when single to ﬁnd city jobs.
Data gathered by top sources such as the Uniform Crime Report, National Crime Victimization Survey,
and self surveys given show differences in crime rates between men and women. Men commit more
crime, and women commit less. This distinction holds throughout history, for all societies, for all groups,
and for nearly every crime category. The universality of this fact is really quite remarkable, even though
many tend to take it for granted.

RACE, ETHNICITY AND RELIGION
How does this effect urban and cultural lifestyle?
Race, Ethnicity and Religion are very popular among those who live in smaller towns and cities. As
some smaller cities can be largely one race, ethnicity and religion, bigger cities tend to be more
mixed. In cities, the ethnic and racial differences also raise the intergroup cleavage, competition and
conﬂict. Religious and ethnic heterogeneity can led to greater tolerance but does not always do so.
Tolerance is grater when the race, ethnicity and religion lose forever as the primary way of
identiﬁcation.

URBAN LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE TEXT
DECLINING MIDDLE CLASS
North American cities have been in a declining middle class since the end of WWII. Once
solid middle class neighborhoods are now declining, and is a big indicator that the once
stable middle class is now crumbling in the twenty ﬁrst century. Inner city locations and
working groups live much different lives than those who are in other cities. Here in
Buffalo i feel like we have so many different urban lifestyles that are all mashed together.
All of these topics are relatable to our city in some way, we have dense amounts of race,
ethnicity and religion, struggling middle classes, age variation and genders.

PHOTOS
The Theatre of Youth is housed in the historic 1913 Allendale Theatre, a former silent movie
palace in the heart of Allentown that was rescued from demolition in 1986 after having been
condemned by the city—another of Buffalo's success stories in the ﬁeld of revitalization of historic
buildings.

Allen Street boasts one of the densest and liveliest concentrations of bars in Buffalo, catering to a
clientele that is young, upscale, bohemian, and manifestly urban. Bars include Falley Allen, Brickbar,
Allen Street Hardware and many more.

Soho Burger bar, a bar located on Chippewa. Night life and
food, but mostly for drinking. Young college adults, and
some of the older crowds makes up the group you will see at
this bar,

The Coastal, a gas station located in Niagara Falls NY. Not a
good area, located on 19th street, this being a public gas station
is for all people. The reason I include this is because there is a
different culture here. A high crime area and troublesome for the
police. The only reason I know this is because I'm interning with
the Niagara Falls Police.

This is a photo of St. Ann Catholic church in the city of Buffalo. Buffalo has such wide variety of different religions
and cultural groups in the same area. This is a beautiful church and has amazing old architecture.

Food Truck Tuesday, something that all of us probably know.
Numbers of people come to Larkin Square in Downtown
Buffalo and eat at the food trucks gathered in the same area.
Here you can ﬁnd all different genders, races, ethnicities and
religions, but all gathered in the same area for some good
food.

Now this is an interesting one. I didn't edit this picture, rather
the school I trained Mixed Martial Arts did. This is a picture of
me squared up with Alex Carrington, 6’5 300lbs, an NFL
football player and Buffalo Bill. Two different races, and two
completely different lifestyles but when we train together we
are a family.

This is a picture of my friends and I. Again, four different guys
coming from four different upbringings but all the same age
and gender. We as college students are living the “college
lifestyle” and out partying on Chippewa.

This is a picture of three houses in Allen Town, Buffalo NY. Again, there is a much younger crowd living in this are.
There is more of a changing Urban Lifestyle in this section of town. Hipsters seems to be the new trend and where you
can see more of these groups of people. The art festival is also a huge thing in Allen Town and we all know people
don't just go to look at the art.

Thursday night free shoes in Canalside. Something that is
new here and probably the best thing we have ever thought
of. The gathering of so many different people in one area to
enjoy music for the night.

EXTRAS
http://www.buffalohistory.org
This is the website for the Buffalo History Museum. I didn't even know we had this, but
seems like a neat thing that has all different aspects of history from WNY.
http://www.buffalopedaltours.com
This is another website that just ﬁts this category of culture and lifestyle in Buffalo, we have
a giant bike you ride and get drunk on. This is such a cool concept that brings all people
together. I think I'm doing one for my 21st birthday and they always seem like a good time.
Whether is race, gender, religion, ethnicity or anything else we all can participate in the fun
and history that is here in Buffalo.

HOW MY FINDINGS ENHANCED MY EXPERIENCE
I loved this not only did I get to take pictures of buildings
and look through old photos that I had to ﬁt the topic. After
walking around in different areas of WNY and Buffalo, I was
able to see so many different aspects of the city that I wasn't
able to before. The lifestyle and culture here in Buffalo is so
rich and different than any place I've been. Living in Canada
for 5 years playing Junior hockey I really love our city and the
culture we have. From the food, to the bars and the history
we have here Buffalo is just a perfect place.

SOURCES
▸ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_culture
▸ http://www.encyclopedia.com/law/legal-and-political-
magazines/gender-and-crime
▸ https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/25/upshot/
shrinking-middle-class.html

Community studies

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (8)

Similar to Community studies

Similar to Community studies (8)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Community studies