• My Home Page
• My Bio
• Family Object
• Agency Report
• Borderlinks Report
• Country Poster
• City Migrants
• Crossing the Valley
• Open Letter

Where Two Distinct Cultures Meet

Not far from where I live there is a distinct border where the middle class and the migrant class meet.  While driving down Avondale Blvd., going south, one sees new homes and typical middle class neighborhoods.  On the corner of Avondale Blvd. and Buckeye there is a new shopping center with your everyday grocery store, shops and fast food restaurants.  At first glance it seems like a middle class community.  However, just left of the shops, hidden behind the new Checkers and pharmacy is a little community known as Cashion.  Before any of the new construction began in this area, like many other areas, it was once all farmland.  Many Mexican migrants worked in the area and eventually made there residence there building a migrant community in the middle of the farmlands.  From what I have been told this community has been around for many years.  The community extends a few blocks and is surrounded by new housing.  Only on the main street Buckeye is the community visible and the influence of the Mexican culture seen. 

Mexican restaurants and businesses flourish the main street.  Many of the restaurants and businesses advertise in Spanish and English.  There is a Mexican restaurant known as “VIVA MEXICO” RESTAURANT.  On the restaurant building itself there is a painting of the restaurant’s name with the scenery of a desert and an eagle in the background.  Form the main street there is a lit up sign that reads “VIVA MEXICO RESTAURANT TACOS Y MARISCOS” (tacos and seafood).  While walking or driving down Buckeye the scenery is much the same for two or three blocks.  One can definitely see a migrant influence in this community.

            Interestingly enough, the influence seems to end where Cashion and new Avondale meet.  Although you can go to the grocery store and see a mix of classes and ethnicities, the similarities end there.  Cashion is vibrant with the Mexican culture, it incorporates many symbols, murals and the Spanish language is very prominent.  New Avondale, is just that new, with new shops and houses showing no distinct culture.