Perception

So, I am reading What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell. It's the Common Reading for Oglethorpe's new students, and some of the themes touch on counter-intuitive thinking and perception. This book is really sinking into my everyday thought. Yesterday, I was driving down Buford Highway in Atlanta. If you don't know Buford Hwy, it's this great stretch of road full of ethnic stores and restaurants. You'll see people of all backgrounds walking up and down the road. As I was driving, I was thinking about how some people are sketched out there as they only see it as a poor part of the city, and others hate that there are so many pedestrians on the road. It's similar in rural areas. If someone is walking to town, they're seen as odd. Then, I started thinking about seeing pedestrians in other neighborhoods like Decatur, Midtown, or Virgina-Highlands. People are attracted to these neighborhoods in part because a lot of people walk.

Why is it that in low socio-economic areas the general perception of pedestrians is either sympathy for their assumed lack vehicles or frustration because they are in the way, while the perception in a more trendy, "urban" area is "good for them!"?