LA Eastside

It’s unfortunate, but many of us Los Angeles natives take Olvera Street aka El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument or La Placita Olvera for granted. It’s the place to buy taquitos, folklorico shoes and other Mexican handicrafts. We go there to eat, stroll, take pictures on donkeys and just hangout. Every year they put on great programs to celebrate different holidays. I have fond memories of winning the best costume contest for Mardi Gras one year (Chicken Girl!) My mom always tells her story of spotting Marlon Brando sitting in the Plaza one afternoon, staring forlornly into space. For myself and my family, Olvera Street is an institution, a part of our personal history.

I recently read the book Los Angeles’s Olvera Street by William Estrada and was surprised by the history of this Los Angeles landmark. If it weren’t for the efforts of Christine Sterling, who recognized the area as a historic treasure, the whole street (actually it’s kind of an alley) would have been demolished and long forgotten by now.

Well, it’s time we all channel our inner Christine Sterlings because we received an urgent email tonight from a LA Eastside reader regarding a very important meeting tomorrow. It seems the City of Los Angeles, in it’s typical short-sighted way wants to privatize Olvera Street. I’m sure it sounds good to the CAOs and accountants to do so, but our history is much more valuable than the small profits number-crunchers try to come up with. This is not to say that there is no room for change or new ideas but privatization usually brings homogenization and corporate culture something Olvera Street, for all it’s faults, refreshingly lacks. Our city has enough malls.

Friends,

Due to the city’s fiscal crisis, tomorrow morning, the Los Angeles City Council will discuss and potentially vote on a plan to privatize El Pueblo Historical Monument, the Birthplace of the City of Los Angeles. Please come to John Ferraro Council Chambers at 11:15 AM ready to share your concerns during public comment.

While the details of privatization have not been disclosed, the plan will likely include the commercialization of El Pueblo, its public museums, galleries and historic sites which are visited by two million people annually, including 300,000 students.

Please communicate to city officials that privatization of the city’s birthplace is nothing short of an abomination, may violate state historic codes, and threatens the city’s irreplaceable cultural and historical heritage. Let them know that El Pueblo’s historic buildings, the oldest in the city, its public space, vast collection of artifacts and photographs that speak to the the city’s early history must be preserved for present and future generations.

Los Angeles City Hall
John Ferraro Council Chambers, Room 340
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, 90012

Thanks!

Comments(18)

The Pink Shack and it’s looming neighbor, The Thrift Store Lofts

I’ve always admired this pink little shack, the way it’s persevered on it’s tiny bit of land, clinging to the pavement while the block around it gradually changed into a neighborhood of factories. It challenges the industrial zone with it’s small but mighty domesticity. Someone lives here! Many of these tiny cottages that dot the area were built for the railroad workers, the rails are just one block to the west, on the east side of the river.

In my opinion, this little home has just as much historical significance as the huge building behind it.

Comments(3)

When I walk, I tend to look down at the ground. Not because I’m depressed or anything like that, mostly because sometimes it’s easy to over look things that you would normally wouldn’t see. Like multicultural man-hole covers.  I’ve found a few a these all over downtown, there are also a few out there that were made in India as well. What I like about these covers is that there is a rather simple explanation behind them, rather than some other implied meaning behind them, to be interpreted by individuals for their own accord.

Basically what’s going on here is that the city has two contracts with two steel manufacturing plants, one in Long Beach and one in Alhambra. These two plants have been making the cities covers for the past few decades and it turns out that they are the ones that outsource their work to either Mexico and India. Funny how things like that work. Still, it says a lot about our city, whether it’s implied or not. It says everything about me, guess that’s why I love it.

Comments(9)

It’s no secret that the blog has managed to garner attention in the last year or so that it’s been around. I’m one of the many people covering BH events and that in itself has gotten me attention from others as well, case in point 14th District Council Member Jose Huizar. He reads the blog and through the help of my good friend WC connecting me with Rick Coca, who’s Director of Communication, I got some time in with the councilmen, who’s district also covers Downtown, Eagle Rock, El Sereno, Garvanza, Glassell Park, Hermon, Highland Park and Mount Washington, to talk about what’s going down in the hood. But since I don’t live in those parts of town, so I focused my questions more on BH because that is where I live and it’s where a lot of action is taking place. (more…)

Comments(4)

While browsing today’s LA Times, I came across Patt Morrison’s OP-ED interview with developer/mogul and aspiring civic leader; RICK J. CARUSO. That same city-within-a-city retail & housing developer who has brought our region his vision of artificial environments with projects such as THE GROVE, and THE AMERICANA AT BRAND among others. So, now it seems he has his developer sights pointed Eastward,…here is a quote from the Señor Caruso’s interview from today’s LA Times……

“Would you ever build something like the Grove in South L.A.?

I would love to. I would love to build something in East L.A. You’ve got to build something successful or you’re not doing a favor to that community. We’ve looked; we haven’t found the right opportunity, but I would love to do it, absolutely.

What’s necessary to make that a success?

You’ve got to buy the land at the right price. You’ve got to get the right entitlements. The right retailers to serve that community. You’ve got to get enough customers to use it, spend money, support the rents, A lot of very low to moderate income areas really thrive. I think if conceived right it can be done. East L.A., Boyle Heights, I just haven’t found the right areas. ”

Wow…so are we looking forward to, as Dorit suggested,  “THE MEXICANA ON CHAVEZ”?,

Comments(15)

Bad ass urban planner James Rojas, co founder of the Latino Urban Forum, guided angelinos on a tour of nacimiento altars located throughout East L.A. Apparently, from what Victoria D. told me, this is the 8th year he’s doing this and with the gold line up and running, he opted to guide us to adjacent nacimiento altars at various stops. She said that in previous years, the tour was given on bikes. I for one was excited to go on the tour out of curiosity of what the tour would involve, what we would see and expanding my mind to new ideas and concepts and guess what ? Since VD took some pics, you get to come along too. I’ll be your online tour guide of a tour I was part of. Isn’t that kick ass ? You bet your ass it is. I seem to be using the word ass a lot. Sorry (more…)

Comments(5)

Calle Dr. Leopoldo Río de la Loza, Centro Histórico, Santiago de Querétaro, Querétaro

Comments(16)

Artist José Lozano was born in Los Angeles, but early in his life lived in Ciudad Juárez, México the birthplace of his mother.   In Juárez he was exposed to the cultural icons that are now part of his artwork—bad Mexican cinema, fotonovelas, phantasm folk lore, lucha, comic books, boleros y rancheras and the flavors of the Juárez landscape. His family core returned to East LA when he was 8, where he attended public school and began to draw.   Later, through formal art training, he captured the essence that is his personal finger print as an artist. (more…)

Comments(3)

Spotted in the wealthy part of town: In all our decadence people die.

This was being constructed right next to the graffitied trash bin.

Comments(6)

I love L.A. and there is nothing I would change about this beautiful city, except maybe peoples attitudes but that’s another story. Gallery 727 and Department of Architecture at the Royal University Collage of Fine Arts in Stockholm and the Latino Urban Forum present what will be a great show on how L.A. can survive without fossil fuel.

(more…)

Comments(7)