Bad Neighbors

loftsout1
The message comes through loud and clear

On the Eastside we’re often told our neighborhoods are never good enough. We need revitalization and improvement. And who is to provide us with this fancy new lifestyle? Certain businesses are mentioned in this renewal mantra: bookstores, art galleries, lofts and commercial development. It all sounds nice in theory but check the photos below to see how this plays out in reality.

loftsout3
The fortified “Disney Hall” lofts

These new lofts on Daly in Lincoln Heights were designed by an architect with lots of awe inducing credentials and received much accolades from the design community for transforming an old factory into a “Disney Hall-like” living space. I saw the pics up on Craigslist and the apartments didn’t look too comfortable to live in but of course that’s my subjective opinion. I don’t want to live in an Escher painting. Anyways, I’m more interested in the building’s relationship to the neighborhood around it because afterall these places are supposed to improve our neighborhood, right? I wonder then, why the first thing they did was to put up these really unwelcoming signs. I don’t see how these messages foster any sense of community. I don’t see this development and think: “Wow, our neighborhood is really coming up.” I feel like it’s just another party we’re not invited to. Again, we’re relegated to watching through the bars.

workspace1
At least sweep into the street!

Lookee here, a highfalutin’ art gallery comes to Lincoln Heights! That’s surely a sign of progress right? According to the bios, the exhibiting artists have lots of fancy degrees. Hmmm, well it looks like they should have swapped out their mixed media class with a Home Ec course. Perhaps then they would have learned you’re supposed to pick the trash up off the street not sweep it to the middle of the sidewalk while kids are walking home from school. To be fair, just in case they were interrupted mid-sweeping, I walked by the gallery a couple of hours later and the trash was still there.

uglylhbuilding1
Ugly! (and that awning doesn’t help)

How do you take a gorgeous turn of the century brick building with antique light fixtures, a vintage purple glass facade and one the awesomest murals on the Eastside and transform it into the biggest eyesore on North Broadway? Ask the owner of this building, affectionately dubbed “The ugliest building in Lincoln Heights.”

53 thoughts on “Bad Neighbors

  1. We walked right by that new WorkSpace place a bunch of times and never even noticed it there!

    And the only reason the brown eyesore is the ugliest building in LHs is because they painted the pink house…

  2. I’m with Kevin on that one. Painting the pink house did take it out of the running.

    You can thank Kasil jeans for their destruction of the Workman/Broadway building. The only nice thing about it is the owner let the kids downstairs open their own art gallery for free where anyone can walk in and draw.

    The word revitalization makes me cringe. Why can’t revitalization just mean, let’s make fix things up, rather than let’s displace an entire community?

  3. As a planner and someone who enjoys some diversity around me, i theoretically applaud the infusion of different demographics. If I lived in brentwood I would probably yearn for some local taco stands/ street vendors, payless shoesources and dollar trees. Even now as I live in Alhambra, it gets a bit annoying how corporate America shuns my local corridor (valley blvd) when I cant walk to a nearby tap or any other kind of commercial amenity that seems to stuff any white are but never nonwhite no matter how much spending power the community has. On the flip side it is also annoying that the closest Mexican place is Pepe’s (good, but so greasy it must be limited), and I have to drive a bit to get to King Taco or a good carniceria. I wish the city didnt harass the guys selling fruits at the corner and that we had more palleteros and street evendors in my area. The sad part is that my neighborhood probably is fairly diverse in the context of LA.

    The infusion of diversity (whether it be racial or income) should be a good thing, but because of the insulated, institutionally coddled manner the “haves” have been treated since the industrial revolution, it usually does not translate well. I wish Boyle Hts and the eastside had the tools and framework to make some huero gentrification a positive thing on the community (and my supreme faith in the resiliency of the motherbarrio stills holds hope), but having lived in SF during the mission getnrification and harlem during the same in NYC I see more of these antisocial kind of “upgrades” coming if la crisis doesnt send them packing and running (I hope not too, btw).

    What is is about rich kids that makes them so entitled, scared and spoiled? Not that all of them are, but why does their implantation in our barrios always result in the BS you note chimatli (or anyone else)? I wish it could be done some other way, I wish it was much less like an alien colony occupying a building, and more like some new welthier community members embracing our neighborhoods and culture (like we do, or are supposed to, when we move to theirs) and becoming a part of it.

    I am still fucken fuming that all the vendors are gone from Broadway, MY BROADWAY! I still get pissed that i cant buy a hot dog from the corner I had done so for the past 2.5 decades (LA and 6th) since I was a little boy. Why does “fixing up” a community always involve attacking the street vendors and poor people rather than finding a way to accomodate them? Why cant we treat these permanent entities in our communities for what they are worth, rather than shun them and sweep them away like some unwanted trash? Why the fuck are street vendors in any other city viewed as quaint and an essential part of a vibrant streetscape, but not here? Shit, why was i able to buy a hot dog off a white teen in the street in San Diego last week, but not on my still dilapidated, still uncleaned street in Downtown LA?

    Why are taco vendors being harassed in some of the poorest most institutionally neglected parts of the county, in communities that have been abandoned by the corporate community and offer no eating alternatives beyond the worst things you can put in your body? Why havnt our policymakers been introduced to the decades old studies that ALL found these small vendors actually compliment restaraunts and create more patronage, rather than harm their business?

    We got mexican/black leadership who still act as if they are white xenophobes when those they are lambasting have no power. They focus on building landsaped street medians and planting bushes on busy sidewalks that’ll get trampled on in a week rather than placing more benches and street trees to accomodate pedestrians in areas with high ped activity and some of the worst ped death rates in the nation.

    I am sick of hearing James Rojas and a few other planners talk about how great street vending is, yet no actual movement in aiding those vendors or even accomodating them.

    The only fucken areas along Broadway that are deadspaces with street fronting buildings are where the gentrified spaces exist, or where they’re being built. Why the hell do we want more of this when what is being built has been a negative. Why the hell cant the eastern bldg or orpheum or chapman find some retial to occupy their bottom floors by now? What, are they waiting for a RuthChris’ to show up, in lieu of letting a local mom n’ pop vendor open shop? Why is the city still blowing millions to coddle corporate developers yet jack shite is offered to help start or maintain small businesses?

    When I go to other cities it astounds me how many small family owned businesses exist there, yet LA has the highest rates of small businesses in the country (except we dont accomodate them, the monye’s for the big fish, small business in LA comes out of garages).

  4. I think the owner of the Pink House of Horrors must’ve read the Chanfles site because after it was nominated as a “Place to Avoid”, they changed the paint color and attempted some improvements.

    I still wince walking by the Kasil building. It’s great and all that they let the kids use it for an art gallery. I suppose that’s one way to redeem themselves. The good thing is that there are rules now on what you can do to historic buildings in the North Broadway corridor. Not that these rules would stop anyone, look at one happened to our historic clock.

    Art, as always you bring up really good points. You’re right about how the money goes into new landscaping that really does little to improve a community long-term. It seems there is this process in neglected neighborhoods where community needs start being solved organically and by the people that live there whether it be street vending, DIY fixes to ongoing problems or economies based on barter and trade. Then some bureaucrat or politician gets a whiff of it and it’s all wiped out with nothing to replace the services that were stamped out.

    I know what you mean about diversity and I also prefer to live in diverse neighborhoods, the tension makes life exciting. There are lots of folks who have moved into Lincoln Heights the last few years that care about the neighborhood, that are engaged with civic activities and that get to know their neighbors. My critique is not personal. It’s about these institutions and businesses that are glorified by politicians as being ways to revitalize a neighborhood. Well, Lincoln Heights does not need revitalization. The neighborhood is just fine. We could use more public services from the city but the businesses here seem to be doing well. The people that live here love the neighborhood, that’s why nobody leaves. We just move from one rented house to another, trying out the neighborhood one block at a time.

    Erika makes a good point, why can’t we just fix what we have instead of replacing people and communities? Essentially, gentrification is about displacement and that’s why I’m totally against gentrification.

  5. word. thanks for posting this. the first pix is a really good shot, with really nasty attitude. we’ll just go somewhere else for better vibes. let ’em attract la mala chusma!

    btw, leaving your trash in front of your store front is whack! cleaning up would demonstrate how much you care and appreciate your neighborhood. Other people would follow too.

    When i walked the streets of Mexico City, all the store front owners would be cleaning, and scrubbing, and washing their entrances all the way and out to the streets thoroughly. This was a daily routine. 🙂

  6. One of the problems with the redevelopment of commerical space is that much of the new commercial spaces are just too big. They create storefronts that are so large that only chain stores can survive in them.

    One way to help make a vibrant economy is allow space for all levels of commercial activity: carts and (swap-meet style) public markets, small shops and large shops. This way, the size of the shop can vary with the cashflow of the business. If business is getting better: expand! If business is terrible: shrink.

    It becomes a problem of access to capital: you can’t open up a larger storefront unless you’ve either built your business and brand up from the ground, or you’ve got the backing of Other People’s Money (OPM).

  7. Ana Ruth,
    I’ve seen the same thing in Mexico and I think this practice has moved north with Mexican immigrants. It’s a common sight on the Eastside: storefront sidewalks being swept daily and watered down.
    As for the art gallery, even if they were gonna come by later to pickup the trash, it’s obvious they don’t come from a pedestrian background because why leave it in the middle of the sidewalk.

  8. Of all the posts about gentrification on LAEastside I oddly find this one the most sad and profound.

    The proof is in the pudding, and the loft and gallery especially are indicative of eyes one the prize creative production that really is just too opportunistic and self-involved to be the good neighbors that the practitioners often think they are.

    As an artist, designer and Lincoln Heights resident I am deeply saddened by this.

  9. There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
    Sign was painted, it said private property;
    But on the back side it didn’t say nothing;
    That side was made for you and me.

    –Woody Guthrie, This Land is Your Land, 1940

  10. That colored awning by the art gallery is for an ice cream parlor that is going to open up soon. I talked to the owners and took a peek inside during the LH Chambers’ annual sidewalk sale. It looks nice (but I’m sure that the rent is insane).

    Art – you’re dead on with what you said. Governing in LA, whether it is via “minority” elected officials or our long-dead white-boys-club it is still all about protecting a certain cluelessness and detachment from local interests.

  11. I used to work for a business very close to LH that fancied themselves people who were improving the neighborhood by their mere presence. I constantly heard about how trashy the neighbors were (it was a commercial building surrounded by residential places). Yet these people let their dog out to shit on the sidewalk or parkway multiple times a day. When I was new and suggested that they pick up after him, they laughed. They also blocked the sidewalk with cars and did not discourage partying guests from peeing in the street.

    A bad neighbor is a bad neighbor, whether they are an individual or business or whether they have money or not or whether they are “gentrifiers” or have been in the neighborhood for generations. But a bad neighbor who thinks they are actually quite upstanding, better than those around them even though they engage in the same activities, god’s gift to a neighborhood is the worst kind.

  12. I know more than a few folks that think it’s not cool to open an ice cream parlor right next door to another ice cream place, Tejuino Los Reyes. Usually, you try and space these things out. Oh well, Tejuino Los Reyes kicks ass in every department (nieves, fruta and aguas) so I’m sure they won’t be hurting. And Tejuino also has vegan ices!

  13. I think I mess up then!

    I just moved my bike shop down one door away from the Bike Oven! Gahh!

    Why didn’t you post this earlier you dick!?

  14. ubrayj, what’s wrong with you? is that kind of language necessary? besides if you’re gonna be rude at least make the insults proper for my gender.

  15. Does anyone have pictures of the Kasil building from before?

    Also, I really don’t get why anyone would put another ice cream shop next to the one that is already there. Can we please get a coffee shop in lincoln heights instead?!

  16. I am one of the people running workspace. I think the saddest and most unproductive thing of all is people walking through neighborhoods with their digital cameras casting judgment without making any effort to engage on a personal level. Workspace is a storefront, and there is no reason why, if you were so concerned with the dust pile outside, you couldn’t have knocked on my door and to initiate a conversation.
    Is the point of this blog to actually have some kind of impact, or just to complain about the broad notion of “gentrification?” We happen to have a wonderful relationship with our community. I speak with my neighbors everyday, let them know what it is we are upto, and I patronize the local businesses every chance I get. Just because the people involved in the space happen to have “fancy degrees”does not discredit the project or speak some kind of privileged ignorance. This is a non-profit space that only serves to give opportunities to artists to show their work. We are open to submission from anyone, including people who live in the neighborhood, and we do not aim to ignore our surroundings.
    I sincerely hope that the issue of gentrification will be approached in a more thoughtful way in the future, as it is something I care very much about and do not hope to see over-simplified in this way.

  17. Julia,

    That’s all wonderful but still why the pile of dirt in front of your “workspace”? Do you actually live in LH and walk the sidewalks (beyond the block your gallery is located on) here?

  18. Julia,
    All positive contributors to the community fo LHts are welcomed. If you live and interact with the community it shouldnt take long to realize calling people out/ confronting about cleaning up after themselves does not usually end very well. But in all honesty, what was the reason for the dust/trash being left on the busy sidewalk?

  19. Actually, I live in Highland Park, less than a mile away, and come to Lincoln Heights everyday.
    I run Workspace with the intermittent help of others. I offer the space FOR FREE to artists, writers and performers, and I often end up cleaning up after them.

    Excuse me if there was a pile of dirt outside for the day (which was cleaned up at the end of the day, maybe not in time for the stealth photographer to check up on me). I am accustomed to finding plastic bags, food wrappers and newspapers on my doorstep in the morning, and didn’t think that I was seriously offending people by taking a few hours to sweep up that pile of dirt. If, as I said, someone had actually spoken to me, face-to-face, I would have been more than happy to clean it up post-haste. This is not an unreasonable request.

    It sucks that this slight misstep is enough to enrage a blogoshpere, but I encourage each and every one of you to suspend judgment until you actually visit the space and see for yourself what it is you are criticizing. I take our space and the neighborhood seriously, and I do in fact “walk the sidewalks.”

  20. Hello LA Eastside Blog!

    I am a very wealthy real estate developer. I appreciate your blogging on Lincoln Heights. The cache you have given the neighborhood by insisting on the purity of its identity and the character of its long term residents makes it seem quaint and simple, a fantastic location for the hybrid juice shop/upscale pet supply stores/wine cellar that I have been tasked with sourcing commercial space for. Clearly we will use only local labor for our demolition and construction and will have regular 50% off wine samplings to encourage community integration.

    Thank you guys for helping keep your neighborhood strong!

  21. Don’t take it personally, Julia. I think that while good points are usually made on this blog, this particular entry was pretty damn petty.

  22. Julia sounds like me when I was a kid. My dad would see that I missed a pile of dirt when sweeping, and I’d be like, “I was going to get it, I swear…”.

  23. Julia,

    Well as long as we are all being subjective, I’m into the “saddest and most unproductive thing of all” which you think is “people walking through neighborhoods with their digital cameras casting judgment”. That’s my bread and butter, y que? But I can take some criticism.

    Isn’t your gallery mostly locked and closed? I see you all coming in and out, always being careful to lock those doors. How is one to “initiate a conversation” with that sort of a shop? Nevermind the fact that you have absolutely no explanation anywhere on your doors about the intent, meaning, or purpose of the space, like almost all other storefronts do. And yet, you think it’s perfectly reasonable to have us seek you out to start a “conversation”, for us to have to tell you to not be such a slovenly shopkeeper. Like we care about you and your art that much. Why don’t you come knocking on my door instead, since you need some tips on tidiness? Yeah, isn’t that’s some ridiculous logic?

    But that approach is not new, move into the neighborhood and expect the neighbors to seek you out so they can realize how wonderful and free and non-profit you are, cuz then we will like you and not give a shit yer a slob. It’s definitely your privilege to act that way, but don’t get bent out of shape when someone calls you on it.

    Something tells me this blog post will really have you thinking about your messy ways.

    Oh yeah, your Shade Remelin comment was terrible. And you might want to consider using an anonymizing proxy if you intend to post under different names.

  24. Hi,

    Just to clarify, my name is Shade, i’m a real person, you can e-mail me at theshadefalcon@gmail.com (please do, i love to talk for real, privately, not just sword fight in public).

    I am friends with Julia but i do not speak for her in any way shape or form. I was indeed using her computer to reply to this. My post was definitely stupid, i have a stupid sense of humor. I was totally astonished at the level of discourse in this thread and wanted to try my best to further degrade it.

    My unsubtle joke was in lieu of getting sucked into this thread, because it genuinely made me sad to think about cold and alienating this all is. Can you explain to me what relationship you feel this interaction right here has to the actual people you’ve delegated yourself the protector of?

    I think that all of these issues deserve to be talked about as much as possible, we need to be able to talk about them calmly and rationally, and if we don’t then we’re inviting the sort of neighborhoods in which people just shit on each other and act without communal regard. You gave Julia a public shaming, why? How could that possibly change the situation? If perfection is what you seek from your neighbors than you should invite starbucks and jamba juice into your neighborhood, they will make sure to keep everything spic and span so as to not to arouse any undue attention (this was the heart of the “joke” i done tried to make).

    Though I would be an idiot to write more, i am an idiot, and i will. I was at workspace today and it was open, and clearly as we can see from the picture, it was open when the picture was taken, so you must see how that’s a contradictory argument. Being that its not a shop, she is not a “shopkeeper”, just another clarification.

    A random sidenote to this rant: I work around macarthur park tutoring (this a recent job, i dont claim this gives me any authority in this conversation), but i will say I love it there, its a wonderful place, i frequent (almost) only local businesses and I hope that any revitalization that takes place there does so with the intent of helping current residents achieve a higher quality of life. I’m proud to tutor students of recent Mexican immigrants and to see flashes of what the future of Los Angeles leadership will look like. But you know what? I would be lying if I said the sidewalks were very clean around there. Which part of the previous paragraph was the least relevant? I bet my language arts students could easily identify it.

    Every community in Los Angeles has undergone countless demographic shifts. I’m not going to avoid saying that obvious fact just because some people here when to make this purely an insider/outsider argument. It doesn’t make gentrification ok, but i think its worth noting when you’re using broad concepts to attack individuals (not corporations, literally just one person).

    Honestly, you should go visit Julia at Workspace. I only felt compelled to write this because she genuinely is not looking for a fight and is a big softy, and would give you some really good cookies. Seriously, that’s what the big mystery is here, a place where art sometimes is that we also hang out at. And there are often cookies.

    Peace.

    Shade

  25. “Can you explain to me what relationship you feel this interaction right here has to the actual people you’ve delegated yourself the protector of?”

    Hey Shade, would being part of the Lincoln Hts and Eastside communities, not only an entire lifetime, but having roots here for generations qualify one to be slightly protective of the neighborhood?
    And especially if a new business set up, resembles, in both appearance and attitude, a temporary storage and nursery lab for nurturing clone pods, last seen around here on Solano Ave and the Pasadena Fwy in “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers”.

    And as a tutor of Mexican people (thank you for your wonderful humanity by the way), you must know that such a syncopated, acerbic, and facetious wit as yourself would be much welcomed and appreciated by the indigenous community of which you speak.

    Shade, you have undoubtedly gone far in assisting Julia Sherman in her business endeavor and attempt to bridge relations in her new community.
    And the offer of cookies to the locals is very insightful, makes one feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

  26. ok, I am signing off from this degenerative banter. I would like to say thank you to those of you who have sent me personal emails to express some constructive ideas and some positive thinking. This is the only way these conversations can be productive, and I am very open to them.

    I am not selling $5 lattes and I have never been careless or disrespectful of “your” neighborhood. I find these notions of borders and propriety quite disturbing. I use the space as an office and studio, and I have the right to close the door for privacy and quiet while I work. Whatever your preconceived notions and unfair assumptions are, I cannot speak to.

    When we have events, the doors are open to everyone. I love this neighborhood, and should not have to defend that since I have fostered respectful relationships with my neighbors that I interact with on a daily basis, if not on the internet. I think it is sad that conversations like this contribute to a divide and not any kind of useful exchange.
    I hope you find a better target for your anger.

    Happy Blogging.

  27. I cant tell what here is sarcasm and what is serio, and Im usually good at it (I guess not on a computer though).

    Either way:
    Julia, if this is a genuine mistake and you are serious about becoming part of the community (because you like it and it is a great place) then good for you, these people are part of the community and are writing this out of concern for their community. Im sure you may know, but institutional and mainstream investment in these areas have generally had negative effects here for many decades; and being that the authors here are from these areas and have been conditioned by decades of experience to expect negativity from new investment you may want to try and understand their POV or at least explain yourself like you would to someone who’dve come up and confronted you.

    Even if Chimatli was wrong to assume (but there still is no explanation for why you’d leave your sweeping pile on the sidewalk for so long, although it was great to sweep up the sidewalk), if you are newish to the neighborhood and want to become a part of it there is no need for such indignation. I and others here have noted why locals (and many do) feel this way, please try and understand (like I am trying to understand you POV and thank you for good deeds) where the discourse is coming from. It is nothing personal, this wealthier folks having a negative effect on working class communities precedence is not a personal attack but an assumption based on precedence, if it is wrong than please try and correct it rather than get indignant and attack folks for not figuring you out better or confronting you. Its like if a girl had a history of rape and abuse from men and gave me the cold shoulder when i ask her out, and I expected her to search me out and explain herself to me rather than me explain that i am not some jerk looking to exploit her.

    And like I said, in these areas it is not too smart to call people out to clean up after themselves. Try it a few times and see what I mean. You are saying this is a misunderstanding so treat it that way and explain why it is. Otherwise, when are you guys open? The spot sounds like a cool place and something needed in the area.

  28. “Hey Shade, would being part of the Lincoln Hts and Eastside communities, not only an entire lifetime, but having roots here for generations qualify one to be slightly protective of the neighborhood?”

    Yes absolutely it does. I would hope that you would be protective of your community, i’ve always been moved around since i was young and i really respect and envy having real roots like that. I don’t live or work in lincoln heights, i was just chiming in. My question wasn’t what your credentials were, it was quite literal, I just didn’t understand (and still don’t) how this flame war and the original post helps deter what you say you want to deter. I think its a fair question.

    I mean let’s imagine the dreaded word gentrification hadn’t been brought up, then you’re pretty much just shaming people because you’re a local and you feel like you can. If i went around to people’s houses and took pictures of old baby seats and cars on blocks in their front yards i would hope that anyone reading would cry foul.

    And yes, i did myself a disservice by starting out all snarky like that, and based on your response i think we would get along just fine. And while i made it clear I was including my job merely to tell you where i spend my days at this exact moment its understandable that you would see that as further pretension. And you know what, regardless of how much its going to get lost in this acerbic wit contest, i have spent most of my life around mexican communities and have always felt very comfortable because my natural instinct is to start teasing people and that’s sort of what i’ve seen in those families as well.

    Anyway, its not much a busisness endeavor, but if you think i’ve really damaged her case i would like to remind everyone once more I don’t work or having anything official to do with workspace or live in the nighborhood and I have nothing to do with this other than I saw this thread.

  29. Julia,
    A simple ‘sorry’ would’ve sufficed.
    You don’t move into a neighborhood like Lincoln Heights with that kinda attitude, it just doesn’t work. Maybe that shit flies in Silver Lake but not here.
    What made you open your gallery here anyways?
    Also, I’m not opposed to art galleries being here in LH, some of my best friends are artists and gallery owners.
    Anyways, why this harping on knocking on your door? Why should WE come to you. Careful there…

  30. “I have the right to close the door for privacy and quiet while I work.”

    Yet you ask us to come start a dialogue with you? Make up your mind, you can’t have it both ways. For the record, being well intentioned, talking to your neighbors, not selling lattes; none of that means anything. I saw that you had an event some weeks ago, yet I’ve never seen any schedule of events on your doors, so for all I knew it was a private party. Certainly didn’t look like my neighbors in there. Might it not be a good idea to post your events on a simple printout on your door? So we can show up too?

    You have super thin skin and no manners, might want to brush up on both of those. You’re not in a neighborhood were people will be treating you with kid gloves.

  31. “Its like if a girl had a history of rape and abuse from men and gave me the cold shoulder when i ask her out, and I expected her to search me out and explain herself to me rather than me explain that i am not some jerk looking to exploit her….”

    I think a better analogy would be that you moved into the apartment next door to the “girl” with a history of abuse, that unsurprisingly the woman didn’t rush over with some pasteles, and neither did you. It doesn’t sound like workspace’s mission is to create a space for local kids to make art (a mission that many here, I’m guessing, would reflexively dismiss as condescending). It doesn’t need to be either.

    It’s one thing for the abused woman to not want a man living next to her; it’s another to insinuate that he’s asked her out. Fact is that we could all stand to be more neighborly. It really does work both ways.

    Personally, I would be ticked off if I moved in next door to someone and they started posting pictures on the web of my yard, having never even spoken to me. It’s not only bad manners and not constructive, its a subversion of democratic process for anyone on this blog to claim to speak for the interests of the community. If you’re not a spokesperson for a neighborhood group or circulating a petition, then you speak for yourself and yourself alone. I’m an eighth-generation Angeleno, which I’m guessing is more deep-rooted than many people who post on this blog. That still doesn’t give me the right to act like anyone’s representative without consulting them.

  32. Julia, just pick up your damned trash. I think that’s all anyone’s really asking of you, if you sum all of this up.

  33. While it’s totally acceptable to call someone out for leaving garbage in the middle of the sidewalk, it’s not acceptable to use that as a springboard for unfounded bigotry. That the artists exhibiting at workspace have “fancy degrees” ultimately has little relation to the garbage. One can combine those two observations in order to make all the assumptions one wants, but the fact remains that a privileged education (and you don’t see me denying that such “fancy degrees” result from privilege) does not predispose one towards anti-communal behavior. Making such an assumption would be just as wrong as assuming that the increased sidewalk trash in certain neighborhoods in the Bronx results directly from the lack of higher education (which, yes, requires money many don’t have) among certain of those neighborhoods’ residents.

    A useful dialogue about the realities of gentrification cannot proceed in this manner. Taking someone down (in this case what amounts, basically, to telling someone to “get out,” intimidating, and possibly frightening that person) may make you feel better, but it won’t make you feel better for long. Having a legitimate EXCHANGE may be difficult, but it’s the only thing that will bring about the change we want to see. Cohabitation is a reality. Let’s have a back-and-forth about that, please.

  34. This isn’t someones front yard, it’s a storefront. I fail to see how this blog tries to speak for all the community, that would be beyond overreaching. But Chimatli’s post and her opinion are well placed as A voice from the community, and possibly one with which many agree.

  35. Sarah, is there a “useful dialogue” on gentrification? To many people, it’s all bad, and there is no good about it. The idea of gentrification is premised on real estate developers pushing residents out of an area to make way for higher priced property. Some of the methods these real estate moguls, and their puppets in local government, have used have been quite sinister, ranging from intentionally putting noisy bars and night clubs in once quiet neighborhoods, to gang injunctions with blanketed criteria that give the police the legal means to basically harass anyone who’s Mexican and wearing a Dodger hat. There is no dialogue on gentrification, and the exchange you and your BFF Julia are having on this blog is about as close as it’s going to get, and you can see how it’s going. Obviously, you and Julia are not the real enemy. This is America and it’s your right to live or run a studio wherever you can afford. But you do have to understand that some dirty politics went down in order to clear out that building for you, and your presence is always going to be met with suspicion by the long time residents of the area. When you add to that a filthy storefront, you’re going to get concerned citizens taking a photo and putting it on their blog, no different than if a bunch of Chicanos bought out a studio in Beverly Hills and left a mess on the sidewalk in front of their place. Except, of course, nobody in BH would need to take photos and put it on a blog, they’d just call the police. Because in BH, the police actually serve the neighborhood’s long time residents, not view THEM as suspects…

    You want dialogue on gentrification, Sarah? Go to Julia’s building and sweep the sidewalk. It’s a start.

  36. Curious how the indignity gets turned around and the old tired cliche’s and divide and conquer tactics of “you have no power how dare you claim to speak for the community” come to the fore. It’s as old as urban renewal and gentrification itself.
    Of course then there are the accusations of bigotry and reverse racism, these always touch a nerve with some no matter if there is any merit to it, doesn’t seem to matter, it feels good to scream it out it.
    And has anyone here told anyone to “get out”? I’m not seeing that here, and I’m not seeing any bigotry or racism except as a ploy based on self victimization.

    What I’m really hearing is a concern by the posters that a lack of respect and sensitivity is very evident from the people at the “Work Space”, and the shrill accusing voices emanating from it’s supporters, this phony ass crying of bigotry, intimidation, frightening the owners, is in itself a proclamation, proof, and nod to elitism and ethnocentrism in it’s most insipid form.

  37. donquixote:

    You’re right, no one has explicitly told anyone to “get out.” What I meant in my post, which I expressed wrongly, was that several posters have indicated that workspace is not welcome in LH. They have done so in a verbally aggressive manner, more than equivalent to the “shrill” and “accusing” tone you accuse workspace “supporters” of having.

    But this is all par for the course, given the unfortunate way in which this very complicated issue has (reflexively on all of our parts) been turned black and white.

    Please understand: I get that the lack of welcome extended to workspace has to do with behaviors (on the part of workspace) that have upset other members of the LH community. In my post, I was trying to say that I think it’s wrong to immediately associate the behaviors that people are upset about with certain assumptions about the identities of workspace participating artists (see what I wrote about “fancy degrees”). Resistance to certain ways of existing within the community is 100% OK by me; what is not OK is an added and unproductive hostility to certain identities that might exist within those communities. Does this make sense?

    I would also like to understand how my post (if it was my post you were referring to) came off as “elitist” and “ethnocentric.” Who do you think I am? What sort of “elitism” and “ethnocentrism” are you talking about?

    I ask because I genuinely want to hear what you have to say.

  38. Sarah, you said you wanted dialogue. You know what would be a great way to start dialogue? Go to Julia’s building, grab a broom, and tidy up the sidewalk around the building. What better way to start a dialogue?

  39. El Chavo!, what gives me the impression that some bloggers and commenters are speaking for the community is, first, the post itself: “Again, we’re relegated to watching through the bars.” I assume that Chimatli isn’t using the royal we, and that she’s not talking about a couple dozen bloggers here either.

    Donquixote, a comment like “You’re not in a neighborhood were people will be treating you with kid gloves” does sound a bit menacing to my ears. Also, no one has said anything about reverse racism, which is something that usually gets cited as an attack on affirmative action.

    As far as “you have no power how dare you claim to speak for the community” being “as old as urban renewal and gentrification itself” goes, it’s older than that. The history of colonialism and imperialism is full of examples of native puppet rulers who claim to speak for the community while serving their own narrow purposes. Plenty of those people charged and charge their opponents with dividing and conquering, too. How do we know who is who?

    The fact is that communities have to judge on a case-by-case basis what sorts of development are desirable and which aren’t. In that regard, IMO, this is not the productive forum it could be, largely because this blog gives little room for the involvement of those either within the community itself or those supposedly invading it. It’s better to exhaust the channels of engagement before starting to criticize.

  40. Those fancy degrees sure come with alot of fancy words, huh? If your chonies are in such a twist about someone merely pointing out that you don’t clean up after yourself that you have to pull out all this victim b.s. and act like someone threatened you, you must have a pretty sheltered life. Someone called you on your shit, big deal, no is saying you aren’t an artiste or anything just that someone swept a big pile of dirt in front of your door and didn’t clean it up. If you are really part of the community like you claim you are, you should realize that your overreaction is ridiculous and doesn’t really work over here.

    So is the door open or is it not? If you need a quiet place to “work” why do you have a storefront on a busy street surrounded by real businesses? There’s plenty of places available where one doesn’t have to lock themselves away from the riffraff on the sidewalk (human and otherwise). It’s your right to have your “workspace” any where you want, but don’t come here acting like you are doing such a service to this neighborhood and that you are so open to the community when your door is actually locked.

  41. Thanks to JC and to the rest of those who are willing to engage thoughtfully with these difficult subjects and realities.

    In regards to what RobThomas said earlier, that “There is no dialogue on gentrification, and the exchange you and your BFF Julia are having on this blog is about as close as it’s going to get, and you can see how it’s going,” I have to disagree. If a dialogue isn’t wanted or strived for, there won’t be one. I do, however, think enough people (beyond Julia and myself) have demonstrated here today that there is a need and a desire for such a conversation.

  42. We’ve had this dialogue many times before, but it’s usually those with a very particular interest, or a specific place (remember the Time Travel post?) that come on here with very specific ways of how we should communicate. Now why is that? Where have these discussions been started in more appropriate terms? How does my anger at gentrification get turned into intimidation? Did the workspace people start this discussion somewhere where we would notice? I assume everyone is quite sincere on this thread, but that doesn’t mean we all have to tailor our words or the “discourse” to one you find useful or “thoughtful”. If this site is a place on which these discussions can happen, warts and all, then I think that has it’s own value, regardless of what you might conclude.

  43. OUCH!!!

    Come on peeps where is the Love?!?…
    We don’t want to set a bad impression as Snappers!..

    As for me I welcome the Arts in Lincoln Hieghts.

    …It just seemed as thought the Gallery was exclusive and for it to be more warming to the community with open doors-no pun.
    Otherwise it makes the gallery seem closed off to the Locals and unwelcoming…

    Perhaps you weren’t aware of all the locals artist and bloggers which are actually Great Peeps-including myself…

    Any hoot, Welcome and don’t take it to heart…

    Claudia
    Avenue 28

  44. Julia
    “Is the point of this blog to actually have some kind of impact, or just to complain about the broad notion of “gentrification?””
    Yeah, why are POC, the poor, feminists, always complaining? But seriously, what is wrong with complaining about the broad notion of gentrification?

    Renting a “non-profit” space is not in itself a contribution to the community around you. Non-profit is not some magical term that absolves you of white privilege. Perhaps you should recognize.

    You care very much about gentrification, but when people whose lives are directly affected by it complain about its effects, effects that you benefit from, you defend your privilege. What does all your caring about gentrification accomplish? Less caring, more doing.

    You find notions of borders and propriety disturbing too? Welcome to the barrio!

    Shade
    It is arrogant to say that these issues deserve to be talked about as much as possible, but as long as it is done calmly and rationally. To spare a privileged white person from feeling guilty? Not here, you don’t rent this space.

    Any why would you mention that you tutor Mexican kids around MacArthur Park? So you won’t seem racist and privileged? It didn’t work, but you could make a movie about it. Or maybe a movie about the person who spent most of their life around Mexican communities and always felt very comfortable. Lead role could be played by Sarah Jessica Parker, with one dread and dirt smudge on her chin.

    Sarah
    I disagree. That the artists exhibiting at workspace have “fancy degrees” has a direct relation to the garbage.

  45. I wrote this previously in the comments but it bears repeating:

    There are lots of folks who have moved into Lincoln Heights the last few years that care about the neighborhood, that are engaged with civic activities and that get to know their neighbors. My critique is not personal. It’s about these institutions and businesses that are glorified by politicians as being ways to revitalize a neighborhood. Well, Lincoln Heights does not need revitalization. The neighborhood is just fine. We could use more public services from the city but the businesses here seem to be doing well. The people that live here love the neighborhood, that’s why nobody leaves.

    My pointing out the trash on the sidewalk was a way to say “Hey, look even the fancy people (Which you kinda are in my eyes, most of my artist friends couldn’t afford the schools you went to. No need to get offended by this statement, embrace your heritage!) can be dirty, unthinking community members!” I point it out cause it’s usually you folks who get all the glory and pat on the backs for moving to the neighborhood when those of us that have been here a long time, down in the trenches trying to keep our neighborhood vibrant and special, get little recognition.

    Seriously, if you Workspace people would’ve been “Look, we’re sorry. It was an oversight but here’s an invitation to check out our space.” I can almost guarantee you the respectable engagement you are desiring would have been there. Judging from the responses to Julia’s initial comment, I imagine others agree with me, her thin-skinned rant totally sounded like it came from a place of privilege and that elicits little sympathy from people like myself.
    If you’re gonna move to Lincoln Heights, you gotta be a little tough, go with flow, open your ears and eyes to different POVs. This is the way some of us engage and it might do you well to respect and learn a little from it instead of just complaining how it doesn’t fit your notions of dialogue and “thoughtful conversation.”

  46. i’m adult enough to admit i got worked up and and i was baiting people with some of those comments, I felt like the people that i was arguing with were doing the same thing. I messaged a couple of people privately to really explain myself fully, im not interested in doing that in the main post. The grandstanding happened on both sides and much of it seemed to be “look at me i’m smart and can anticipate your prejudices”. So yes, we all won, a bunch of smart people shouted at each other. Maybe flame wars are like cricket to people in India and Pakistan, or the way i’ve seen people all over the world treat football, where everyone gets to act out a little war in a low risk setting in order to deal with the stress of knowing how much of their lives are in the hands of really f’d up hard to define systems. So we look like that system and we pay the price. Understood.

    I will totally make a movie about maccarthur park, done and done. we can film a really lovely makeout scene with SJP in the synthetic football field, that has to be a metaphor everyone here can feel comfortable with.

    You don’t have to have the conversation on my terms, i came to your site, im aware of that. But if you messaged me privately it would be nice.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *