Gentefication

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/us/los-angeles-neighborhood-tries-to change-but-avoid-the-pitfalls.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Boyle Heights
restorelosangeles.com

Hello Everyone:

Today's topic is a twist on gentrification-gentefication.  ¿Que es gentefication?  Gentefication is a trend occurring in Boyle Heights, a primarily Latino community in East Los Angeles, where younger more affluent Mexican-Americans are returning to the neighborhood their parents fled.  This trend has given the community a much needed frisson and money.  In her article for the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com), "Los Angeles Neighborhood Tries to Change, but Avoid the Pitfalls," Jennifer Medina looks at who this new burst of energy is affecting the historic neighborhood while its residents try to avoid all the pitfalls of gentrification and retain its character.

The Mariachi
boyleheightsbeat.com

Before we get to deep into the subject, let's take a look at Boyle Heights itself.  For this, we go to the Los Angeles Times neighborhood link.  According to the 2000 census, the population is about 92,756 people; the Los Angeles Department of City Planning 2008 estimate places that number at 99,243 people.  Boyle Heights is about 6.52 miles with a density of 14,229 people per square mile, making this community among the highest densities for any county.  The population is overwhelmingly Latino with the remaining six percent composed of Caucasians, Asians, African-Americans, and other (i.e. Native-American and Pacific Islander.  The median income (in 2008 dollars) is $33,235.  The majority of the populations has less than a high school education. (maps.latimes.com/neighborhoods/neighborhoods/boyle-heights/)

Map showing where Boyle Height is located
latimesblog.latimes.com

Boyle Heights has had a reputation as neighborhood plagued by violent gangs, failing public schools, and residents that were living just barely above the poverty line.  However, this is changing.  Recently, the crime rate has dropped.  While the residents of this predominantly immigrant community in East L.A. are struggling just to get by, there indications of change.  In this case, the influx of younger, well-to-do Mexican-Americans returning to their parents' old neighborhood.  This transition has given the neighborhood a real shot of energy and a source of money but it has also created a source of friction among the working-class residents.

The tensions among the community are a sign

Mariachi Plaza
you-are-here.com

that the Latino population has come of age in the City of Angeles and are expected to be the majority population group this year.  These changes highlight strong class division that continue, or are exacerbated, among immigrants.  Quoting Marco Amador, an Internet radio station operator, Jennifer Medina writes, "We're not trying to get of the barrio [neighborhood, blogger translation], we're trying to bring the barrio up."  The radio station is about a block down from Mariachi Plaza, which for years has attracted musicians looking for work at weddings and other celebrations

Historically, Boyle Heights, has attracted immigrants from Eastern Europe, Russia,

Japan, and Mexico.  In the sixties, it became the epicenter for Chicano activism and the myriads of colorful murals on wall around the neighborhood are a reminder of the that era.Evonne Gallardo, the executive director of Self Help Graphics, an arts group that has worked in the community for decades, first heard about plans to designate part of the neighborhood as an arts district, she welcomed the idea.  However, when Ms. Gallardo began to hear complaints from longtime residents, she organized discussions with community activists that morphed into debates about the direction of change and how to avoid the pitfalls.  Quoting Ms. Gallardo, Ms. Medina writes, "We all can think of examples of neighborhoods we don't want to be...But we don't know exactly what we do want.  It's not just about staving off Starbucks, but how do we keep the things that attract use to this neighborhood in the first place..."  Interestingly, Jennifer Medina does not go into any detail about what the pitfalls of change are.  This leaves the reader to speculate if she implies loft condominiums, a Whole Foods, yoga studios, and all the other talisman of trendy neighborhoods.

The original Canter's Deli
jewishjournal.com

Self Help Graphics
lataco.com

Homeboy Industries Mural
you-are-here.com

Whatever changes, a vaguely concept, Union de Vecinos, a tenants rights organization headed by Leonardo Vilchis, will be standing up for renters that are likely to be severely impacted.  Quoting Mr. Vilchis, "People want to pretend that their actions don't have an impact on the people already living here, but when prices go up, the poor have to go someplace else."  Up the block from Self Help is Primera Taza (First Cup, blogger translation) is selling four-dollar lattes.  Next door is a sign of trendiness-Eastside Luv, a bar that pulls in younger patrons called chipsters-Chicano hipsters.  Guillermo Uribe, who opened the bar several years ago, and others see change and inevitable.  They reason that if the people in the neighborhood don't take action to preserve the cultural integrity of the neighborhood then an outside developer could come in and turn the community into another bastion for hipsters.

CicLAvia event
la.streetbeat.org

As a child in East L.A., Mr. Uribe remembered that saving money to buy a home in the suburbs was the implicit goal.  Now his bar attracts customers with six-figure incomes looking for homes in Boyle Heights.  The residential real estate market has swung back and forth; from boom to bust and back according to Maria Cabildo, the executive director of the East Los Angeles Community Corporation (http://www.elacc.org), which is dedicated to creating low-cost housing and works with first time buyers in the area.  The current trend is investors are making cash offers and quickly flipping the homes for almost double the cost of what they paid.  Ms. Cabildo bemoans the fact that working class individuals and families can't enter and compete in the real estate market.  However, she does see a silver lining in all the college graduates moving into the area.

Several years ago, a number of light-rail stations opened up and the residents welcomed the improved access to public transit, a big change for the neighborhood that was cut off from the rest of the city.  Others were concerned that it would prompt large housing developments like the ones created in Hollywood.  n fact, current plans to replace a number of low-slung apartments with high-rise condominiums have been met with fierce opposition.  For some, like Armando de La Torre and Alfred Frajio, the suburbs were not a good fit.  Both were raised to equate suburbs with success but returned to Boyle Heights.  Suburbia was not appealing, they wanted access to the places and services that make city living more appealing.  While others have fought against the introduction of large retail centers, Mr. Frajio has championed it, reasoning that it would keep people from running to the suburbs to do their shopping.

The Boyle Heights community organizers and residents have yet to figure out which direction they want to take all the changes happening in their neighborhood while retaining the Mexican-American cultural heritage.  It should be exciting to watch and hopefully it'll be a model for other ethnic communities facing the same issues.

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