 |
| The remaining nominee candidates nbcnewyork.com |
A quick update from the Blogger Candidate Forum. First, it seems that the Cruz-Kasich alliance is fraying at the edges. Anyone, could have seen that one coming, fast. Simply put, both men want to be President of The United States. Realistically, Senator Ted Cruz still has a shot, albeit a long shot, at the nomination. While Governor John Kasich is still in the race only as a matter of pride. Over on the Democratic side of the world, Jane Sanders, the wife of Senator Bernie Sanders, announced that the campaign would not release the Sanders tax return unless Secretary Hillary Clinton released transcripts of speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs. What does the Sanders campaign hope to find? Truthfully, if Madame Secretary released those transcripts, it would help smooth over her credibility issues. Seriously, the Sanders campaign needs to spot dwelling on those speaking engagements and how the Clinton campaign is raising money. Focus on the issues, other than finance reform. We want to hear about healthcare, immigration, criminal justice reform, in short, the issues that impact our daily lives. More on tomorrow.
 |
| Las Palomas, interior Boyle Heights, California yelp.com |
One indication of how the past is yielding to the future is the recent closure of Las Palomas. Las Palomas was a Cheers-type bar in Boyle Heights. Mexican immigrants would go there, after work, for a beer. It was not one of these particularly cool places, in retro way that appeals to hipsters in way "...that hipsters like to ascribe coolness to a place they think gives them the musky scent of danger." The bar was a survivor, despite the western edge of 1st Street, "...with its sloping vistas of the downtown Los Angeles skyline," becoming trendy. When the Eastside Luv wine bar opened its doors next door, attracting young professionals-the children of immigrant-the "place where everybody knows your name" soldiered on as a hang out for mariachis toasting the end of another day. Now Las Palomas has had its final last call and turned out the lights for good. The neon "Tecate" and "Corona" signs have gone home with loyal customers. A small corner of Boyle Heights gone for good.
 |
| Boyle Heights street corner zocalopublicsquare.org |
 |
| Sear, Roebuck & Company Los Angeles, California en.wikipedia.org |
In one respect, gentrification has hovered over Boyle Heights for years. Ms. Mejia cites talk centered around developing the 14-story Art Deco Sears, Roebuck & Company building into a mixed-use residential, commercial, and retail space. Long-time Boyle Heights community member Erick Huerta told Ms. Mejia,
I think part of it is people getting pushed out of their other neighborhoods and coming here, and they don't want that to happen here...It's like the last bastion. They're holding down the flag.
Conrado Herrera, the owner of the building housing Las Palomas and Eastside Luv, acknowledges the organic nature of communities. Mr. Herrera told Ms. Mejia the community is changing and businesses have to change along with it.
You always want to have space for everybody in the community, but we've also to deal with what's in front of us.
Transportation is part of the development history of Southern California and is part of the nascent gentrification of the Eastside. In 2008, just as the Gold Line light rail was about open along 1st Street, former-Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina was succinct:
Naturally, these neighborhoods will be gentrified. But they will be gentrified overnight if we allow developers to.
 |
| 1st Street Bridge Los Angeles, California en.wikipedia.org |
This onetime home to Japanese, Russian, Italian, Jewish, as well as Mexican immigrants, Boyle Heights has long been seen as a place ready for a metamorphosis. Ms. Mejia reports, "In December, a group of university students that ventured into Boyle Heights on a walking tours was escorted out by activist group Serve the People LA, which blogged that the community 'is under attack in the form of gentrification and therefore must be defended.'"
The university students were described as:
diverse but mainly white group-including urban planning students...
Facundo Rompe, a member of Serve the People LA told Ms. Mejia "they met with the walking tour ahead of the incident to express concerns and ask them not to come into Boyle Heights." Mr. Rompe specifically said,
Our point is we have to defend Boyle Heights at all costs. If that means some people are going to get upset or feel threatened, so be it...
Mr. Rompe, who uses an activist pseudonym, added that he wanted to see more people take up strategies that are more militant in confronting gentrification.
 |
| St. Mary's Church Boyle Heights, California stmarys-boyleheights.org |
However, there are others in Boyle Heights that do not share Mr. Rompe's confrontational sentiment. Ralph Carmona, a past member of the Boyle Heights Chamber of Commerce, is one of the community members who do not share the militant approach. Mr. Carmona told Ms. Mejia,
...militancy is usually [pushed by] people who are not representative of the vast majority. Maybe people have some sympathy for it...but it doesn't necessarily mean that what's going to make any impact.
An indication of creeping gentrification, for eleven month of 2015, " the median sale price of homes in the 90033 Zip Code, which accounts for most of Boyle Heights, was $290,000, up 11.5% compared with same the same period a year earlier, according Corelogic, a real estate data and analytics company..." Camilo Valentin, a realtor from Lincoln Heights and whose territory includes Highland Park, El Sereno, City Terrace, and Boyle Heights, told Ms. Mejia that "Boyle Heights still remains too rough around the edges for change to come too fast." This despite decreases in violent crime, including those committed by gangs. However, Mr. Valentin sees change and inevitable.
 |
| Lupita Mini Market Boyle Heights, California bluejacket.com |
Case in point, at an open house in Boyle Heights, Mr. Valentin said, "about 80% of the people who came were white; the rest were Latinos." He added that there were some people who
are willing to rough it out more or less, knowing that within the next three to four years, this is just going to change drastically.
Further, he said this about gentrification,
Highland Park didn't have a lot of resistance. That thing swooped in within a year...Everybody got caught kind of by surprise. Boyle Heights, that's not happening because it's very, very rooted.
 |
| Indie Brewing Co. and Taproom Boyle Heights, California la.eater.com |
The Indie Brewing Co. and Taproom is making a sincere effort to incorporate the community's culture. When the Caucasian owners of the brewery pitched a tasting room to the Chamber of Commerce, they brought their consultant Ulisses Sanchez, a son of Boyle Heights. Mr. Sanchez told the board members,
This is really a community process, especially here in Boyle Heights...There's been a strong effort to protect the culture here.
The brewery's plans include community art on the tasting room walls and the company want to meet with local organizations to raise the necessary support for city approval. Kevin O'Malley told Brittny Mejia,
We want to be accepted by the community, we don't want to just try and steamroll our way in..You can tell the community is very protective and there's a lot of culture and history here...We want to fit into the culture that's here.
 |
| CicLAvia in Boyle Heights boyleheightsbeat.com |
Vanessa Baek told Ms. Mejia "she remembered driving through Boyle Heights and seeing posters and other signs of anti-gentrification feelings." When Ms. Baek opened Heights Deli & Bottle Shop on Broadway in Lincoln Heights, she recalled some chatter about gentrification predicated on the choice of craft beer and wine. Despite that, Ms. Baek said she did not feel unwelcome, saying she was kind of taken aback a little bit by the posters.
Las Palomas was a modest neighborhood bar that will missed a small group of people. As far as change, it is more like a ripple rather than a wave. Jose E. Morale, the owner of Las Palomas has seen his corner of Boyle Heights change during his ten year tenure. Diez amos aguantamos, translation We held on for 10 years there.
No comments:
Post a Comment