Apr 6, 2017
Change is good…right?
How long-term residents are dealing with gentrification in Northeast Los Angeles.
Growing up, I always referred to my hometown as the eight mile stretch between Glendale and Pasadena. Even native Los Angelenos overlooked the area, with only the large eagle-shaped rock above the Ventura Freeway marking the neighborhood’s existence. But for many families, including my own, this quaint town had been home for generations.
I grew up in Northeast Los Angeles, squeezed nicely between Eagle Rock and Highland Park. Over the past five to seven years, our area has been hit with a wave of gentrification. My family and other long-term residents watched as our little town in the big city transformed from homey and culturally diverse into a hip echo of Venice and Silver Lake.
York Boulevard, which stretches from southwest Eagle Rock into Highland Park, has been the epicenter of the phenomenon. The house my grandfather built for his budding family in the 1960’s, the same one my father and I grew up in, is a mere two blocks away from the major roadway. There are three generations of memories associated with the neighborhood, but none more dramatically evolving than my own.
Highland Park has more residents of Mexican ancestry, 60.5 percent, than nearly any neighborhood in America. The area is also predominately low income, with 40.3 percent of children living below the federal poverty line.
The housing market, on the other hand, is one of the most expensive and competitive in the country. With prices high and vacancies low, displacement and expanding residential developments are far from uncommon. About 30 apartment buildings in Highland Park traded hands in 2014 — the most in a decade, according to real estate data firm Costar. This has caused some residents, like those at Marmion Royal, to take desperate action in an attempt to fight eviction.
“Gentrification is revitalization with displacement,” said Occidental College Professor Jan Lin, who is working on a book titled Taking Back the Boulevard: Art, Activism and Gentrification in Northeast Los Angeles. “Displacement is a bigger issue in Highland Park than Eagle Rock. The displacement is very obviously racially hinged.”
It didn’t always used to be this way. Althea Sievertson, my grandmother and a 70-year resident, remembers the area very differently. Growing up in the wake of the Great Depression, her family was poor and moved frequently. But unlike today, there was never any problem finding affordable housing. A rented family home on York Boulevard only cost them about $30 a month. The neighborhood demographic was also predominantly white.
“I didn’t know a lot of Latinos growing up, even when I went to Franklin High School in Highland Park,” she said.
The past ten years have brought a notable influx of new businesses and residents. So much so, many are fearing for the identity of their community.
“ The small town feel that made Eagle Rock so special has been replaced by a new population with a desire to homogenize Eagle Rock, to make it the new hip Westside. People are ruder, more aggressive, less tolerant of differing opinions,” said Sandra Carro, a fourth-generation Eagle Rocker.
The frutas carts, beauty salons, and automotive repair shops on every corner are not gone, just pushed farther and farther back into the thinning boundary between Highland Park and the more affluent South Pasadena. Yoga studios, vegan eateries, and hip bars now line the ever-busier streets. Even Vogue
has taken notice, publishing an “insider’s guide” to Highland Park in May, 2017.
The distinct sounds of construction and urbanization is never far away, with new apartments and houses popping up on almost every block. The spacious brown hills I used to race up and down as a child have been bought and replaced with million dollar homes. Despite the increase in housing developments, the costs of living have continued to rise.
Many long-term residents moving back after short stints away have been hit dead-on with the housing crisis. Dreaming of raising their families in the same neighborhood they were raised, Virginia Escamilla and Ida Brienza — Tagliente soon found reality to be harsher than expected.
“We looked for 5 years, I would just cry every step of the way because we couldn’t afford our own house,” said Escamilla. “It seemed out of reach for us.”
Brienza — Tagliente and her family faced a similar situation.
“ To stay in this area I had to move into Cypress Park on Figueroa [Street],” she said. “I might as well be sleeping on the street it’s so loud. We pay about $1,700 for a two bedroom, one bath. I can’t even get a house or another apartment in Highland Park or Eagle Rock for the same price, not even a one bedroom.”
However, some long-term residents welcome the changes with open arms. The influx of new businesses has brought money and families into the area, individualizing the neighborhoods, rather than being the ten-minute drive between Pasadena and Glendale.
“Most people don’t realize York Boulevard gentrified so quickly because the upper middle class and upper class that live in the area would come down and never spend money in Highland Park. Once they had the opportunity to spend the money closer to home, it exploded,” said Cherryl Weaver, a 22-year resident. “It’s not necessarily people coming from out of the area, it’s people in the neighborhood.”
The changes have also brought a visible decrease in crime along the major roadways. “York Boulevard used to be scary,” said Donald Sievertson, my father and a second generation resident. “You just don’t get that same feeling anymore.” Weaver agrees with this sentiment. “I’m not seeing drug deals on every corner and gang members making me feel threatened,” she said.
Lin says this can be chalked up to gentrification. “One of the bright sides is this decrease in crime,” he said.
But for many others, losing the historic and cultural aspects of the neighborhoods aren’t worth the farmers markets and vape shop/art galley combos. New white business owners often don’t cater to the existing Latino community, instead focusing on bringing in outside patronage.
“[The Latino Community] feels not just the physical displacement, but the displacement of their culture”, said Lin.
Brienza — Tagliente agrees. “What bothers me most is the lack of knowledge of the history of the community,” she said. “You have to know what you’re dealing with in the streets.”
Gentrification is far from unique in Los Angeles neighborhoods. Echo Park, Westlake, and Korea Town are well on their way to becoming fully gentrified, upscale communities. Whether for good or bad, these areas will continue to expand. More people are moving in, more housing opportunities are being built, and more storefronts are responding to the demand. Lower income families will struggle to respond to the rapid advancements, and displacement will inevitably continue. The topic continues to be controversial, with many feeling torn between enjoying local amenities and the sadness over losing neighbors who can no longer afford to live in the community they grew up in.
“Gentrification is good for an area because it does need to be revitalized after a while. But there needs to be deeper thought in how to do this without disrupting people’s lives,” said Brienza — Tagliente, “There’s a lot of people who still want to stay here and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to.”
