The Influence of “Latino Urbanism” in Reshaping Los Angeles

Food truck in Wilmington, Los Angeles, California

The influx of immigrants from Latin America has significantly increased since 1965. Push factors such as limited economic opportunities, authoritarian or corrupt governments, wars, and natural disasters have all played a significant role in why people from the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, and South America have made the decision to emigrate to the United States. The migration of Latino immigrants to cities like Los Angeles further reinforces the notion of a “Multicultural America.” Where, one can savor a variety of cuisines, dance to different musical rhythms, and hear words and phrases spoken in Spanish and/or other dialects.

The influence of Latino culture is also reflected in the way Latinos utilize space in their communities or as James Rojas would call it the “enacted environment” or “Latino Urbanism.” In his 1991 thesis, The Enacted Environment: The Creation of Place by Mexican and Mexican Americans in East Los Angeles, Rojas discusses the way Latinos—specifically Mexicans and Mexican Americans—made use of spaces like the front yard, sidewalk, and the street in East Los Angeles. He argues that the person is not only the user but also the creator of such spaces. He cites as examples:

• A quinceañera celebration in the front yard,
• Kids playing a hockey or soccer game on the street,
• Mariachis walking on the sidewalks waiting to serenade someone,
• Street vendors on a street corner selling tamales or tacos, and
• Murals painted on blank wall spaces that become a cultural expression.

Mural in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California

More than 30 years later, we see these enacted environments taking place in other communities of Los Angeles and across the country. For instance, the first CicLAvia was held in Los Angeles on October 2010 and was inspired by ciclovía events that started forty years ago in Bogota, Colombia. This open streets initiative closes the streets to car traffic and allows Angelenos to walk, bike, and mingle with others. Latino Urbanism is thereby reshaping present-day Los Angeles.

However, there are aspects of it that have generated discussions and debates among Angelenos. Currently communities like Boyle Heights and South Los Angeles seek to legalize street vending, which for many represents a form of stable income for their families while others argue unfair competition and blight. Conversely, in August of 2013, the City of Los Angeles lifted a ten year ban on public murals, a component that has become a cultural icon of communities like Boyle Heights and Pacoima. This makes one wonder: how then do we reconcile the differences that exist between Latino Urbanism practices and enacted local municipal codes?

How has Latino Urbanism reshaped your community? How have local government officials responded to the influence of Latino Urbanism? 

Credits: Image #1 by Marisol Maciel-Cervantes; Image #2 linked to source.  Data linked to sources.

*This blog was originally posted in January 2016. H/T The Global Grid

Central Avenue Jazz Festival: Celebrating Cultural History in South Los Angeles

Dunbar Hotel in Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California

In July 2015, the Vernon-Central neighborhood of South Los Angeles closed segments of Central Avenue to celebrate the annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival. That year was particularly special as it marked the twentieth anniversary of this event. Co-sponsored by the 9th District Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren D. Price, Jr. and Coalition for Responsible Community Development, this free two-day event attracts approximately 35,000 people every year. The festival represents an opportunity for members of the community and visitors alike to come together and make use of space usually reserved for transit. One can enjoy savory multicultural cuisine while visiting several pavilions and listening to live performances that include musical genres such as jazz, blues, and Latin jazz. Across two large stages, attendees listened to performers that included Alfredo Rodriguez Trio, the Kenny Burell Big Band, and Poncho Sanchez.

The jazz festival is a tribute to the community’s rich cultural history. During the 1930s and 1940s, Central Avenue was a vibrant center for jazz in this historically African-American area of the City of Los Angeles. Central Avenue also served as a temporary home for jazz legends like Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong. Despite being able to perform at venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, these jazz legends were unable to stay in the vicinity as there were racially restrictive covenants in place at the time that demarcated the areas where African-Americans were allowed to live.  Therefore, these jazz musicians, along with other visiting African-Americans celebrities, would stay at the now historical-cultural monument, the Dunbar Hotel located on Central Avenue.

Stage at Central Avenue Jazz Festival, South Los Angeles, California

At the time, the Dunbar Hotel featured a night club called the Club Alabam where various jazz greats would play after hours. During this period of time, a vibrant scene of jazz clubs, literary societies, and concert venues existed around Central Avenue. As such, this area nurtured an atmosphere of cultural energy for talented African-Americans. It is this cultural richness that the Central Jazz Festival seeks to pay homage to and promulgate amongst enthusiasts and spectators.

Today the cultural influence of jazz and blues continues to be alive along Central Avenue via the annual celebration of the Central Avenue Jazz Festival.  In addition, this event has come to represent an opportunity to introduce and expose other sounds and rhythms to attendees.  The addition of other musical elements not only further enriches the experience of those present but it is also serves as an indicator of how music and this community have evolved with the passage of time.

How does your community make use of space to bring members of the community together? How does your community celebrate its cultural history? 

Credits: Image #1 linked to source; Image #2 by Marisol Maciel-Cervantes.  Data linked to sources.

*This blog was originally posted in January 2016. H/T The Global Grid

 

Los Angeles’ Health Atlas Spurs General Plans’ Adoption of Health & Wellness

Harbor City, Los Angeles, California

In June of 2013, former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa released the Health Atlas for the City of Los Angeles. The document was the first step to better understanding the areas within the City of Los Angeles that are currently burdened with the most adverse health-related conditions. The Health Atlas analyses how demographic conditions, social and economic factors, the physical environment, access to health care, and health behavior play a role in the health of city residents. Specifically, more than 100 health indicators were studied within Los Angeles neighborhoods. Such indicators include asthma, coronary disease and obesity. Some of the key findings in the Health Atlas include:

• Geographic location is a very important indicator that a resident born and raised in Brentwood can expect to live 12 years longer than a resident who is born and raised in Watts.
• Over 90% of adults in several Westside neighborhoods have a high school diploma, compared to less than 50% in neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights, South Los Angeles, and Arleta–Pacoima.
• Over 30% of children in South Los Angeles, Southeast Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, and in neighborhoods near the Port of Los Angeles (i.e. Harbor City, San Pedro, and Wilmington) are obese, compared to less than 12% of children in Bel Air-Beverly Crest and Brentwood-Pacific Palisades.
• Residents in Westlake and Southeast Los Angeles have less than half an acre of park space available per 1,000 residents.

In response to the Health Atlas, in March of 2015, Los Angeles lawmakers adopted the Plan for a Healthy Los Angeles (The Plan). The approval from Council marks the end of a two year planning process that involved community advocates, government leaders, public health experts and thousands of Angelenos. This new element—known as the “Health and Wellness Element”—will be incorporated into the City of Los Angeles General Plan, which is a document that serves as a blueprint for the growth and development of a city and is often referred to as the city’s planning constitution.

Banning Park and Recreation Center in Wilmington, Los Angeles, California

The new health plan is a joint effort between the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning and the California Endowment, with funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Plan seeks to elevate health as a priority in the city’s future sustainable growth and development. It includes a series of policies and programs that will help guide the city toward a healthier and sustainable future which are not currently addressed by the General Plan. These include:

• Increasing access to health-promoting goods and services, such as affordable and healthy food, by incentivizing economic development in underserved communities in the city.
• Ensuring that Angelenos have equitable access to parks and open space.
• Encouraging innovative solutions to improve food access, including the promotion of urban agriculture and increasing the number of healthy food vendors.

However, it should be noted that no additional money has been allocated to achieve the goals established in The Plan. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how the various goals included in The Plan will be financed.

Is your community considered to be burdened with adverse health-related conditions? How are local city officials addressing such conditions? 

Credits: Images by Marisol Maciel-Cervantes.  Data linked to sources.

*This blog was originally posted in May 2015. H/T The Global Grid

A Closer Look at Why South Los Angeles Did Not Become a Promise Zone

South Los Angeles, California

Update: On June 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that South Los Angeles would be designated as a Promise Zone during the third round designations. This designation will bring greater access to federal grants and other resources to members of the community. It also makes Los Angeles, the only city in the nation with two designation within its boundaries.

When one hears or reads the words, “South Los Angeles,” more often than not, a negative stigma is associated with this geographical location. Drugs, high crime rates, and poverty almost immediately come to mind. While there is truth to this, we often fail to question why the area is affected by these negative vices.

To formulate an answer, one would have to look back at the history of South Los Angeles, one that includes segregation, redlining, riots, a crack epidemic, and racially restrictive housing covenants. These events, as well as different policies that were put in place, help explain the existent economic situation of the community and its current social fabric.

Renewed hope was given in 2013, when President Obama announced the Promise Zones initiative. Promise Zones seek to partner with high-poverty urban, rural, and tribal communities to create jobs, increase economic activity, improve educational opportunities, leverage private investment, and reduce violent crime.

South Los Angeles, California

On January 9th 2014, President Obama announced the first round of designates. Los Angeles, as one of the chosen cities, was subsequently awarded $36 million in federal grants. These social and education services were to stretch across the neighborhoods of Hollywood, East Hollywood, Koreatown, Pico Union, and Westlake.

Given its need, why did South Los Angeles not become a Promise Zone? The following criteria may be key in the exclusion of this community:

• Promise Zones boundaries must encompass a population of at least 10,000 but no more than 200,000 residents;
• An existing boundary of a current Promise Neighborhoods or Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant or Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grant must be encompassed within the proposed Promise Zone boundaries, and;
• A current Choice Neighborhoods or Promise Neighborhoods implementation grant, or a Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grant, must be active within the Promise Zone, and the grantees/partners for the Promise Zone application.

As written, this criteria automatically disqualified South Los Angeles from the first round (South Los Angeles did not apply), and may have played a role in not being selected during the second round. Third round designations will be announced later this year.

Today, South Los Angeles has experienced a shift in demographics. It transitioned from a predominantly African-American community to one inhabited primarily by Latinos. However, the same cannot be said about the neighborhood’s poverty and high unemployment rates, which continue to exist and negatively impact community members. The perpetual poverty endured by the residents of South Los Angeles is a result of the neglect from both public and private sectors that have failed to implement policies and projects that would promote the sustainable economic development of the community.

Is your community considered to be one in need? What policies and/or initiatives have you found beneficial to sustainable economic development your community?

Share your stories and thoughts in the comments below.

Credits: Images by Audelia Maciel. Data linked to sources.

*This blog was originally posted in May 2015. H/T The Global Grid