Housing in Los Angeles
(Boyle Heights)
Joselin Bautista
California State University, Los Angeles
Art 31700
Professor Aziz
According to youth.gov, Civic engagement involves “working to make a difference in the civic life of one’s community and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.” Civic engagement includes both paid and unpaid forms of political activism, environmentalism, and community and national service. Another definition I found was from the American Psychological Association Civic engagement, which encompasses a range of specific activities such as working in a soup kitchen, serving on a neighborhood association, writing a letter to an elected official, or voting. Civic engagement means citizens acting in order to make a change in the community. Community problems are solved by individuals who are working to solve local problems. Anytime someone takes action as well as encourages others to help make their community a better place. It is mainly based on the community and its needs.
One really big issue that affects the majority of the greater Los Angeles is housing. This has become a grand issue for this neighborhood because the lack of affordable homes has created issues in Los Angeles like homelessness, gentrification, and displacement. An area-specific is Boyle Heights, it is targeting low-income families and dividing the community. It is important to me because I have seen how many residents have been affected by this including my family. Many landlords want more money and higher competitors resulting in making the neighborhood unaffordable for its residents. Everyone wants to live in Los Angeles especially closer to downtown and many landlords are taking advantage and forcing the eviction/displacement of these families.
As stated by my local newspaper Boyle Heights Beat, Pulso de Boyle Heights, it states that Gentrification is defined as the process of rebuilding and renewing deteriorating areas, leading to an influx of middle- and upper-class residents into the neighborhood. In Boyle Heights, being labeled a gentrifier can be detrimental to a business’s success. Some residents may decide not to patronize the business, while others may publicly denounce it on social media.
In the Article, Latinx Mixed-Status Families Navigating & Making Home in Boyle Heights by Villa Loma, Alma Esperanza, Advisor(s) Roy, Anaya, it mentions “Boyle Heights is a predominantly Latinx community with a large population of mixed-status families, which include a combination of family members with different legal statuses. In Boyle Heights, Latinx mixed-status families have a strong interconnectedness with their community. Yet, they are struggling to stay in their neighborhood.” As gentrification increases, many families are being displaced, and as a result, they no longer have a stable place to live. As gentrification starts to make its way into the community, rent starts increasing leaving families worried about losing their homes or sacrificing food in order to pay for rent. Low-income residents, do not have the luxury to spend more than 30% of their income to cover rent.
This issue is very important to me because I live in Boyle Heights and many people aren’t aware of the struggles that we have to face on a daily basis. As gentrification tries to welcome itself into Boyle Heights we are living in constant fear of losing our homes. Landlords are taking advantage of the area and the individuals who are renting buy threatening them to pay more for rent or evict them. Not only do we struggle to pay for rent, but many individuals also struggle to buy the necessities that they need. Boyle Heights is strong and we will fight together to make sure that renters are not being displaced and to keep gentrification out of our community.
I have conducted a survey in which I am able to see the concerns that my fellow friends and neighbors see as a result of living in Boyle Heights. I used this data to give me a better understanding f what we can do to help maintain our community united and avoid gentrification. The majority of participants from my survey are renters and are concerned with a cost that they can afford. They are concerned and worried that they can be kicked out of their homes at any given time by their realtors especially because the majority of renters do not have a signed contract something that is very common in Boyle Heights.
In the video, Boyle Heights Family of Six Claim They Are Facing Eviction for Having Too Many Children interviewed by channel 5 news. We are able to see how a family is being told that there are two tenants that are not authorized on the premises, when in fact they are children and for the most part they have no idea what is going on. They are facing eviction and they are not willing to leave. This is their home, and they have nowhere else to go.
Housing is a social issue that many do not speak about. Social and economic factors can have an effect on your health. Not being able to afford the rent for a month can have a big impact on your health and your ability to complete normal tasks. This issue has been affecting members of the community for a while now and it still continues to affect them. As a civic engagement project, I want to bring awareness to this ongoing issue and make others aware of what is happening in the community that surrounds them.
References
Trinidad. (2016, April 19). Boyle Heights Family of Six Claim They Are Facing Eviction for Having Too Many Children. Retrieved November 12, 2020, from http://www.uniondevecinos.org/index.php/boyle-heights-family-of-six-claim-they-are-facing-eviction-for-having-too-many-children/
Villa Loma, A. (2020, June 18). Latinx Mixed-Status Families Navigating & Making Home in Boyle Heights. Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/59001974
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