Thursday, April 18, 2022

The Gentrification of Highland Park

by Seiji Kim

 

The Highland park theater

What is Gentrification?

Have you ever stopped for a minute and really looked at your neighborhood just to realize how different everything is? Many small business that you used to visit are gone, while tons of new ones are opening up. The cost of living in your own area has gone up so much. Some of the old faces you used to see everyday aren't the same ones you see now. With all this occurring, it is like a brave new world that you have to re- navigate once again. 

According to National Geographic, Gentrification is "a clash between the power of private capital... and the power of people in targeted communities to preserve their homes and heritage." 

At times gentrification can be useful to help better a community, yet at the same time we must keep an eye in order to preserve our culture and stories that have came with these places. 

What is the issue?

Highland park is one of the most well known gentrified areas in North east Los Angeles. Back in the 70's Highland park was filled tons with local gang violence. As the years passed, it was decreasing heavily and made room for the current iteration of itself. Nowadays when you walk down the street, it has become a utopia for coffee shops, small business, and many new restaurants and bars. As a result, property value in Highland park has skyrocketed, along with the amount of rent being charged causing many local residents to leave. 

According to The New York Times, "In 2016, Gerard Way, frontman for the band My Chemical Romance, sold his Highland park home...for $1.158 million." In recent years, many homes in Highland park have been listed for $1 million, and above. Many of the locals who have lived here for years and don't own any property have had their rent continuously increased with no way of knowing how long and how high it will reach. 

Additionally, Highland park has always been a diverse neighborhood, originally having a huge chicano based history. Nowadays, a lot of originally murals that have been in the community for years have been wiped clean away. Currently there are only very few that still stand and help preserve the community's  spirit and originality that had come from times past. 

Why is this important?

As someone who is part of the neighborhood and has seen it change a lot overtime, it is very eye opening to see just what exactly has been done. I've been coming to Highland park all my life, seeing some of the old stores I used to go to when I was younger close and re-open as something completely new, seeing so many familiar faces not be in the area anymore, watching as the rent and housing prices have gone so high up that many people are leaving and the heritage and history in a way is leaving with it. It shows how negatively this has affected the neighborhood.

The area has been filled with so many new business such as clothing stores, stationary, candles, and many more. Very few spots such as baller hardware have still continued to keep the old spirt alive, but the question is how long will it be able to last?

I am very fortunate to where my family and I are able to still be within the neighborhood alt this time as everything has changed and prices have increased. The neighborhood has become safer and is still thriving yet at the cost of its original chicano history that is still kept alive but slowly fading away. 

Community Insight

Eric S. (21)

 "Gentrification has affected my friends and family, especially growing up in the area. My dad was evicted from his house in the area in 2018 because of gentrification as well as leasing, property owners, and corporate agencies taking over. Buying houses and taking over, kicking out people who have been here for 30 plus years and have families, as well as their own local businesses in the neighborhood. Tons of restrictions are put up by this and causes it to lose culture, especially in North east Los Angeles."

Work Cited (APA Format)

Bell, C. (2019, November 10). Highland Park: The Complete Guide to La’s hip, historic neighborhood. TripSavvy. https://www.tripsavvy.com/highland-park-los-angeles-4707876 

Kamin, D. (2019, October 22). Highland Park, Los Angeles: A watchful eye on gentrification. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/realestate/highland-park-los-angeles-a-watchful-eye-on-gentrification.html 

NA. (2024, April 27). Gentrification. Education. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/gentrification/