The 'Hood (Part 1)

The neighborhood, that real estate morsel gets smaller and smaller, and often more rarefied, North of this, South of that, highlands, lowlands, canyon. Most every American metropolis brands itself a "city of neighborhoods, " often capitalizing on a nostalgia for smaller, so-called simpler places (and times). Sometimes a place name is nothing more than an organizational overlay, or the latest marketing come on; but in other places, the distinctions remain relevant and valuable.

Faced with an urbanized realm of multiple, overlapping and often competing identities, boosters seek to assert uniqueness, emphasizing local amenities, topography, architecture, or ethnic concentration. Often though, identities and associations are imposed rather than elected, nasty proclamations, part imputation and allegation, race regard and raunch.

For years, West Adams has gotten a bad rap. Boyle Heights has too. So have many other neighborhoods in parts of South and East Los Angeles. There's a few reasons why. One is the nature and extent of contact outsiders have with the community, residents, and amenities. For many, West Adams means USC or the Coliseum, and a brawl-riddled Raider game in 1987. A few have been to Exposition Park, or a car dealership on Figueroa. Seldom have outsiders probed the idyll of the West Adams Avenues or stately Wellington Square. Seldom had they reason to.
Simultaneously, in communities wherein residents have less economic and social mobility (even potentially as a result of age), or feature a degree of ethnic insularity, the opportunities to ameliorate negative perceptions are stunted, contact is limited.

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Sunday's Open
2892 W. 15th ST 90006
2 - 5 pm
Original light fixtures
Unpainted woodwork
Detached garage
Copper plumbing
Fab masonry details
Oak floors
Clawfoot tubs
Trees and more trees