LOS ANGELES (CN) – Reyna Camacho has deep roots in Boyle Heights. She grew up within a three-block radius in a section of this Eastside community she has called home for 30 years.
Her neighbors have known each other for decades, greeting familiar passersby on the sidewalk. They ask each other how their families are doing. There is a spirit of mutual support, she said.
“You can ask [neighbors] to keep an eye on your house and they really will,” she said. “They pay attention.”
That reality contrasts sharply with issues Angelenos often face: social isolation, heavy traffic, competition for space and transience.
Boyle Heights is steeped in a rich history of diversity, activism and art. Residents are tight-knit. Situated between downtown and East Los Angeles, the neighborhood is also a prime location in the eyes of developers and renters looking for easy access to the city’s hot spots.
Residents live at the precarious junction of being in a cultural sanctuary and a hotbed of political upheaval. Gentrification, pollution, and immigration are sources of concern; community leaders clash with developers over proposed housing projects. The question of who will ultimately benefit from these projects sits heavily on the minds of many.
Camacho said her neighbors are anxious about the spike in housing costs.
“If you wanna purchase a home in Boyle Heights, starter or fix-up homes are really expensive,” she said. “I don’t know anyone [my age] that has moved away from their parents’ home and purchased their own home.”
Many families cram into homes together for urgent affordability reasons. Camacho lives with her parents and five other family members, including an aunt and nephew.
She teaches U.S history at Oscar Romero Middle School, a charter school near Koreatown. With her educator’s salary, she could get her own place but she wrestles with the guilt of potentially displacing another working-class family.
“I always have this dilemma of wanting my own house,” she said. “But I don’t want that at the expense of others.”
Camacho’s parents own a home only blocks away from the famed Evergreen Cemetery, a vast emerald sanctum founded in 1877. A cushioned jogging path was installed a decade ago, making recreation more accessible to residents who didn’t have much park space.
Multi-station workout equipment now sits on the southeast border of the cemetery. The community hub of food and entrepreneurialism, El Mercadito de Los Angeles, stands in the backdrop with its murals and food stalls visible from a distance.
Camacho says people in Boyle Heights transform public spaces in alluring and dignifying ways. Residents come together in spaces such as the Mariachi Plaza Gold Line Station to celebrate their cultures with music, food, crafts and dancing. The community also mourns together in public spaces.
“When there are tragedies, people acknowledge the loss of life,” Camacho said.
This past November, a man crashed his speeding car into a crowd at a taco stand. The community, in short supply of public spaces, created an altar with candles, signs and prayer beads.
“Skateboarding saved my life”
Access to public space doesn’t always extend to all residents equally. Skateboarders, always present at Mariachi Plaza, get tickets for skating and hanging around.