Living in Glendale and going to school in Pasadena gives you a chance to see a whole lot of LA just on your drive into school. I eat and shop in Burbank often, use the 5 to go to Los Feliz, and spend time with friends in Pasadena. Each city and neighborhood has their quirks but I have never really been taken aback by the differences to the point where I have to stop and pause to take it all in.Given that I have spent my whole life here, I have been surprised these past few weeks on our neighborhood studies on how different my community (Frogtown) is than anywhere I have spent time in throughout Los Angeles.
My group has visited the small rural community of Frogtown twice thus far and yet I still feel just as disconnected from the place as I did when I first stepped out of our van. No one appreciates our presence in a positive light, constantly receiving probing glances without a hint of emotion or care. No one seems to like that we are here, or even care to the slightest extent. People seem to instantly question our presence and wonder if they need to be worried about 5 teenagers walking down the street. I thought maybe it was just busy people minding their own business, but when attempting today to hold discussions with various residents, we barely could get a question out without being given an excuse as to why he/she cant be bothered to talk to us at this time and needed to conveniently leave the place they were just standing.
It was clear that plenty of families lived here by the number of "Watch for Children" signs we saw. And yet none of the people we saw were warm or welcoming in the slightest. It almost felt like a community where everyone is there just to live and sleep but no one wants anything to do with the place itself in the slightest. On our first visit we spent a good amount of time taking pictures and upon stopping at a car part lot we stopped to take photos. The owners of the place came out and immediately made their way towards us looking confused and worried. They asked us what we were doing and why we were taking photos. They ended up staring at us as we walked away confused and slightly worried. It was not exactly the warmest of greetings, especially given that we were 5 kids walking down the street quietly taking photos and talking among ourselves. Frogtown plain just felt unfriendly and I was so curious as to how a neighborhood less than 5 miles from where I live could feel so darn cold and distant, especially having visited multiple foreign countries and having spent time in over half the states in the US.
As someone who spends a lot of time pondering the world and trying to understand its many shades, I found Frogtown to be yet another layer for me to have to uncover. In California, people are not nearly as nice as those in the south or even on the east coast outside of big cities. And yet most of the people I come into contact with are 10x as friendly and welcoming as those that I commonly saw and interacted with in Frogtown. I am curious as to how everyone has experienced their respective neighborhoods and what has struck you. I clearly was not expecting the cold and distant response and feel I have been getting walking and observing Frogtown. Is this just a case of one neighborhood having an extremely down and off feel or is there something bigger in play that I am just not fully grasping? I really am curious as to how your neighborhood studies are going and if you have ever experienced this kind of reception in and around Los Angeles, even though we only live minutes and a few miles away at any given time.
Conor, I'd like to encourage you to research some of the history of Frogtown to try to understand the psychology of some its residents. I've spent my whole life just across the neighborhood line in Silverlake. I only met a few kids from Frogtown, but each encounter provided more background.
ReplyDeleteI was told the history of the place. The story of Chavez Ravine. The story of Dodger Stadium.
Just like the helpless amphibians that the town was named for, the residents were largely pushed here by a force all-too natural in Los Angeles. People were forced out of their homes and lied to so that I can go put on a blue cap every once and a while and watch a baseball game.
I'm in no way excusing un-neighborly behavior, but I think the speculation and worry is warranted, especially in a time when gentrification and development is yet again coming for these people's homes.
I have had some not-so-great experiences in that spot. While performing at the Knightsbridge Theatre on Riverside, I saw something that I will never forget. After a performance one night, my friend and I walked across the street to the bodega where my dad would later pick us up. While perusing the section of doritos, I heard a lout sound echo under the 2. When I looked out the glass doors I saw a hooded guy running as fast as he could down riverside. Next thing I knew I was in my dad's honda accord heading home, watching flickering police lights out my window. Someone was shot.
That was a scary moment that I will always associate with Frogtown; however, now that I have learned more about the cases of the crime in that neighborhood, when I drive down riverside on my way to school each morning I know that the residents aren't truly to blame for their circumstances.
If you can get past that initial wall, I recommend asking where these people came from.
I agree with both of you (Conor and Lucas). It kind of sucks to enter a place and be greeted by hostility. However, I spent the evening talking to my dad about Frogtown. He often works with young men, some still in gangs, some rehabilitated, who tell him stories that often set place in Frogtown. Although there are clearly many, many families living in the neighborhood, it still has a sad and scary history of crime. That is something most of us have been fortunate enough to never have experienced. Growing up in Altadena and Pasadena, I have almost always felt safe in my home. We are lucky to live in affluent areas where people don't have to worry about getting shot on the street or bodies dumped nearby. Thus, Lucas is right. We need to observe the neighborhood honestly, but keep in mind the context. I'm happy that this class gives us an opportunity to get out of our normal level of comfort and familiarity and learn about a new neighborhood. Especially one that has such radically different associations and routines than our own.
ReplyDeleteI think I have the same experiences as you Conor. Glassell Park has the same feeling of a transition town. When our group first arrived there, I felt like I was in a different city, everything and everyone was so disconnected from one another. It seemed that everyone was only focusing on what their next task was. However, in the new spot that we were dropped off, we saw a different side of Glassell Park. In the plaza, there were many people eating and talking, but once you left the plaza there was no one. All the buildings seemed abandon when we walked by. It was strange to me that Glassell Park, which is mostly residential, had no one walking around. I felt like Glassell Park is like a ghost town.
ReplyDeleteI think that we (Chinatown) can empathize with the issues that Conor and his group have experienced in Frogtown, except every resident has the perfect excuse to get away from us as quickly as possible: "I don't speak English." Today, our best conversations were with young people who weren't Chinese--a half Thai/half Mexican guy and his Hispanic friend. They were pretty aware of the neighborhood so their perspectives were very useful, but people in Chinatown are very hard to talk to. I think that they're scared of us to some degree. While Brennan and Lucas talk about walls, I think that the best place where we were able to find a broken down wall was at the Taoist temple where a really nice lady who really didn't speak any English kept giving me Buddhist literature (I still don't understand).
ReplyDeleteThese neighborhoods are strange. They're not obvious, even though it seems like they should be. It is hard to not fall into the same traps that tourists would.
But as Buddha said...
All striving is meaningless: strive endlessly.
Jake, every one of your blog posts has Buddha in it. Are you trying to convert me?....
DeleteI can definitely relate to the residents and the distance they keep from outsiders. In the Arts District, the core community is fairly small, and, according to Alan (a long-time resident we spoke to today), everyone knows each other. They are united by a common struggle, a battle to delay the apparently inevitable force of gentrification. Their neighborhoods have been corporatized and merchandized. So, when they see people they don't know (who are therefore visitors), is it any wonder that their feelings toward the gentrification process leak into their feelings about the tourists? By eating at the new eateries, we are feeding into the gentrification process. We are the driving force or the motivation behind the gradual white-washed repurposing of neighborhoods. We are the reason that residents suddenly can't afford to stay in their homes. I don't know about Frogtown, but I certainly understand why the Arts District is only superficially visitor-friendly.
ReplyDeleteOur group definitely felt the same vibe, but from what I glean from your post less intense. Our first visit we distinctly observed the sharply dressed asian lady who power walked past us, staring at her feet. We noticed that massive amount of cars but scant foot traffic. This gave the place a very unwelcoming feel. On our most recent visit, though, the place felt almost serene. Not only was there the usual lack of foot traffic, but there were very few cars either. Besides Mr. Keily's van, No one pulled into the bakery/laundromat/karate studio shopping plaza we ate at. Our whole time spent today we encounter multiple corner markets, all closed. We never passed a single pedestrian, and the only people we saw outside were sitting at the B health rated taco truck. They didn't appear to be waiting for anything, as we managed to order our food, receive the food, eat, and leave without anyone so much as getting up. The distinct western facade style on the houses facing the main road gave the place a high-noon feel. While before I was disillusioned with Glassell Park, I can say that my interest has been piqued.
ReplyDeleteAs part of the Frogtown group, I think it was really interesting how the man I stopped to talk to seemed perfectly willing to talk until the conversation shifted to the neighborhood. Only when I asked if he could answer some questions about Frogtown did he abruptly say that on second thought, he actually didn't have time because he was "leaving right now." Maybe he just didn't want to stand around and get asked more questions, but I got the feeling that he really did not want to talk about the city for some reason. I thought about that encounter during my whole visit today. I felt bad because his abruptness made me feeI like I offended him somehow. But after reading Lucas's post, I will approach it differently next time.
ReplyDeleteConor, I think that, after only twice visiting these vicinites in the span of a couple weeks, local people will not recognize us (especially store owners) because they see so many people each day. As long as we keep interacting with people and doing or saying things that will come across as memorable, then soon they will develop a relationship with us. I have not yet visited the South, but from what I've heard, yes, they are more friendly there as compared to people in California. Personally, my neighborhood residents mostly don't speak English so it's hard to communicate. But the ones who can continue conversation, you obviously have to approach first. Glassell Park and Frogtown are pretty similar, so I can't wait to find out the true unique characteristics that differentiate them.
DeleteOutside of the tourist plaza in Chinatown, the experience of Chinatown completely changed for our group. Below Alameda, there was an dramatic transition from the tourist attraction of the plaza to a completely abandoned neighborhood where almost all of the buildings were vacant or appeared to be a sweatshop and every 40 feet a homeless person's head rested on a curb while the rest of their body lay out in the street. It was strange as a group of four white privileged students walking around this area observing Chinatown for a school project as we passed by people who were literally dying on the street. North of Alameda and past Hill, we tried to talk to a lot of other residents, but as Jake mentioned very few spoke English and seemed very uncomfortable talking to us. Being white in this predominately Chinese neighborhood felt very strange. I was definitely surprised how much our race affected our experience. I think we might have some unfair expectations for a lot of the people in these neighborhoods though because we are intruding on many of these peoples space. We can't expect every stranger to be exciting and willing to talk to us.
ReplyDeleteThe observations about each neighborhood (especially Glassell Park) have made me think a lot about how confident we are in making associations with and conclusions about specific places in LA. One of my closest friends (since 3rd grade) lives in Glassell Park and so I spend a good amount of time there. I was quick to disagree with the initial observations of it being a unwelcoming and cold place, but reminded myself that in all of these years I have spent a minimal amount of time actually walking around a good portion of the neighborhood. While initial observations to a new environment are important, it's crucial that we analyze where those sentiments and perceptions are rooted and formed.
ReplyDeleteGlassell Park is an odd place. As my group has said, outside the businesses no one is outside. Glassell Park feels as though it is going through a large transition in its identity. My group has learned that the demographics is a 50/50 split between Latino and Asian, but you only see the influence of the Latino community except for the Yoshinoya. There are about, what feels like, one million taco places but nothing of Asian influence. Glassell Park is stratified by the freeway as well, a place on the verge of a huge gentrification boom and on the other side a typical east LA neighborhood with a large Latin influence. Glassell Park is an odd place.
ReplyDeleteAs Jake mentioned, we in Chinatown have had a very similar experience when attempting to interact with the residents. What really annoys me is that some of the people are aware of the "No english" tactic, and yet can speak it very clearly. I guess the blame for that might fall on us a little for maybe being a little scary crowding around the person we question, but for the most part we approach very friendly and courteously. I look forward to eventually breaking through this wall of fear and having a decent conversation with one of the seemingly friendly residents of Chinatown.
ReplyDeleteJake and Joey and Will have already posted stating how similar our experience in Chinatown was to yours. Joey brought up how just flat out weird it feels to be 4 white privileged students walking down a rundown street almost stepping on homeless people who blend into the sidewalk. To feel unwelcomed in an environment like that makes perfect sense to me. It makes me personally feel like the white men watching the battle royal, like I am here to observe them for entertainment. Even though that's not what it is, it is what it looks like to them. (I haven't talked with anyone about this so I'm not sure if you all feel the same) Along with what Sean was saying, these are close nit communities. The people who live in Chinatown are old– demographics of Chinatown have become so increasingly elderly that there is a serious problem with a lack of night life in the plaza. With the community being old, it comes without saying that they have all lived there for 30 years in the same house for some cases. They have never encounter us walking through their neighborhood before and therefore keep to themselves. Not only that but, with efforts to revive the nightlife, new housing projects are going on all in Chinatown....*coughcough* gentrification. Some people we talked to told us that Whites and Latinos are now moving into Chinatown. So essentially, why should they want to talk to us? We are foreign, we are part of the gentrification, we are white, we are privileged, we are young, we are their opposite in many ways. (P.S *like* for Lucas. Your comment was well put and important to the discussion.)
ReplyDeleteThis may have a lot to do with the backgrounds of those who live in frogtown. As a town of almost all working class, newcomers may pose an innate threat by simply taking up positions and space. On top of this, the area seems to be incredibly familial, but not in a typical sense. One would expect a family oriented town would be more social, however the impression I got was that many people are more protective of their families and tend to keep within in, engaging in contact only when there I something to gain from other people.
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