The Sneetches of NoYo?
Ξ September 5th, 2008 | → | ∇ 90042, Highland Park, Press |
Curbed has linked to us enough times that I don’t feel guilty borrowing one of their articles. They caught this postingfor a room for rent on Craiglist, which, despite its comical misspelling of “bur bur” rugs opens an interesting can of worms when it comes to pinning down a brief yet accurate description of our neighborhood.
Big house close to all new cool Highland Park bars: Marty’s, The York, La Casa Blue, and Johnny’s. Literally one block from Eagle Rock. […] The home sits on the North side of York about 2 blocks from the Eagle Rock border north for York in the desirable part of Highland Park. […]Ample street parking and the area is extremely quiet. Area is full of trees and near the hills and you will actually hear owls at night and woodpeckers during the day. […]
New bur bur carpet was just installed. […]
Please note this is Highland Park one block away from Eagle Rock. Please note this is not Highland in Hollywood.Please with all do respect if you think Highland Park is ghetto then please do not respond. I grew up in the ghetto; I know what ghetto is. Ghetto is the Sheriffs running thru your backyard at night chasing your uncle. Ghetto is walking home from the taco stand and hearing bullets fly by your head. Ghetto is someone coming up to you and asking if you want to buy an I.D. Highland Park has homes that range from $600,000.00 – $900,000.00 it is one of the most gentrified areas in L.A. A film editor lives across the street from me, 2 gay couples live on my street, a fashion designer lives around the corner, a lesbian couple lives around the other corner, and a hair stylist from one of the CSI episodes lives down the street, it is far from ghetto. The taco stands are being replaced by art galleries on York Blvd. I can no longer get a taco but I can tell you what contemporary art is. There is a Caucasian male walking outside my window with an Indian walking stick, it has feathers on it, he is on a spiritual journey or looking for a decent taco. You do not see things like this in the ghetto. Sorry, don’t mean to be rude but I am tired of defending this beautiful and upcoming neighborhood.
I actually found the post pretty funny and I understand the author’s need to sell the neighborhood, but some parts of it were troubling to me. Does one gay neighbor and another in the film industry make a neighborhood “more desirable”? Are art galleries and a lack of cheap eats badges of success? I suppose at some level, the answer is yes, but I like kids playing soccer in the cul-de-sac after school, the esquites vendor ringing his bell up the sidewalk, and the general lack of pretense I feel from most people on the street. I’m not arguing for the ghetto end of the spectrum however as I don’t think this is an either/or choice. We certainly have our problems in the neighborhood, but I like that I don’t have to listen to privileged housewives play “who is greener” with their new Priuses in the Starbucks parkinglot that consumed 113 million BTUs of energy to build. (If saving the environment, not latching on the the cause celebre, was the real motivation, a late ’90s used car that gets 35mpg highway would consume less overall energy than a Prius for about 100,000 miles. But nobody wants to save the environment without looking cute do they?)
Art galleries are a wonderful addition to the neighborhood but art will make an enemy for life if it ever displaces La Estrella, El Huarache Azteca, or My Taco.
Also, are we now differentiating between the “more desirable” NoYo district (North York, you heard it here first) and the rest of the neighborhood? Aren’t we all in the same boat? Part of me dreads the day I have to listen to someone harp on about living in the “more desirable” part of Highland Park but on second thought, all the Northeast Sneetches drink at Marty’s anyway.
on September 5th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Is the lesbian couple likely to spray tags on your house or walls? Probably not.
Is the hairstylist from CSI likely to get into a gunfight with the stylist for Law and Order? Probably not.
Is the “spiritual journey” kid likely to smash a bottle over a strangers head for an offhand comment? Probably not.
on September 5th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I am the mom of two little kids who are growing up here in HP and I would choose listening to moms out-green each other at Starbucks than painting over graffiti on my house and not letting my kids outside to play by themselves.
on September 6th, 2008 at 7:45 am
I do hope that Craigslist poster installs a toilet seat before new tenants move in. (Follow the link to the posting)
on September 6th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Is that what happened to La Estrella? Is it a victim of gentrification? I hope not!!
on September 6th, 2008 at 9:46 am
When I used to mention Highland Park b4. People would tell me that they had their radio stolen. Now I have people ask me about the new places popping up. All of it!
on September 8th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
As to whether or not HP is a “ghetto”… i’d say defintiely not.
But the knucklehead kids running around acting like gangsters don’t help it’s image very much either. Especially when my family and I barely missed “driving through” a drive-by shooting right in front of our home by about 5 minutes one night.
It was very interesting to see how absolutely freaked out and concerned all of my “white” neighbors were, conpared to how my “brown” neighbors saw this as nothing more than an opportunity to just hang out and make snide remarks behind the police officers backs.
And, believe it or not, this all took place in “NOYO”.
on September 9th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Highland Park is a large area….. there are parts that are pretty ghetto and parts that are really nice. You could say the same thing about most parts of LA.
Having said that, if your only exposure to the area is riding the Gold Line to work, I can see why you might think its a ghetto
on September 9th, 2008 at 8:54 am
You can still get killed randomly in Highland Park……you can get mugged North of York….
Just because a bunch of hipsters move in does not make a place safe……
This guy is a complete tool.
Galleries replacing taco stands……my count brings the taco stand options at an all-time high on York right now…..
on September 9th, 2008 at 11:16 am
yeah right, because the rest of LA is like Mayberry right?!?
who’s the complete tool again?
on September 9th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Awesome. Thanks for posting the craigslisting. It was flagged down before I could read it.
on September 10th, 2008 at 6:55 am
To comment 9. The discussion is about HP. Not the rest of L.A..
brohammed?
on September 12th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
No matter what kind of spin people want to make on the quality of life in HLP or NOYO, it is important to know that it is a livable eco-system we got going here…consider the diversity of classes and ethnicities represented here and opportunities for small business. Whatever small number of gangster types are left in the area, they are peppered or scattered here and there, but not a real intimidating presence unless you live by a “hang out” house. Most of those are in Cypress Park, or near Ave 43? maybe in a unit in San Pascual, or a house near Abbey San Encino. Wherever they may be, LAPD knows where they live… Citizens of the area can take back the streets by making themselves visible as pedestrians, as patrons of businesses, and community events. Talk about intimidating!!! But seriously, we E-Police with a lot of neighbors in my area and have influenced positive changes where we live. I encourage residents of NOYO HLP to become stewards for their block, ensuring compliances with city ordinances, reporting suspicious activities to the LEAD OFFICER for the area, talking to REYES and HUIZAR’s deputies with your concers. Seriously. Anywayz………..
on September 15th, 2008 at 1:36 am
Even before I started working here, I lived in highland park for about 7 years and one thing stands out - depending on where you are, it can be a completely different world. Also depends on how you define “Highland Park”, I suppose (since there’s all these little communities like Herman, Garvanza, Mt. Washington, Sycamore Grove, etc, that may or may not consider themselves “Highland Park”. Anyways, the original point is the post is funny, but there are a lot of assumptions being made. I.E. If I have gay people living next door, does that mean I made it?!
on September 17th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Hey! If someone really wants to reduce their ecological footprint, they should be riding a darn bicycle. Forget about the Prius, the Flying Pigeon is the way to go. I speak, of course, from the objective perch in my bike shop on Figueroa.
on September 21st, 2008 at 3:37 am
what is “NOYO” seriously, thats lame! We live in Mount Angelus and love it! We’ve been out here for 7 years. I love the change and feel good about the strong latino vibe sans the gang crap. NOYO….really?
on October 1st, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Change is a great thing for HP. And please, don’t harsh on the Prius driving Moms. Just like #2 said, I’d take two Moms trying to out green each other over 2 gang bangers trying to shoot each other any day of the week. I’d even take two bloggers fighting over new HP definitions.
I like the “new” HP and want it to keep getting better, safer, and more interesting.
on October 2nd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
The poster is trying too hard. Out here in Northeast LA it all depends on what street you live in. I live on Ave 30 out in Glassell Park, and the street is nice and quiet. Head on over to where Verdugo Bar, out by the Glassell Park Recreation Center and the area is all shitty. I have a friend who lives out on Cypress Park on one of the wide streets near Nightingale Middle School. Nice large houses. Go west on Cypress Ave and some of the streets like Maceo near the Numero Uno are crap. The same thing goes for Highland Park. I remember when my school bus use to pass through Highland Park on Figueroa on its way to Cypress Park, everyone use to close the windows, cuz the little Highland Park thugs would throw bottles at the bus. It is just hard to erase the ghetto label.
on October 2nd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Any area that doesn’t offer quality public education is ghetto. Franklin High School is a joke. HP is looking nice, but I wouldn’t move here unless I could send my child to a magnet school (like Bravo High School) or I had the money to afford a private school.