With the City’s Housing Prices Out of Control, South L.A. Could Be the Next Big Thing

Longtime Residents Need to Stay One Step Ahead of Developers to Benefit From the Area’s Rise

The 1992 riots are what first drew me to work in South Los Angeles. I was a civically minded college kid back then, with an attraction to social and economic justice issues. At that time, South L.A. was brimming with newly formed organizations aimed at ameliorating the tensions behind that year’s explosion of civil unrest sparked by the acquittal of officers in the Rodney King beating.

My first job down here was as a community organizer, working with local residents to build their skills to demand improvements to their neighborhoods. …

by Benjamin Torres | April 30, 2015

What Can Downtown L.A. Do for Southern California?

The Dense, Cosmopolitan Neighborhood Already Offers Great Art and Food. Now It Needs to Ease Pressures on the Working Poor and Be More Inclusive.

October 13, 2014

When the Ace Hotel opened downtown in early 2014, a billboard announced its arrival with two simple words: “Hello LA.” The sign epitomizes a revitalized downtown Los Angeles intent on …

Building a Bulwark for Boyle Heights

How We’re Making Sure That the Low-Income Renters Who Kept This Neighborhood Vibrant Don’t Get Pushed Out

by Maria Cabildo | April 16, 2014

My father’s heart is failing. It is deeply surreal to trail an ambulance with its sirens blaring and know that the man most responsible for your commitment to fight for …

The Ditches of the Slum

How Venice’s Squalid Past Shaped Today’s Glitzy Canals

by Andrew Deener | September 10, 2012

When I lived in Venice Beach, I regularly walked visitors through the picturesque canals. We meandered up and down the maze of sidewalks, where evenly manicured shrubs separate the footpaths …

gentrification