Silver Lake & Echo Park Gangs & Gentrification?

[TheAngels]

What is the status of the gangs in Silver Lake & Echo Park, due to the gentrification that has been occurring there over the past 10 years or so?

I remember in the 90s, Silver Lake and nearby Echo Park could be a violent place, and were home to some rough gangs. Over the past 10 years or so, as many know, it has become synonymous with the "hipster" label.

For example, the 1994 film Mi Vida Loca dealt with the realities of gang violence in the Echo Park area.

Even in the 90s it still had an artsy, Bohemian vibe, and a gay community -- but it was still overshadowed by a lot gang activity.

Today, Silver Lake was ranked in the top 10 "best urban neighborhoods in America." I would have never thought that would be the case 15 years ago.

This year, there has only been one murder in Silver Lake, and zero murders in Echo Park. And I'm not sure if the Silver Lake murder was gang-related or not. However, there have been a string of robberies on joggers who jog around the Silver Lake Reservoir.

Recently the city of Los Angeles issued a gang injunction on ALL gangs in Silver Lake and Echo Park -- I guess the city sees that this area is becoming nicer, more expensive, and more whiter -- and the city sees this as a new promising investment that it wishes to protect.

What are your thoughts on the Silver Lake & Echo Park area and its changing demographics? Will gangs eventually be eliminated from this area?

[femun]

As a property owner/real estate investor I'm all in favor for gentrification and hope that it spreads to the rest of the city of LA.

[TheAngels]

As a property owner/real estate investor I'm all in favor for gentrification and hope that it spreads to the rest of the city of LA.

What I don't get is the politically-correct people who start protesting gentrification and the police officers for cracking down on violence in the community.

As if the gangs and slums that existed before was somehow beneficial to the neighborhood.

I hope to one day see a South Central with no gangs. It may sound like a pipe dream but it's not an impossibility.

[Quepolo3]

As a property owner/real estate investor I'm all in favor for gentrification and hope that it spreads to the rest of the city of LA.

What I don't get is the politically-correct people who start protesting gentrification and the police officers for cracking down on violence in the community.

As if the gangs and slums that existed before was somehow beneficial to the neighborhood.

I hope to one day see a South Central with no gangs. It may sound like a pipe dream but it's not an impossibility.

@ Angels and Femun- I feel you playa's, and I agree with cleaning up the community, but I believe in ensuring that the good, tax paying and law abiding citizens have the opportunity to stay. Too often, you see people, especially elderly people, being moved out of communities that they've spent their entire life in. As far as the gangs, Instead of moving them out, we should include them in the plan to rebuild and provide them with some resources that can motivate them to change their ways. I know some good and intelligent brothers that bang. I've seen them move out of SC and live productive and crime free lives. But that was only because they were afforded the opportunity, that does not always exist in the hood. I'm not making excuses, and I'm sure that it may sound crazy, but we are often products of our environment. If we can change the environment, we can change the product, without removing it. This too may sound like a pipe dream, but I hope that it may one day be a possibility.As a property owner myself, I understand the business, but that is what gentrification is, business. Buying the property for low prices and selling it for high prices, that way the previous occupants can't afford to move back.

[angfsgv]

[quote="Quepolo3"][quote="TheAngels"][quote="femun"]As a property owner/real estate investor I'm all in favor for gentrification and hope that it spreads to the rest of the city of LA.[/quote]

What I don't get is the politically-correct people who start protesting gentrification and the police officers for cracking down on violence in the community.

As if the gangs and slums that existed before was somehow beneficial to the neighborhood.

I hope to one day see a South Central with no gangs. It may sound like a pipe dream but it's not an impossibility.[/quote]

@ Angels and Femun- I feel you playa's, and I agree with cleaning up the community, but I believe in ensuring that the good, tax paying and law abiding citizens have the opportunity to stay. Too often, you see people, especially elderly people, being moved out of communities that they've spent their entire life in. As far as the gangs, Instead of moving them out, we should include them in the plan to rebuild and provide them with some resources that can motivate them to change their ways. I know some good and intelligent brothers that bang. I've seen them move out of SC and live productive and crime free lives. But that was only because they were afforded the opportunity, that does not always exist in the hood. I'm not making excuses, and I'm sure that it may sound crazy, but we are often products of our environment. If we can change the environment, we can change the product, without removing it. This too may sound like a pipe dream, but I hope that it may one day be a possibility.As a property owner myself, I understand the business, but that is what gentrification is, business. Buying the property for low prices and selling it for high prices, that way the previous occupants can't afford to move back.[/quote]

This.

Nothing wrong with cleaning up the neighborhood, but gentrification is basically the cleansing of low income people from an area, and the purpose of those injunctions is to protect the new hipster demographic rather than the existing demographic. It's basically a punishment for being poor, which is wrong, and it just pushes the problems elsewhere. Unchecked gentrification is dangerous, as when LA is done, then it will go to the SFV, then SELA and the SGV, then Pomona/IE, etc. After that only the high and low desert and areas like Hemet, San Jacinto, Beaumont, Banning, and Lake Elsinore would be left, which would be crazy. When (if? Today's economy is very similar to that of the mid 2000s, and the crash in 2008 slowed it down for a few years) South Central/Watts gets done, don't think it will be finished at all, because it will spread.

As for the gangs, I do believe they're still active in Echo Park, but more low key, like most of LA County is these days.

[GrowSum77]

[quote="angfsgv"]
This.

Nothing wrong with cleaning up the neighborhood, but gentrification is basically the cleansing of low income people from an area, and the purpose of those injunctions is to protect the new hipster demographic rather than the existing demographic. It's basically a punishment for being poor, which is wrong, and it just pushes the problems elsewhere. Unchecked gentrification is dangerous, as when LA is done, then it will go to the SFV, then SELA and the SGV, then Pomona/IE, etc. After that only the high and low desert and areas like Hemet, San Jacinto, Beaumont, Banning, and Lake Elsinore would be left, which would be crazy. When (if? Today's economy is very similar to that of the mid 2000s, and the crash in 2008 slowed it down for a few years) South Central/Watts gets done, don't think it will be finished at all, because it will spread.

As for the gangs, I do believe they're still active in Echo Park, but more low key, like most of LA County is these days.[/quote]
You're not lying. I've been noticing alotta transplants from LA/OC out here lately and even some florencia 13 graffiti around town. They probably not setting up shop, just one kid who from there (I see it in the vicinity of a highschool often) but that's enough proof that nothing is going to stop really. They still got the same mentality when they move and if they have enough influence it'll be the same movie.