I'm a happy member of the Sundays In My City Community (SIMC) by Unknown Mami. You can be too. Click HERE.
It was a gorgeous Southern California day as Beloved Husband and I made our way around Downtown Los Angeles to a few historic sites I have never seen in my twenty plus years as a residents. One of our stops included colorful Olvera Street-- it's considered the birthplace of the City of Los Angeles and dates back to 1877.
Today it is filled with great foods and lots of shopping from a string of kiosks and small stores that sell a lot of this....
And this....
And did someone say shoes?!?!?!
And this, cuz you never know when you might need one....
Oh, and the food vendors and restaurants looked and smelled amazing!
We decided to pay a visit because, frankly, we're not sure how long Olvera Street will remain-- at least like this. The City of Los Angeles recently realized they hadn't raised the vendors rents in many, many years. And since the city is in such bad financial straights, they have added the Olvera Street vendors to their list of expenses to be corrected, effective immediately-- Meaning merchants say their rents have been, on average, quadrupled!
You know what that means-- Bye, bye family owned businesses, hello corporate America....
No, I don't know all the details or what the solution is, (more info here) but I do know if rents are in the thousands of dollars-- as in $3000- $4000 more than current vendors were paying, you won't be seeing seeing them for long, and that's a shame.
Sheesh.
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Is the face of your city changing?
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins
Posts
Those shoes make me laugh!
ReplyDeleteSheesh is right. Thanks for showing us Olvera Street while it is still intact. It looks like a fun place and it is a shame the city is taking the actions they are. No small business can survive that kind of increase in expenses. Hopefully the SOS campaign will meet with some success.
ReplyDeleteI love Olvera Street especially on cinco de Mayo. So colorful and oh my the aromas and the tastes. Your photos may be treasures some day if we lose Olvera Street.
ReplyDeleteOh, this actually makes me miss S. California, which doesn't really happen.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, we took a field trip to Olvera Street.
I've been there, too.
ReplyDeleteI didn't take pictures, though. (It was in the days before digital photography.)
Sad that a cultural institution, which is really what Olvera St. is will be taxed into oblivion.
Shame.
i have been looking all over for one of those wrestling masks...you know. neat place...sucks about their rent...not fair at all but the little guy always gets pinched...
ReplyDeleteAre those wrestling masks? You should pick up a few of those. Great for Halloween and when door to door people come by. Heck you might do better on the freeway with one of those on.
ReplyDeletenice pictures - I got my SIMC post up already too.
Oh have you been to Chinatown - loved that movie.
Love those zapatos, JJ!
ReplyDeleteGreat story, great pics...
Tragic in it's own way.
Love your blog - as usual!
It looks like a fun place to visit, and it's a real shame if it has to change. I think when they raise rent for places like this, the city government doesn't take the long term effects into account.
ReplyDeleteI hope the don't raise the rents so high the vendors have to leave. It is a historic area. I have a picture of my mother-in-law when she was 18 years old and had just moved to LA from Montana. It is a black and white of her in the 1940s on Olvera St. taken when she was in nursing school right after the end of WWII. It is my favorite photo of her.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame. I used to go to East LA in the late 70's, early 80's just for tacos. Yum. I still remember the meat on a spit and the grandma's hand making tortillas.
ReplyDeleteThat's really sad if a unique place like that falls by the wayside!
ReplyDeleteI love these small town/community events. People know each other, and the money you spend goes towards local business owners. What a shame that the city will do that to the local vendors. But I love your colorful picture.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to Olvera Street unless I went when I was pretty little and can't remember.
ReplyDeleteThat's so sad that they are raising the rent. You're right, it just won't be the same.
Sad! The local color and diversity will be a thing of the past, just like the creatures and waters in the gulf :(
ReplyDeleteBOO!
Wow! So bright and colorful. Sad...
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic street to visit! I am sorry to hear about their atrocious rent increase and the fact that it will put a lot of pressure on them to vacate the place.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the photos. Have a super Sunday. xxx
That would be so tragic to lose such a wonderful place!
ReplyDeleteYour pictures capture the flavor and energy! Everything is filled with so much color!! Love it
I hope the leave the vendors on this street alone??? One can only hope!
Hugs
SueAnn
Aw it would be so sad to lose the essence of such a wonderful place. I hope the city see sense and understand that this is not the way to solve things! It will only add to the unemplyment problem . Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos x
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful street - so unique and colourful. I really hope that LA doesn't lose this wonderful venue.
ReplyDeleteThat would be unfortunate if you lost the street vendors. I visited a similar site in New York, and loved the variety. We have so few markets in North America and they should be cherished and supported.
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures!
I think Mec could open one of those shoe stalls tomorrow ;0)
ReplyDeleteOlvera Street looks like so much fun! I'm a city girl at heart.
ReplyDeleteOh wow!! I love that market! I would have so much fun there! I haven't been to California in such a long time. We don't have many markets or street vendors like that here in Maryland. Great photos! :-D
ReplyDeleteFrom oil spills to Olvera Street, short-sighted financially motivated idiocy marches on.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like just my kind of place. I hope it doesn't disappear. :-(
You find the neatest photos to take pictures of! It's such a shame that a place like that could be going away.
ReplyDeleteBy any chance will you be going to Chinatown? I went there once and fell in love with it..lol
That's awful! I hate to see Olvera street lose its roots and its charm. Great SIMC. Looking forward to reading more of your blog.
ReplyDeleteOh no! That is a travesty. Look at the color and ambiance they provide! What a shame! Glad you could capture these awesome pictures filled with color!
ReplyDeleteIt will be a damn shame if the street vendors are forced out due to huge rent increases.... they add character and life to a city!
ReplyDeleteThank you Joanna...Now the Metro Rail Blue Line goes to Olvera street via the Red Line. That is one of the great things about living in Long Beach...we have access to the lite rail..I have 2 stations within 10 minutes of my house...I grab the blue line to downtown LA transfer to the red line where I can go to Universal Studios, N. hollywood , hollywood & Vine or in the other direction The Train station to OLvera street, lunch at Phillipee”s, on to China Town or Pasadena. I have seen more of LA since I moved here...for $5, you can stay and use the train all day long if you wish. Perhaps I should do a Sunday on the Lite Rail.hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteOh, what I'd give anything to be there today. So much to see.
ReplyDeleteI love things like this...and it's so sad that they may have to leave due to a high raise in rent. The small business people are suffering in our economy. Sad. In my community small businesses are slowly closing although they seem to do better in the summer months when we have so many coming to stay because of the lakes.
ReplyDeleteOh I am so going to have to take a trip down there before it disappears. Last time I was there...in high school for my spanish class!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the head's up!
Yes it's a shame when dollars and cents over ride culture and fun.
ReplyDeleteI too hope they get to stay as it looks like a wonderful place to visit.
thanks for sharing
best wishes
Robyn :)
Boo! That's terrible! I hate seeing family owned businesses disappear. It seems to be happening everywhere. Around here they're being driven out by WalMart.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a neighborhood I would really enjoy!
ReplyDeleteBad juju to the LA city council, or whoever is responsible for raising rents THAT much!
I've been in Sacramento for 9 years and have never been to the Capitol. I better get over there before Ahnold leaves.
That makes me so sad. I haven't been to Olvera Street since I was a child, but it never occurred to me that it might not be there some day. It seems ridiculous to raise the rents so drastically; it's penny-wise and pound foolish.
ReplyDeleteThat is sad to hear that as usual the government is messing with people's livlihood.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fun place. Hope it all works out for all involved.
♥ Joy
Oh, man! That is heart-breaking! It sounds like the city would lose a lot of its color if these vendors lose their leases. It also seems like something that will backfire. If noone can pay the rent than they will end up with nothing instead of something -- just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
:-)
I love all the colors of your city. ao bright and cheery.
ReplyDeleteoh no...so sad that big mistakes done by big companies has to be paid by small vendors ...I mean small...Not fair!
ReplyDeleteSIMC greetings from Helsinki, Finland!
BLOGitsePHOTOS
those shots remind me of when i was in hong kong...everything everywhere and cheap :)
ReplyDeleteThis tour of a vibrant city market is delightful. What colour and opportunity!
ReplyDeleteThose images are amazing, I love all those colours. What a beautiful place you live at. I can almost smell all the scents you describe.
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a great weekend and am wishing you a lovely Monday,
xo
Do you know I've lived in Los Angeles for over 20 years and STILL have not visited Olivera street? After reading your post, I now have to get there....thanks for visiting my blog!
ReplyDeleteThe masks are my favorite part! My kids would love them.
ReplyDeleteLooks awesome down there. I've never been, but I LOVE California :)
ReplyDeleteOh that is a shame. I hope it can be resolved in such a way that these vendors can continue to make a living there. Beautiful, colourful photos.
ReplyDeleteI love street fairs!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this piece of LA. I lived there for awhile, and I never knew it existed which is too bad. Seems like my type of place to spend a Saturday afternoon.
ReplyDeleteThese are vibrant life filled photos.
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing them
This seriously makes me ill. I grew up visiting Olvera Street on a regular basis, even having my 12th birthday party there. To think of it no longer there, well....I could just cry.
ReplyDeleteOohhh, somewhere I have visited. What a shame if it disappeared. How boring all our cities would be if everything as eclectic as this were taken away. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful day trip! Reminds me, loosely, of the street vendors in Europe.
ReplyDeletetsue1136 at yahoo dot com