In February, Catalina Villegas reported for Spectrum News that the vendors at the North Hollywood Swap Meet were given notice that they had until 31 March to vacate the building in which some of them had worked for more than 25 years. Instead of taking the news quietly, a group of vendors, aided by The … Continue reading Los Angeles Swap Meets
INTRODUCTION Nowruz took place last week on a blustery Sunday. Nowruz is the New Year of Zoroastrians and in Iran as well as much of Central and West Asia. It’s often, in fact, referred to as Persian New Year. A bit ago, someone bemoaned that I hadn’t written a No Enclave about Iranians or Persians. … Continue reading No Enclave — Iranian Los Angeles
The corner drug store isn’t what it used to be, although I’m not sure when it stopped. Probably quite a few years before I was born… although there are still a few hanging ’round. I’m talking about the drugstores that Norman Rockwell celebrated in his characteristic manner and Edward Hopper naturally managed to make seem … Continue reading Los Angeles’s Corner Drugstores & Independent Pharmacies
INTRODUCTION In 2018, I made a map of Los Angeles’s oldest restaurants and wrote a bit about them. It proved relatively easy because there was lots already written on the subject. When I started writing about Los Angeles’s oldest bars, it proved much more difficult. Not only could I find no serious effort to draw … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles’s Oldest Bars
INTRODUCTION Before the Spanish invasion of the region, what’s now California enjoyed the highest human population density north of what is today Mexico. Today, Los Angeles is home to more people of Native ancestry than any other metropolitan area in the US, a population which includes peoples indigenous to Southern California as well as people … Continue reading No Enclave — Chumash Los Angeles
Hondurans are the eighth largest group of Latin Americans living in the US in the US and, after Salvadorans and Guatemalans, the third largest population of Central Americans in the US. However, whereas Los Angeles is home to the largest populations of Salvadorans and Guatemalans outside of El Salvador and Guatemala, the same cannot be … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring Honduran Los Angeles
Los Angeles has a long and rich history of alcoholic beverage production and consumption. Wine was introduced by the Spanish as an integral aspect of their mission project. Los Angeles was, in fact, historically the largest wine-producing region in the US. Beer arrived later, its popularity largely dependent on immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe … Continue reading Swinging Doors — Los Angeles Sake History & Culture
INTRODUCTION For years, there here have been efforts to designate April a month observing Arab American heritage although they have so far not born fruit. In 2017, Democratic congresswoman Debbie Dingell introduced to the House of Representatives a resolution to proclaim National Arab American Heritage Month. A similar bill was introduced in 2020 but so … Continue reading No Enclave — Arab Los Angeles
INTRODUCTION Earlier this week, a reader suggested that I devote a No Enclave to Belizean Los Angeles. I had come across some Belizean businesses here and there when traversing the Westside of South Los Angeles but had no idea just how big the Belizean community of Los Angeles is. In fact, not only is Metro … Continue reading No Enclave — Exploring Belizean Los Angeles
In 1999, the City of Los Angeles established DONE (which stands for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment — municipal types love an acronym). DONE, in turn, established the neighborhood council system “to promote more citizen participation in government and thus, ideally, make government more responsive to local needs.” This year I’m running in the Silver … Continue reading Los Angeles’s Neighborhood Councils
Eric Brightwell 