Pico Aliso & Revitalization - A Shameless Cross-Plug

by Tony Chavira

I don’t know when the last time you drove down 1st street east of Downtown Los Angeles was, but it definitely looks different now than it did 10 years ago.  When I was young, my Dad wouldn’t let me drive through the Pico-Aliso area.  He said it was too dangerous, too scary, too gang-filled... and at that time, he was right.

But ultimately it was a hard-knocks community because in reality it had too little.  Too little attention from the city, too little integration with local amenities and business, too little funds for public works and road upkeep.  And too few people speaking up to do something about that plight.

So in 2002, the first of several phases for the renovation of the Pico-Aliso project was completed and now you can drop by Purgatory Pizza on 1st street and see residents playing basketball, hanging out at the bus stop or in the park, or grabbing a beer and catching up after a long day.  Most importantly, you can see kids and their parents walking around and the finishing touches on their Gold line extension stop.  10 to 15 years ago and no one would’ve thought to get off the train at Pico-Aliso.  Luckily for the residents and Los Angeles in general, those times have changed.

I wrote a guest blog on this in connection to the program that helped to pay for and spearhead these types of revitalizations called HOPE VI for the National Housing Conference’s Blog, Open House.  Here’s a little excerpt:

Pico Gardens/Aliso Village was a place many avoided in the early 90s. However, despite gang violence, decrepit building and street conditions, and a fatalistic community attitude toward both temporary displacement and the revitalization process, Pueblo del Sol’s developers were able to both revitalize the surrounding community and create a more integrated neighborhood…

So click on the post and read read read!  And read some more, it’s a pretty thoughtful blog on the state of housing projects and policy in the USA.

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