Shirley Jahad

Karen Mack, Amy Inouye and Nicole Gatto in Highland Park at the starting point of the Trekking LA tour. Chickenboy, a Highland Park landmark, stands atop Future Studio Gallery.

Silver Lake, Venice, Boyle Heights: these L.A. neighborhoods have seen dramatic changes over the last 20 years.  And today, Highland Park in Northeast Los Angeles joins those areas as changes in local businesses, services, and demographics impact aspects of its community identity. As our region’s landscape, population and economy develop, will other Southland neighborhoods experience similar transition?

On Thursday, February 28th, the Crawford Family Forum took this conversation to Highland Park’s Aldama Elementary School. Our panel of experts, featuring specialists in urban planning, fair housing, and community stories, examined local transformations happening now and compare them to the larger history of Southern California.  We invited the audience to lend their voices to the discussion as we explored the many changes affecting L.A.’s neighborhoods.

Moderator:
Oliver Wang - CSU Long Beach Associate Professor of Sociology

Guests:
Christopher Hawthorne - Los Angeles Times Architecture critic
Channa Grace - WORKS (Women Organizing Resources Knowledge & Services ) President
Jan Lin - Occidental College Professor of Sociology; Advisory Committee for Urban and Environmental Policy