Gentrification Exposed

I am a huge, die-hard, bleed purple-and-gold Laker fan. Any victory amounts to joy in my eyes, so as you can imagine, Sunday night was that multiplied over and over. With that said, what I saw last night in Downtown Los Angeles amidst a time of celebration was appalling and ridiculous.

It was refreshing to see the streets of the (still) redeveloping downtown filled with pedestrians and, in general, sentiments of a lively urban atmosphere. That novelty quickly wore off, however, when I witnessed a swarm of young male Laker “fans” loot a convenience store. Several minutes later, I walked by a flaming trash bin and a damaged and broken-into Acura TL.

These things were already expected given the nature of the 2000 championship victory which I remember being more absurd. However I thought of the bigger picture as LAPD mobilized on the corner of Olive and 8^th – gentrification.

Did gentrifying cause this? Or would more gentrification prevent this kind of behavior?

As one may know, the demographic of those participating this night were not of the same realm in which the South Park neighborhood is targeting as residents. Many of these individuals clearly crossed the (literal and figurative) boundaries of the 110 and 10. I am not saying rowdy behavior is always typical of South LA residents, but flooding the streets this night also happened in West Hollywood on Santa Monica Blvd – were stolen Gatorade bottles being thrown at squad cars over there? Probably not.

What I am trying to understand is that Staples Center, LA Live and the LA Lakers are world class elements meant to signify the character of a world class city. They are physically present within the outskirts of the most Tenderloin-esque part of town. The Lakers are meant for everyone. Everyone does embrace this team as any city should – it is their amenities that do not embrace the surroundings. The Lakers are an amenity to the city as whole, but their amenities are not for everyone.

Part of the reason these amenities exist are because this team provides a solid socioeconomic foundation for them. Furthermore, it is quite an anomaly for people who support the team to then have the desire to destruct what is there. I gathered a sense that people realize this and react accordingly. Unfortunately, this is spatial inequality that still exists and must be addressed.

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