INTRODUCTION

Normally for my LA and OC neighborhood blogs, I spend a day (two in the case of Highland Park) exploring and seeing as much as I can and then write about it. For El Sereno, however, I had two whole weeks to explore.

I was house-sitting for a couple, staying in their 1959 mid-century home and taking care of a dog and two cats. Before this excursion I was fairly unfamiliar with El Sereno, having once visited the couple I was house-sitting for, twice visited musician Johann Bogeli (Moving Units), passed through on my bike, eaten at King Torta a few times, and just once purposelessly peregrinating (during which time I came across the Mazatlan).

A hawk seen from the window

The first night I spent in El Sereno, one of my hosts and I attended a mescal party in Eagle Rock. Aterward, joined by the other host, we all relaxed in their yard, absorbing the sounds of banda music and partying taking place nearby.

After my hosts embarked on their road trip I would almost always be accompanied in my rambles by their trusty dog, Dooley. I’m not sure if people were especially friendly because I was walking a dog and not just a suspicious guy walking around taking pictures or if people in El Sereno are just generally amongst the city’s most friendly. Whatever the reason, the average day involved so many exchanges of “good morning,” “buenos dias” and hand-waves with complete strangers (and one unintelligible between Dooley and a woman that seemed to have something to do with her ankle monitor and maybe a lighter). As a result, El Sereno has for me deposed Compton as the friendliest community to strangers. (For those wondering, Laurel Canyon and Cambodia Town seemed the coldest).
 

THE EASTSIDE

People are weird about Los Angeles' Eastside. On the one hand you've got people throwing up "w" signs yelling "west-siyeeeed!" On the other, you've got people from Midtown to Silver Lake and Echo Park claiming (pretending?) Eastside… All this points to the fact that "The Eastside" means different things to different groups and individuals. To many black Angelenos, the traditional division between the Eastside and Westside is the 110 freeway (which is why gangs like the East Side Compton Crips represent the east side). To many, possibly most Latinos, the LA River is the dividing line between the east and west sides (which is why a Latino gang like West Side Silver Lake 13 represents the west side). To many newer Angelenos and white (and maybe Asian) people, the east side begins much further west (remember "East Side Mondays" in Westlake's (keyword: west) Wilshire Royale?) None of the definitions are inherently more correct than the other but when people talk about The Eastside, let's get it straight -- they're talking about the region east of the LA River that includes Boyle Heights, East Los, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno… and the smaller neighborhoods within them.