Introduction to Southeast Los Angeles County
One of my favorite aspects of the Southland is that there is no single, dominant center. Whereas many bemoan the region’s sprawl, I prefer to think of it as a vast, smoggy theme park, with scattered neighborhoods and cities all exhibiting their own charms just like the rides at “the happiest place on Earth.” But instead of Critter Country, Mickey's Toontown or Tomorrowland, we have the IE (Inland Empire), the Valley (the San Fernando Valley), East Los (East LA), the Westside, South Central (South LA), the Pomona Valley, the Beach Cities, the San Gabriel Valley, the South Bay, Palos Verdes, the Antelope Valley, the Santa Clarita Valley, Downtown, mid-Wilshire, &c. Outside of Los Angeles County there's the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario Metropolitan Area, the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura Metro Area and Orange County, each with their own regions. But there is one scarcely-discussed region of Los Angeles County that, as far as I know, lacks a name despite its unique character, like that part of Fantasyland around Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I speak of the communities of southeast Los Angeles County. OK, whilst hardly the epicenter of, well, much of note in the Southland, it’s in no way the complete, cultural no man’s land that its near absolute lack of exposure or press suggests and I hope to suggest that there are actual points of interest or at least note in the area.
Imperfect existing terms
The cities and neighborhoods north of Long Beach, east of South Central, west of OC and south of East LA and the SGV are, in the official usage of the Los Country Board of Supervisors, referred to with the unwieldy and colorless moniker “Southeast Los Angeles County.” There are several names that actually apply to the area, but all are problematic for the same reasons -- they don’t correspond either entirely or solely to the area in question. The 562 area code covers much of the area but also parts of Long Beach, Orange County and South Central. The Gateway Cities is an even larger area, including not only the 562 area but also parts of East Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley and the South Bay. Given the historical importance of dairy farming in the area, Paramount, Bellflower, Cerritos, La Palma and Cypress were often collectively referred to as the Dairy Cities or Dairyland, but Cypress and La Palma are in Orange County, so that's out.
The cities and neighborhoods north of Long Beach, east of South Central, west of OC and south of East LA and the SGV are, in the official usage of the Los Country Board of Supervisors, referred to with the unwieldy and colorless moniker “Southeast Los Angeles County.” There are several names that actually apply to the area, but all are problematic for the same reasons -- they don’t correspond either entirely or solely to the area in question. The 562 area code covers much of the area but also parts of Long Beach, Orange County and South Central. The Gateway Cities is an even larger area, including not only the 562 area but also parts of East Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley and the South Bay. Given the historical importance of dairy farming in the area, Paramount, Bellflower, Cerritos, La Palma and Cypress were often collectively referred to as the Dairy Cities or Dairyland, but Cypress and La Palma are in Orange County, so that's out.
Support for Selaco
In order to promote pride and awareness of the area, I coined the term Selaco, roughly an acronym for SouthEast Los Angeles COunty. My thinking was that it would catch on in the way Benelux, WeHo and NoHo have, yet WeCo (for West Covina) sadly hasn’t, regardless of how often I say it. A little research proved, to my surprise, that (as with almost all my attempted neologisms) I was beaten to the punch and there was a small but real precedent for the term "Selaco" or variations already. For example there is SLACYD (Southeast Los Angeles Country Young Democrats), ARCSELAC (The Association for Retarded Citizens of Southeast Los Angeles County), SELACO WIB (The Southeast Los Angeles County Workforce Investment Board) and, most encouragingly, a school in the Selaco city of Downey called Selaco-Downey High. If saying “Selaco” makes you cringe, just keep repeating it until you’re numb. If Selaco had been in use a couple of years ago, the outwardly generic, ultimate suburb with the seedy underbelly would've probably become the title to David Lynch's last film instead of the misleading Inland Empire.
The character of Selaco
The area that makes up Selaco, like almost all of the Southland, passed from the hands of the Tongva, to the Spanish, then the Mexicans, and finally the US. Once part of the US, the area was largely inundated with Dutch and Portuguese dairy farmers. With the expansion of trains and the discovery of oil, many more people moved to the area. During World War II, much of the area became the site of heavy industry and Selaco, along with South Central, made up the industrial core of the Southland. During and following World War II, areas of Selaco also became heavily suburban and populated by returning GIs and their families. When industry began to relocate, jobs began to disappear and crime rose. In the face of vacating industry and suburban decay, many of the mainly middle class black and white residents moved away to newer suburbs in other parts of the county. A large majority of the new inhabitants were recent immigrants from Mexico. In spite of any apparent heterogeneity, Selaco is in fact fairly diverse. In fact, the so-called ABC region (Artesia-Bellflower-Cerritos) is ethnically and linguistically among the most diverse regions in the country.
Artesia
Artesia is named after the area’s many artesian wells, which I vaguely remember learning about in my Rocks for Jocks (Geology 101) class. As it suburbanized, most of the dairy farmers moved to Chino or the Central Valley. The stretch of Pioneer Blvd between 183rd and South is known to most people as Little India. There is a huge number of clothing stores, various varieties of Indian restaurants and lots of beauty salons. Pretty much any night (besides Mondays) the sidewalks are bustling with a mostly south Asian crowd. However, Indians only make up a small percentage of greater Artesia and around Little India there are a large number of Korean-owned businesses. Because there are also large numbers of Azoreans, Chinese, Filipinos and Mexicans, the city compromised and the official name of the area is the unfortunately faceless but thankfully rarely-used "International and Cultural Shopping District."
