Eunisses Hernandez was born and raised in Highland Park and saw her neighborhood change and her neighbors displaced.
“When growing up here in Highland Park, I've seen gentrification take hold, and I've seen it impact my loved ones, neighbors, and small businesses. It happened really fast. The community tried to organize around it and against it, but we just saw whole apartments bought up, people displaced,” Hernandez tells L.A. TACO. Hernandez is running to represent City Council District one which encompasses 22 different Los Angeles neighborhoods, including MacArthur Park, Chinatown, Echo Park, Glassell Park, Pico-Union, and parts of Highland Park. District 1 also includes the famous Salvadoran Corridor, whose 50 vendors were recently removed by incumbent councilmember Gil Cedillo's office.
The district isn’t new to seeing the displacement of street vendors. The same office shut down the original Ave 26 Night Market in Lincoln Heights last August.
Street vendors and other long-time residents face the pressure of being pushed out and the sting of rising rents. A 2018 study labeled Highland Park home to early and advanced gentrification sites. The median price of a single-family home is $1.2 million, and in September 2019, the median was $819,000.