Arturo Garcia says he felt like a stranger when he first moved to Historic Filipinotown some 20 years ago. Garcia migrated from Manila — more than 7,000 miles away from Los Angeles — but he says the city became easier to adjust thanks to fellow Filipinos in the community.
Garcia, who is retired and currently holds leadership roles in the Filipino American Community of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles chapter of the Justice for Filipino American Veterans, fears an ordinance in the works by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning could mean displacement for many of the working-class people in his community of Historic Filipinotown.
The “North Westlake Design District” is an ordinance that seeks to regulate building and construction, as well as enact new parking rules, that some fear — as Echo Park, Silver Lake, Highland Park, and other areas already know — could lead to the inevitable process of “renewal” that others call gentrification and cultural erasure.
The plan, which has been in process for the last few years, also has new requirements for parking.