Food has the power to unite us but also divide us. Nowhere is this truth more palpable than in gentrifying neighborhoods like Highland Park, where newer restaurants on Figueroa Street, like Hippo and Cafe Birdie, tend to attract a wealthier, whiter demographic than O.G. favorites like Follieros, Chicos, and Las Cazuelas.
Higher-end restaurants are often seen as a precursor to greater gentrification, a process research and advocacy nonprofit Studio ATAO define as: “when a previously dis-invested neighborhood changes significantly due to investment and development in the area, often in conjunction with the arrival of more affluent residents.”
While everyone feels differently about gentrification, depending on their political views and individual privileges, the undeniable problem is that not everyone benefits equally from increased investment and sudden media and developer interest in a neighborhood. Those who’ve lived in Highland Park for generations agree it’s safer than it was in the 90s when gang activity was at its peak, but it’s no longer affordable for many—or even recognizable in certain respects.
“I think prices [at newer restaurants] are intimidating, and they’re not very welcoming to the locals,” said Jammy Torres, 36, the owner of Hadassah Hair Studio on York Boulevard. A Franklin High School graduate, Torres grew up in the neighborhood and remembers seeing a local fruit vendor gunned down in front of her elementary school on Monte Vista Street around 1993 when she said it was a dangerous place to live. She opened her hair salon in 2012 and moved six years later to Chatsworth, where she could afford to rent a house.