Heritage Parkscape: Boyle Heights

Boyle Heights emerged as one of the most diverse communities in Los Angeles because of the absence of racially restrictive housing covenants prevalent in the rest of the City throughout much of the 20th century.
“Founded as an affluent white suburb in the 1880s, Boyle Heights soon became a proverbial working class melting pot. It was the first port of call for successive waves of newcomers to Los Angeles: African-Americans, Jewish immigrants, refugees from the Russo-Japanese War, the Mexican Revolution and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which drove many Japanese-Americans south. Since the 1970s the neighborhood has been predominantly Latino, evident in the vibrant murals that grace many of its housing projects, restaurants, and stores.
“By that point it was also encircled by freeways, which has kept it somewhat frozen in time. But now Boyles Heights is on the verge of change, as a new Metro line opening in 2009 wil reconnect it with the rest of Los Angeles.” Carol Kino, Cybermural: The Web as the Wall,N.Y. Times, Aug. 12, 2007.
Visit KCET’s cybermural about Boyle Heights.

Visit the Heritage Parkscape online and on flickr.

Learn more about Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy.