The Eastside is an urban region in Los Angeles County, California. It includes the Los Angeles City neighborhoods east of the Los Angeles River—that is, Boyle Heights, El Sereno, and Lincoln Heights—as well as unincorporated East Los Angeles.

History

East Los Angeles was founded in 1870 by John Strother Griffin (1816–1898), who was called "the father of East Los Angeles". In late 1874 the two men offered an additional thirty-five acres, divided into 65x165-foot lots, for $150 each. They planned the laying out of streets of the present community of East Los Angeles and gifted East Side Park (the present Lincoln Park) to the city of Los Angeles.

The Mapping L.A. project of the Los Angeles Times defines the Eastside as comprising Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Lincoln Heights, and East Los Angeles. However, the boundaries are a matter of perennial discussion and debate among the residents of Los Angeles.

The Mapping L.A. definition corresponds to the traditional boundaries, but, beginning in the early 21st century, residents of some of the rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods west of Downtown Los Angeles but on the eastern side of Central Los Angeles, such as Echo Park and Silver Lake, began to refer to their neighborhoods as part of the Eastside. This debate generated some friction, which, according to Ali Modarres, an expert on the geography of Los Angeles from the University of Washington Tacoma, is to be expected because neighborhood names are "full of meaning, nuances, history, cultural and political relationships". Eric Garcetti, former mayor of Los Angeles and a fourth generation resident, is a traditionalist, stating that "true east is east of downtown".

The trend led the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council to declare officially in February 2014 that Silver Lake is not part of the Eastside.

The Sixth Street Viaduct, also known as the Sixth Street Bridge, was demolished. Prior to the demolition, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti recorded the rap song "101SlowJam", backed by musicians from Roosevelt High School, and issued it via a video on his own YouTube channel. The public service announcement video advertised the closure of parts of the 101 Freeway to accommodate the demolition of the viaduct.

Communities

City of Los Angeles The official East Area Planning Commission area of the City of Los Angeles is divided into the following communities:Area Planning Commission (APC), Boundaries for the seven (7) Area Planning Commissions as established by Ordinance No. 173,492. Feature Layer by GIS@LADCP. Created: Feb 28, 2018. Updated: Dec 31, 2019. Boyle Heights Lincoln Heights El Sereno Northeast Los Angeles Atwater Village Cypress Park Eagle Rock Garvanza Glassell Park Hermon Highland Park Montecito Heights Mount Washington Rose Hills

Mapping L.A.

The Mapping L.A. project by the Los Angeles Times lists the following City of Los Angeles neighborhoods in its definition of the Eastside: Boyle Heights El Sereno Lincoln Heights

Education High SchoolsFrancisco Bravo Medical Magnet High SchoolLos Angeles County High School for the ArtsMarc and Eva Stern Math and Science School Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter High SchoolJames A. Garfield High SchoolTheodore Roosevelt High SchoolAbraham Lincoln High SchoolWoodrow Wilson High SchoolFelicitas and Gonzalo Mendez High SchoolEsteban Torres High School

Population and housing The following data applies to the boundaries of the Eastside established by Mapping L.A.:

In 2000, 286,222 people lived in the 20.66 square miles of the Eastside region, amounting to 13,852 people per square mile. The neighborhood was "not especially diverse" ethnically, with a high percentage of Latinos. The ethnic breakdown was Latino, 91.2%; Asian, 5.2%, white, 2.3%; black, 0.7% and other, 0.6%. Just 5.1% of residents aged 25 and older had a four-year college degree. More than two-thirds (66.8%) of the inhabitants lived in shared housing, and 33.2% were homeowners.

Notable places

Latino Walk of Fame - East Los Angeles Mariachi Plaza - Boyle Heights El Mercado de Los Angeles - Boyle Heights Calvary Cemetery (Roman Catholic) - East Los Angeles Home of Peace Cemetery (Jewish) - East Los Angeles Evergreen Cemetery - Boyle Heights Estrada Courts Murals - Boyle Heights El Pino (The Pine Tree) - East Los Angeles

Notable people

will.i.am (William James Adams, Jr.), musician, producer, philanthropist Herb Alpert, trumpeter, producer Narciso Botello (about 1813–1889) Mexican Army officer, California State Assembly member Anthony Quinn, actor Howard E. Dorsey, engineer, politician Jaime Escalante, educator Kid Frost, musician John Strother Griffin (1816–1898), surgeon, founder of East Los Angeles, member of Los Angeles Common Council Oscar De La Hoya, boxer Edward James Olmos, actor Dan Peña, financial analyst on Wall Street Luis J. Rodriguez, writer and activist Andy Russell, international recording artist Hope Sandoval, singer-songwriter

Gallery

See also

History of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles My Family/Mi Familia, Motion Picture of life in East Los Angeles Born in East L.A., motion picture Chicano, ethnic term Cholo (subculture) East LA Classic, football game Blood In Blood Out, motion picture City Times in Los Angeles Times suburban sections Zoot Suit Riots, 1943 Ten Latino neighborhoods in Los Angeles County

Further reading

References

External links

The Eastsider LA

East LA Guide