A Crack in my Community
Growing up in a diverse community my whole life has made me appreciate, admire, and respect other people’s cultures. I grew up with Koreans, Latinos — Mexicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, etc. — , Filipinos, Bangladeshis, and others. Being able to grow with these people and have first-hand experience with their food, language, religion, etc. has humbled me. It has made me appreciate what they have to offer in my community. This community that I love and hope to persevere so that future generations can grow in it too is Koreatown.
Koreatown is a neighborhood in Los Angeles that’s in the middle of Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and South Los Angeles which can all be accessed with just train stops away. It’s the perfect place to live because of how close and accessible everything is. Koreatown is filled with all different kinds of foods, monuments like the Wiltern on Wilshire and Western Blvd, or the Obey painting on the Line hotel by Wilshire Blvd and Normandie Ave. Koreatown is the perfect place to live in because of the many things it has to offer, and because of this, it has affected Koreatown and its residents because of gentrification.
Unfortunately, Koreatown has been a victim of gentrification. Koreatown residents are primarily low-income families that make below the poverty line just to get by. Gentrification has caused many landlords to sell their buildings to investors, and these investors are kicking out the residents to build new buildings and renting them at a much higher price. The only people who can afford these higher rates are people with a higher income, and this is slowly getting rid of affordable housing and making rent higher for those who haven’t been affected. The people whose homes were taken away are now forced to move elsewhere because housing in Koreatown is too expensive.
COVID-19 has honestly made this situation worse because it has left many low-income families without a job and a lot of people are in debt because they are unable to pay their rent. I am scared when the housing moratorium is lifted because now these people are in debt and if they are unable to pay it they are going to be evicted. Once that happens landlords could sell their properties and just make gentrifications worse.
I always try to stay on top of the news regarding COVID-19 assistance, so that I could inform as many people as I could to get this help. Coming from a household where we don’t stay on top of news I know that there are other families like mine and being able to consume news and help them is very important to me. The way that I stay informed is by checking social media, and after obtaining this information I do my research and let people know how to apply.
https://www.laweekly.com/koreatown-is-about-to-get-even-more-crowded/
