Echo Park

[3albundy]

THATS WS BIG TOP LOCOS HOOD ONLY

[jimbanzo]

can anybody say GENTRIFICATION?

[lettybetty29]

Everyone has a different version of Echo Park. I dont know if this video depicts all the aspects of correctly.

[VoodooPolitico]

@lettybetty29 NO- it doesnt. This particular video is a ridiculous "depiction" of Echo Park and its residents.

[captain07234]

This is from a non Angeleno, but is Echo Park is one of the many neighborhoods turning into a douchebage hipster haven?

[Yxster]

thats right my hood OBS 13 OSIRIBOYS GANG

[beesnakeable]

the bald guy is an old fuck trying to be young. fucking faggot.

[cupboardcan]

Having lived in Echo Park in 85~I know a little bit about what it was about. Gangs, rapes, fights, hate, some good neighbors, insanity, bodies being dumped in the lake, the nightstalker, about six robberies at our house. Racism, poverty, drugs, prostitution, generational heroin addiction. Those were probably the good ole days for somebody.

[DODGERBLUEDUDE]

none of these lames know what echo park stands for each and every one of us that grew up here from the 50s all the way to the 90s. every time i go to echo park its shot to shits cause of these FUCKEN PIECES OF SHITS. its prime is long gone. i miss the good old days in ECHO.

[rentz46]

And for you stupid dirty hiptster Echo Park is not the east side. Boyle heights is the east side.

[rikztaone]

lookn for all the white females from the echo park area........hit me up..........

[rikztaone]

i'm a chicano born in 73 and raised in the L.A. area ....moved to the echo park area when i was 5 .........moved out from there when i was 25 years of age....i have seen and been the witness of the echo park evolution......and i think time is the evolution of everything........echo park has had its rough edges before but now it has become a bit calmer due to the extreme recent change.....i have nothing bad to say to our white brothers and the fine white ladies ( i luv white females) ...hit me up

[lokeradekadente81]

Why do you guys hate hipsters. Get educated and try to become more tolerant. Do you guys prefer violence and theft???

[itsmejunky]

I lived in echo park for a couple years, right in angeleno heights, in my early 20's,7 or 8 years ago. I am a white guy, but not in any way a hipster. Back then Echo Park was great, i loved it. But then all these douche bags started to just show up out of nowhere from all kinds of cities and states (im born and raised LA). And it seemed like literally within a years period around 2004ish, the city turned into a giant hub of douchebag hipsters,so i left. Maybe il move back if the vibe changes.

[premeditatedkiller]

These people are fucking douche bags.

[timothymstern]

good brewery is in silverlake...these people are fools. they should stop making videos like this that don't truly represent a location.

[kiely]

gritty area? so these assholes would have been afraid of us 15/20 years ago?

oh, i get it now. they are just your average fire eating/ mic holster making hipster/geeks trying to get the next gig before her trust fund runs out and daddy finds out she is wasting her life.

[VoodooPolitico]

Echo Park has been a DUMP since the illegal alien invasion of the 80's. You WILL get your ass raped, robbed and killed there. Your house/apt WILL be broken into or vandalized. Your car WILL get broken into or stolen. Your stupid "hipster" ass WILL get robbed walking back from whatever lame "cafe" you pose in front of on Sunset. Most of you idiots cant even ride your "singlespeed track bikes" up and down the hills of Echo Park. Yet damned if you dont pose with your bike everyday.

[VoodooPolitico]

"OH MY GAWD! JACK BLACK BOUGHT A HOUSE HERE!!" Shut up you hipster asshole. Beck and Black are FROM LA. I cant wait for this hipster thing to die off. "WOW! A MICROPHONE HOLSTER FOR DJ'S!!" Nothing wrong with somebody striking out their own path in the world to earn a living...but really...a microphone holster for dj's? I really cant think of anything MORE USELESS to society than that. Whats next? You going to sell "digeridoo's" on Sunset?

[VoodooPolitico]

DONT FOOL YOURSELF. Just because "hipsters" have invaded Echo Park, its still a fucking DUMP. You WILL get your ass raped and killed in Echo Park. People STILL get robbed and shot DAILY in the area. Homes are STILL broken into by addicts and invaded by gang bangers DAILY. There is still TONS of gang graffitti. There is still trash and filth in the street from all the illegal aliens there. LIKE Highland Park, just because you put a "gallery" there, doesnt mean its safe.

[savagetribefamilia]

Echo Park is not between NoHo & downtown, you should do more research. this is the most garbage coverage of the city, im sure the person who filmed this is a super hipster

[VoodooPolitico]

@savagetribefamilia I agree. If you did some sort of weird "as the crow flies" line, you COULD say its between North Hollywood and downtown. Either way, Echo Park is now and has been a DUMP since the illegal alien invasion of the 80's. Prior to that, it was actually a neat place geographically. Just because you put out a sign that says "cafe" or "bistro" it doesnt change that a gang banger is going to rob your ass when the sun goes down.

[TheAndrewsix]

I dont think the people moving to ep are even aware that they are contributing to inflated home prices, let alone intentionally doing it. I lived and volunteered for a considerable time in ep to assist people with low-incomes. During my work I had 2 knifes pulled on me, with the intent to kill me. It was the grace of God that I'm alive. I love echo park. I'm white, and I would give my life for anybody in this community. Even the people posting racists remarks.

[arbednitram]

FREAKS!!!! I hope they left town and got a shave and a haircut!!!!

[Davidave84]

Shut the fuck up hipsters.... stop invading are community. making it all commercial!

[1Garagehero]

Haha...heythere Stony.....I see you are once again incinerating the witless yuppies...you are one cool and articulate Chicano.

[stonethemason]

I'll tell ya something, alot of my friends have sold their houses in Echo Parque and have been made instant milionaires by these yups. My pal Scotty bought his dream home in Santa Cruz, and my pal Pinche Billy bought a two story house with a pool in San Dimas. Thanks yuppies. The cool thing here is that our parents bought those houses for about $6000 back in 1962!! HA HA!! Pay up yups!!!

[stonethemason]

Wasnt it Mexican, Egyptian and black dudes from EP that started the first Roller Hockey league in Los Angeles back in 1973?

[stonethemason]

You new hipsters actually replaced real writers, filmmakers artists and muscians, real earth shakers that changed the world and society, that moved away when you lot moved in. And the irony here is, you morons moved in because you saw those folks who lived here and you wanted to be close to that vibe. My friend carlos asked Hank Bukowski why he was leaving East Hollywood for San Pedro, he just said, "Because, THEY are moving in" , meaning YOU nincompoop hipsters.

[wmcdonald76]

I wish more white people knew how non-whites felt about them. Threads like this "help."

[rentz46]

Hipsters are superficial people that think they are bohemian and different from mainstream society. They are smelly, people that wear second hand clothes that have no real careers. You people look dumb drinking your coffee, looking at art and gossiping about complete nonsense. As a native of EP, I say go back to the midwest or whatever hole you crawled out from.

[lisalisa842]

ah echo park, the little district where i was born and raised. i remember a time when my mama was the only white person...now look at you! No more being chased by gang members, listen to gun shots at night, or have neighbors die right outside...now all full of alternative peeps.

But uh, the Good micro brewery is way in silverlake, not echo park. About a mile from where echo park's westside boarder on sunset, that's very much in hipster silverlake territory.

[stonethemason]

@lisalisa842

There has always been white people in Echo Park. I remember talking to Charles Bukowski and Tom Waits when I was a kid. You're a kook. They USED to have cool peeps in Echo park...Steve McQueen(White boy), Anthony Quinn (Mexican) , and Art Ingals lived across the street from my house( the guy who invented the Go-Kart), and I used to go to Halloween parties at Ann Robinson's house back in the 80s( she's the lead chick from the original War of the Worlds).

[lisalisa842]

@stonethemason

My comment is based on personal experience of course, my mother still tells me stories of her general loneliness being the only mid-western raised white person in our particular neighborhood (the corner of Marathon and Rosemont). It sounds like your more interested in pointing out how you're exceptional by relating to the famous white people of echo park in previous decades. Bravo.

[stonethemason]

@lisalisa842

If I am exceptional, (which, when compared to modern standards and your ilk, I probably am), its because I grew up in extraordinary times and with extraordinary folks. Marathon and Rosemont, isnt that near Queen of Angels?

[stonethemason]

@lisalisa842

The current bunch of whites are nothing but talentless halfwits, drunks, posers, hacks, pikers and most of all clueless. Here's the good thing...when my old man passed away and left me with 4 houses in Echo Park, nice Arts & Crafts and storybook homes, and I do enjoy collecting the rent, the HIGH rent, from these useless yuppies....HA HA!!!

[lisalisa842]

@stonethemason

I don't see how this relates to my comment. this should be a general comment to the video. Is it because I said my mother is white? She's lived in echo park since the 60's, hardly "current."

My family never rented, we own our house, bought in '72 for about 16k. Now worth about 500k, even after the bust. But well, my original comment mentioned nothing of rent...

[stonethemason]

@lisalisa842

Like most paranoids and shakey jakes( or janes) , you exaggerate the violence and dangers of the 70s EP. And if I remember correctly, marathon and Rosemont had many Filipinos, whites, Cubans, a few blacks, and mexicans....your mom must be pretty young if she remembers being the "only" white in the area, like maybe living there in the the late 1970s young. Also, good thing to remember...and i grew up there in the 60s-70s, many cholo gang members were also Irish and Italians.

[lisalisa842]

@stonethemason so you know the Cuban couple who owns property on rosemont and kent, they watched me grow up. the Filipinos in that area are almost all related to me. during my childhood in the 80s (i'm the youngest of 6) i was oblivious to the danger until i watched a kid get killed in front of my house. it was what it was, the experiences were ours. if you feel empowered by dismissing them for your own exclamations of truth then so be it. But reality does not exist through your eyes alone.

[stonethemason]

@lisalisa842

The only reason i came down on you, is becaise you seeem to think, like most clueless racist yuppies, that the world began when you moved in. Believe me, it was a much cooler, hip place in the 20s,30s,40s,50s 60s, 70s than it is now. Like when Mickey Dora, who had surfed malibu since the 1940s, said while scanning the waves in the middle 60s, " Where did all these guppies and tadpoles come from". Yup. Guppies and tadpoles.

[RevitalizedVessel]

echo park!!! thats where IT is!

[LaZerGaZerz]

Internet gangstas are ALL Pussies. Punks, and Rats! Real street gangstas are All LOW-Life Scum. Get a clue. Lifes about more then the materialistic bulsshit you've been spoonfed by the man, now you kill each other trying to reach a goal of wealth and power. Wealth and power as defined by who?? The white man that's who. You think youre rebelling when you're just the pawns, the bottom go/nowhere rung in their game... Duh!! It's soo obvious! Wake up. You sound so silly.

[thrillhouse222]

I heard echo park gangsters go to the bushes in chavez ravine, near the tennis courts, and have gay sex. apparently this phenomenon has been happening for decades

now the whole place is littered with condom wrappers and butt plugs

[1Garagehero]

@thrillhouse222

Naw...thats your dad and his pals youre talking about.

[213rooster]

ANIT GENTRIFICATION!!!!!!!!!!

[CantStopWontStop818]

In 50 years L.A. will probably be the most clean - nice city to live in America. The Gangs are slowly deteriorating after years of realization that there is nothing to get out of it but quick money, prison terms and/or death.

[15Chuy19]

fuck u u think we will get out of this no fuckin way ese

[jmorris023]

Hey, that Good restaurant is in Silverlake, not Echo Park.

[treepeople666]

I own a home in Echo Park. I'm white, well, german, irish and native american.

I love my home and I love Echo Park.

I will say that this was not the best representation of EP whatsoever.

btw guys..GOOD is in Silverlake.. and is not very "good".

I agree with some of the gentrification issues that people have. I DO NOT however agree with the racism that's being flung around on this page.

How exactly are "gringos" devastating EP? Just wondering?

The cultural diversity is and will stay great here.

[sgtpepper915]

Gentrifiers: Please leave our communities alone. You are devastating us.

[str82h3lll]

jphaze2382 i'm a white girl and you should grow some balls, you sound sad and are an embarrassment.

[oliverisawesome]

Fuck these hipster fags, they live in los feliz and silverlake, and only come down to EP when they want to go to the echo or the short stop. assholes.

[letsdothisMVR]

u vatos have some crazy homies and home girls HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Cadle1am]

@oliverisawesome

YEAH BUT FLEA FROM THE CHILI PEPPERS LIVES HERE!

[jorgeuboc]

gangsters keep the housing prise down,

[er9804]

I was raised in Echo Park, and to tell you the truth its changed a little! But that shit its still Ghetto!!! Silverlake and Los Feliz is waaaaaaaaay better!!

[CASPEREP]

man wtf.....fuck the white that are moving into echo...fucking think that they been living there their whole lifes...fucking fags

[vanityLAWL]

you're right, white people should move out so the mexicans can have their little shit hole back, and continue killing themselves off.

[213rooster]

your fucking up. im sure if we were face to face u wouldn't say some shit like that. your trash

[15Chuy19]

fuck the white people eh this is for mexicans

[smithriverdude]

Pinche putos gringos...hanging out at that chango coffee shop, on Grafton. Gritty to you puta, what do you know about cultura pinche gabrona. Angelino heights is not E.P.

[stonethemason]

@smithriverdude

Angelio heights is part of Echo park

[misexp13]

these fukin white putoz comin into the varrio echo parke dont kno shit about it..they walk around the hood lookin down on latinos ugh!! the neighborhood was way better before all these gringos hung around..FUCK THEM!! when i get a chance i jack their money jajaja V.EXP.13 POR VIDA

[utubemoister]

oh no u wont

[rentz46]

@misexp13 ECHO PARK is a gang that started in the late 70's' not 1930's like they claim. Echo Park was the original hollywood of its time in the 30's where filming took place. Echo Park is returning to its former glory. Not with nasty smelly hipsters fro the mid west but with original native Angelenos.

[stonethemason]

@rentz46

Youre a dumass...Anthony Quinn was part of the original Echo Parque gang way back when, but for the other stuff you said, I agree wholeheartedly.

[rentz46]

@stonethemason Anthony Quinn started acting in the mid 30's. When would he have had the time to claim EP gang? I met a 60 yr old veterano that still lives in ep and he said EP gang was called the ep boys in the 70's. Diamond and Apline were the only real oldest 30's or 40's gang back in the day according to him. So nicca please =)

[lim0nverde]

LOCALS? HA I dont think so...shiet theres been people who been living there for more than 20 yrs and they aint white... all those people are GENTRIFIERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! ruining peoples, especially childrens life's, when they are forced to move out out of their own neighborhood. thanks for the trauma assholes!

[mrtinklesandi]

I hate these trendy artsy fucks that moved in. Assholes.

[partcheeezeeey]

dude i live by magic gas and Luca's hair salon that place used to be ghetto as fuck but now its frigin great

[Eidelmania]

It was better before you moved in.

[Taranau]

I suppose it's in between North Hollywood and Downtown L.A. Kind of like Anaheim is in between Santa Monica and San Juan Capistrano.

[Taranau]

Olvera Street is the oldest neighbourhood in Los Angeles.

[thagodfather007]

i thought it was a hip-hop store?

[alexert41]

it depends

the north part is nice

south part is gay

[Nassirh]

I'm going to L.A for this summer And I will be in echo park near sunset. I don't know this place and I would like to know if this is a good place or not? somebody can tell me please??

[MarcEcko08]

Echo has changed a lot in the past years ive lived here my whole life 9160 but so has my mom and she has told me the changes that been happening...

my opinion not only because i live here but i think Echo Park is a great place to visit...

[nene213]

it still is bitches thats y white boys get jack when when they come out of the bars lol

[RevivalArts]

I'd be willing to bet $5 that these two are from SF.

Beck, Krispin Glover & Jack Black? None of them own houses on Carroll.

Good is in Silver Lake. Welcome to Los Angeles, now buy a Thomas Guide.

[sickniick]

Echo Parque!

[demoted33]

the city has resposibility to notified a community of what is happening. my people are reacting to the policies and the people that seem to embrace them they are not attacking you personally. as a community we need to find a common thread to hold on to because we all have ran out of threads.

[jphaze2382]

NO MATTER IF A PERSON IS BLACK BROWN, RED, OR WHITE, people r people! i have never in my life looked at another human being and decided they were NO-GOOD just bc of theyre SKIN-COLOR!!! How Naive you all are! I'M A "WHITE BOY" I'M NOT nessasrily proud of that, nor am i embarressed, I KNOW I HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER!!! THIS IS THE SKIN COLOR I WAS BORN WITH, WHY SHOULD THAT MAKE ME OR YOU ANY DEFFERENT!

[demoted33]

there is alot of people who come from other places thinking echo park is "cool" that bring their prejudices. I dont think you know how it feels for your rent to double just because a real estate fuck decided that this area could make alot more money because of its location. .

[CiscoDaMan]

Don't continue the axis of evil then demoted.

[15Chuy19]

@jphaze2382 white r too weak for the life

[sciredrocks]

I can only concur with most of the bad comments about this video. It is not a representation of Echo Park in the least. Good try though...

[eddierok45]

You stupid white fire breathing retards. You guys ruin everything in echo park.

Go back to the North Pole.

[BrittanyBuzzkill]

p.s. the only reason the prices have doubled in a few years is because all these rich white people come from all over the world and can afford to live there, kicking out all the people who grew up there and have lived there all their lives; it's fucked up.

[aquanomadic]

I'm getting so tired of reading ignorant shit like this. First off, I'm Hispanic and born and raised in Echo Park. I recently purchased a house in Echo Park. I don't recall kicking anyone out. In-fact the people who previously owned my house appreciated me paying good cash for it. All people who sell their homes have a choice to sell know one simply gets KICKED OUT!

[demoted33]

Hispanic? His-panic! good for you for buying a house but there is alot of people who cant afford houses like you. i'm born and raised in echo park so i know. when we all say kicked out we mean by the high rents. Its these new urban planning idiots that are kicking us out. Not u or some white person. the only thing that bothers me is that u add to the gentrification's ignorant mind set. Chicano, Latino, Salvadorian, Guatemalan all are legit terms to describe yourself. Please dont use Hispanic!

[Nassirh]

you from E.P can you tell me if this is a good place because I don't know this place and I'll be in E.P for summer 2008.I know eastside LA but just the downtown

[BrittanyBuzzkill]

alot of white people ruin los angeles. go back to wyoming.

[15Chuy19]

@BrittanyBuzzkill simon

[nene213]

yeah fuckin white boys still get jack by echo park gang when they come out of th e bars

[SleazyLaugh]

My parents bought a business here in 2001 and I was like, "No, are you crazy!" We moved here, and I love it here. It's a great community with great people.

[monkeybutt1126]

shut up you stupis ass white people u aint know shit about echo park. i lived here for 11 years and i always will.

[batcakes]

First of all Good is in SILVERLAKE not ECHO PARK.

This video is NOT representative of what Echo Park is or was. These people show you the WORST of what Echo Park has to offer.

Love,

Satanica

in Echo Park since 1995 yo.

[BrittanyBuzzkill]

true. these people are idiots. they have probably been there for like 2 weeks or some shit, and now they're considered "locals". lets go find them and knife them.

[vivaam]

nice vid...luv los feliz, silver lake and echo park!

[JustinReade]

Did the dream center stimulate the influx of midwestern fire eaters and Dodge Darts into the neighborhood? If so, great work...

[Bon3030]

Talk about gentrification... how sad

[er9804]

I lived in Echo Park for 12 years. I must say it has improved alot. And yes the type of people living in Echo Park has changed. And you know what,its good. Echo Park is getting known for its beauty and not for the violence or gang activity. Am happy for Echo Park, but I prefer Loz Feliz or Silverlake anytime!

[bigheadguy]

I really enjoyed your documentary, and I wanted to draw some attention to the organization that did a lot of the ground work in turning that neighbourhood around. If you ever get the chance, I recommend going on a tour of that place some time. Or you can read about it in a book called "The Church that Never Sleeps".

Cheers,

PS The Italian restaurant on the corner of Sunset and Alvarado has really good food.

[bigheadguy]

Also, friends of mine who helped with the Dream Center in the late 90s were absolutely surprised when I told them that you can walk around the neighbourhood safely now. When they were there, you couldn't do that.

(CONT'd)

[bigheadguy]

When I was there in 2005, I had a really good conversation with a girl working at the coffee shop inside the laundromat on Sunset Blvd a block west of Alvardo. She told me that she was involved with the Dream Center from the moment they openned and could not believe how much the neighbourhood improved.

(CONT'D)

[bigheadguy]

Between 1995 and 1999, Echo Park saw a 70% drop in homocide and LAPD has attributed that to the involvement of the Dream Center. They've now have expanded their outreach into other neighbourhoods like Watts and South Central, as well as Hollywood's red light district.

(CONT'D)

[bigheadguy]

He walked in and gave them money and prayed with them. That was his innitial connection in the neighbourhood in 1994. The Dream Center now has over 250 different programs running out of it, has massive volunteer efforts and feeds thousands of people a day, and has an addiction recovery program that boasts a 90% success rate.

(CONT'D)

[bigheadguy]

It started with a 20 year-old named Matthew Barnett from Arizona going down to Echo Park and starting a small church. During one of his services, there was a drive by shooting across the street. He collected a small offering from his church and went over to a hysterical mother and four gang members that were trying to comfort her as her son had been shot to death by rival gang.

(CONT'D)

[bigheadguy]

Cool video guys. If you stand at the edge of Echo Lake and look up to the top of the hill to the west, you will see a big white building that looks like a hospital. That place is the Dream Center. They did a lot of ground work during the 90s to help to help turn Echo Park around. I had the chance to do some work with that organization in 2005 and 2006 and was amazed by this place.

(CONT'D)

[0oSiLLYo0]

OK OK i LiVED iN ECHO PARK ALMOST ALL MY LiFE N-i NVR SEEN THESE PPL...

[CellarDour]

yeah actually there's now a lot of white people here...

[peterocks1]

fuck all these people in the video. i never see them walking the streets.. fuckem - pete rocks LA

[alv4426]

If thats the type of white people I don't think I want to. Plus houses are expensive as fuck compared to Vegas where I'm at

[alv4426]

i lived in echo park and those are the first white people i have ever seen there

[absynthrocks]

you obviously haven't been there lately.

[jupiter090]

Now I know a little about california and echo park without having actualy gone their.

[CHOCOLATERICECRU]

NICE WORK GUYS