Recent Streetsblog LA posts about South LA

In an effort to show how transportation, open space, planning and other issues impact the health and character of a community, Streetsblog and The California Endowment teamed to bring Streetsblog’s coverage to a hyper-local level in Boyle Heights and South Los Angeles. Sahra Sulaiman is the Communities Editor for Streetsblog Los Angeles and is leading our coverage efforts in these communities. This page serves as a place to read Sahra’s and all of Streetsblog’s coverage of issues in South L.A. Contact Sahra at sahra[at]streetsblog.org or on twitter: @sahrasulaiman.

I See London, I See France. I See L.A.’s Dirty Underpass(es).

By Sahra Sulaiman | Jun 20, 2014 | 19 Comments

A few weeks ago, a significant hullabaloo was raised when developer Geoffrey Palmer proposed a walkway over the 110 Freeway that would allow residents of his apartment complex to walk between the buildings without having to traverse the underpass and the homeless encampment there. Some were angered by the overt vilification of the homeless — […]

Weekend Memorial Events Highlight Continued Vulnerability of Cyclists

By Sahra Sulaiman | Jun 16, 2014 | 2 Comments

For those of us who pay attention to such things, it was a terribly mournful weekend. Friday night, friends and family gathered at 47th and Normandie to witness the installation of a ghost bike in honor of hit-and-run victim Oscar Toledo, Jr., at the growing memorial there. His youth and the freshness of the event […]

Friends of Oscar Toledo, Jr., gather to mourn at the site where he was killed by a hit-and-run driver near 47th and Normandie in South L.A. Sahra Sulaiman/Streetsblog LA

“What Happened to Human Decency?”: Friends and Family of South L.A. Hit-and-Run Victim Seek Answers

By Sahra Sulaiman | Jun 13, 2014 | No Comments

“I know it wasn’t even his fuckin’ fault!” railed Daniela, 19. She was unsuccessfully fighting back tears yesterday as she stood alongside the light pole serving as the unofficial memorial site for bicyclist Oscar Toledo, Jr., killed in a hit-and-run at 47th and Normandie in South L.A. less than 24 hours earlier. Toledo had “always […]

Leimert Park Invites You to Participate in Preparations for the Festival of Ancestors

By Sahra Sulaiman | Jun 10, 2014 | No Comments

For those of you following our community coverage, “gentrification” is definitely the buzzword of the moment around these parts, it seems. It should be no surprise — I’d hardly expect Boyle Heights or Leimert Park, two of L.A.’s more historic and vocal communities, to not speak up about the changes their neighborhoods are experiencing. But, […]

South L.A. Park Has Great Potential, but Lacks Sidewalks That Would Make it Accessible to All

By Sahra Sulaiman | May 30, 2014 | 2 Comments

When people talk about park access, they usually are referring to whether or not people have a park near their homes. In the case of the Jackie Tatum Harvard Recreation Center, you have a great park with some great new facilities in South L.A. — a traditionally park-poor area — but it isn’t that easy […]

Gentri-flyer Sets Off Social Media Storm in Boyle Heights

By Sahra Sulaiman | May 28, 2014 | 100 Comments

When I first saw the flyer at left pop up in my social media feeds yesterday morning, I actually thought it was a joke. Touting Boyle Heights as a “charming, historic, walkable, and bikeable neighborhood” where you could put down “as little as $40K with decent credit,” it invited Arts District neighbors to join in […]

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