The Gentrification Font

A Sign of Changing Times in Harbor Gateway South

By Rick Thomas, Columnist

When I first moved into the Harbor Gateway South, now going on 6 years, my expectations were high.  Living in Hollywood and Koreatown it was time for a change, the time to get away from the helter-skelter of that rat race and live in a community where, well, you get to know your neighbors.  During that period, I learned quickly that this section of the Harbor Gateway South had some significant issues that were left completely unattended by the City of Los Angeles.

For mapping purposes, the area I am discussing stretches from Western Avenue to Torrance Boulevard, then left onto Torrance and to Denker, then from Denker to Del Amo, and back down to Western Avenue. An area of mostly apartments and single-family homes, surrounded by freight warehouses and a bit of retail. 

So, a very mixed area.

And those “significant issues” came into focus.  One Harbor Gateway South resident outside of my section once said to me, “We were told NEVER to cross over into your area.”

Really?

After living here for some time, I can see the issues.  There’s gang violence that goes…unaddressed.  Streets are nothing more than illegal dumping grounds for those who can’t figure out the MyLA311 illegal dumping request system.   

And you can imagine how happy this community was when Joe Buscaino tapped out and we got Councilmember Tim McOsker.  Assemblyman Mike Gipson as well as his team has walked the area to see the development of this section of the Harbor Gateway South.  Maxine Waters’ district was realigned so we are now represented by Congresswoman Nanette Barragan who has a direct connection with the community as a graduate of Halldale Elementary School.  

All three political representatives are new to the Harbor Gateway South.  And get this… actually know this community.  And yes, I gotta give Tim McOsker credit.  For close to 75 years, EVERY Councilmember for Council District 15 has been from San Pedro.  And that’s where, for close to 75 years, past Councilmembers did nothing for this area.

Until Tim McOsker.           

So, we’re on the move forward. But there’s a lot more to do with the changes taking place that are happening every day.  

I’m watching it in real-time.

Now comes that four-letter word that is the worst chatter to come out of any person’s mouth when it comes to the Harbor Gateway South:  Gentrification.  Nobody living in lower to middle-class neighborhoods wants to hear that word, but fortunately [or unfortunately] that is what is happening in this section of the Harbor Gateway South.

I read this article in the LA Times in December of last year.  Real estate writer Jack Flemming did a piece on how you can tell your neighborhood is about to gentrify or is already there. One of the ways you can tell is by the font faces of the addresses displayed on newly constructed homes.  Flemming calls it the “gentrification font.”  More precisely, he wrote, “If Neutraface [type face font] starts speckling the homes and fences around your neighborhood, your rent might soar soon.”

So there were some examples of “the gentrification font” that I looked up, but with the massive amount of new construction taking place in this area, with many of them being completed and coming online, I am starting to see that “gentrification font” pop up all over an area where an outside resident was told “NEVER” to cross Torrance Boulevard into this section of the Harbor Gateway South.

When I first moved here, my landlord described the neighborhood as an, “ Okay block.” 

Okay then. I hear you. 

But what has been happening for the past 6 years is the demolition of single-family homes. In their place,  6 to 8-unit projects are being built.  So, the flat, single or two-story houses, are now gone. The multiunit projects are building upward,  and this is happening fast. As one stakeholder asked, “What’s going to happen to poor people like us?”

Yes, I hear you.  Quite frankly, this is where “gentrification” becomes that four-letter word.  It’s a tough thing to watch, but neighborhoods must get better. 

Change or die, right?

I don’t know, but that’s where we are. 

Five active residential developments are being constructed in the vicinity of my home right now.  A couple more have been completed and are ready for occupancy. Throw in the number of single-family homes that are for sale currently, now my neighbors are having to fend off vultures seeking to turn their single-family homes into multi-family units.

This area is not playing when it comes to that word ‘gentrification.’  

It’s a hot commodity in Los Angeles as some of the costs for buying these units are truly highlighting.  One new building on the corner of 206th and Denker just had an open house.  Beautiful building:  4 bedrooms, 3 ½ baths, 2,189 square feet of space, a 2-car garage, and [uh oh, here’s a real sign of gentrification] inside a “gated community.”

 The price?:  $949,000 

The gentrification of the Harbor Gateway South, at least in my area, is fully underway.  I guess it’s going to be OK to cross the tracks to live over here, right?  Well, that depends, and it’s all on our elected leaders I mentioned above.  It’s on Tim McOsker because he’s our Councilmember to take bigger steps to see this through.  And Nanette Barragan as well and of course, be sensitive to the issues facing low-income residents.  But we cannot accept a complacent approach to progress. The goal is to move this community forward.    

Now back to that font thing.  While I was walking my Maltipoo with a Pitbull mindset, I watched these construction projects go from demolition to construction. Then eventually house more Angelenos.  Those font faces are there.  I strolled past three projects in action and those font faces are surely there. 

The gentrification of the Harbor Gateway South…has begun.