East LA - Los Angeles, California

The predominantly Mexican neighborhood of East L.A. is experiencing a revival and is the place for authentic food, shopping, art and family fun.

Rudy: East LA is the dominate Mexican neighborhood. Its history is in the very immigrant neighborhood where it started off with a lot of Polish immigrants, and then Jewish immigrants, and Japanese, and Mexican and these days is mostly Mexican. I was raised here and still live in the area. Right now, we are at Mariachi Plaza here in Boyle Heights, East LA. It is where the Mariachis hang out on Saturdays and Sundays, even Fridays. Basically, you would come and hear a song or two from the Mariachi and if you like them, you can give them your home address and hire them for your party that night. Edgar: [Foreign language, translation on video] I come here to sing, and we play the guitarron. That is the work. And making a living like everyone else, with love and respect for the profession. Rudy: We were standing in front of the First Street Mercado, which is on first time or not. It is the place where you are to come to maybe have your tacos or tortas and walk around in find some shoes or the new Manasi. Also you can find fresh fruit drinks and fresh fruit cocktail. Come listen to the Mariachi on a Saturday night while you have your shots of tequila or dinner. It is a very family friendly. We are right outside the Mercado, cross away in the parking lot. They have built an altar for the Virgen de Guadalupe. In East LA when do the procession in December, which is the weekend closest to the 12th of December, they would make this one of the main stops of the procession for the Virgen de Guadalupe. We are at Self-Help Graphics, which is the local art gallery and there is also welding and print making workshops and classes here. In the late 70s, it is also the home the Fox Night Club, the East LA punk rock club, chosen bands like X and Black Flag and all the East LA bands. They are known for their big day at the festival. So, there is a lot of artistic history here. Nice place to come, check out. We are here at Belvidere Park, which has just recently been renovated along with East Los Angeles Public Library, which is located to the right of the park. Belvidere Park, we will also have stop on the new Metro Goldmine. It has been running through East LA to Downtown, Los Angeles and this is like one of the places that is like really beautiful in East Los Angeles that people have not seen. This misconception with people in Los Angeles, East LA is a scary neighborhood or unsafe neighborhood, but it is very peaceful and fun and along with other renovations coming along in East LA, this is one of the stops that you should definitely check out. [Music Playing]