Readers React: Lamenting the decline of a Latino Broadway

To the editor: I am 74 and have spent countless hours on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. (“With thinner crowds in a smaller space, Fiesta Broadway feels deeply diminished,” April 24)

From Goodwill to the Grand Central Market, I shopped for treasures and delighted when I could buy fresh fish (the eyes must look perky, said a Times food critic long ago) or chamomile tea in bulk, far cheaper than at my local supermarket. Health food stores were not on every corner, and fresh spices, nuts and delicious tacos beckoned.

When I studied Spanish, I would go downtown on Saturday and mingle with the crowds. I was thrilled to hear words and then sentences that I could comprehend. It was the most delightful way to visit a “foreign country” without leaving home.

The burgeoning gentrification of the area, from the reborn Clifton’s Cafeteria to the trendy coffee boutiques, brings in locals who never before ventured beyond the comfort zones of their own neighborhoods as well as tourists who have no idea what has been lost. The festival has left the area.

Ruth Kramer Ziony, Los Feliz

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To the editor: The article failed to mention a vibrant time from the past.

As I was growing up in the 1950s, my mom frequently took me via the Red Car to downtown, where there were many shops. Broadway was the street where you went to shop at the major department stores. It was an exciting time, and I recall eating at Clifton’s or at the counter at Woolworth’s.

I lived outside Southern California during the 1980s and most of the 90s, so I never experienced the excitement the Latin American population brought to the area. This place has indeed experienced a variety of upturns and downturns, but it is important to always remember that if things are not changing, they run the risk of stagnation and extinction.

I am Latina, and I believe a healthy downtown is one that attracts a wide variety of groups. The area’s survival depends on its ability to adapt and embrace the change and provide an environment that attracts many peoples, interests and tastes.

Marlene Carney, La Verne

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