First LA River Master Plan released
RELATED STORIES

A Tree Grows in Elysian Valley Pt. 1
Ruben Molina and his family moved to Elysian Valley in 1958. Having arrived in Los Angeles from El Paso, Texas five years prior, his family had moved around between a hotel, duplexes and small homes in Cypress Park and Lincoln Heights before settling into the home on Glover Place. Ruben, now a dedicated community music…

Parks and Gentrification
During the 80s, Downey Recreation Center — one of the few public parks in Lincoln Heights — was inaccessible and uninviting. Still, as the only park in the area, neighborhood kids like Lazaro Arvizu found themselves there often. Located in between the Swiss Dairy Company Plant (now home to the newly built Albion Riverside Park),…

Oro
“In Guatemala, green coffee beans are called oro — gold — because the Europeans and people who bought the coffee were paying in gold coins.” Having long been fascinated by the coffee traditions of his mother’s homeland, Yancey Quinones opened Antigua Coffee Roasters in 2005 in El Sereno. Later, after an opportunity arose to relocate…

River Playground
“My dad worked the graveyard shift, so my mom took care of us, but my mom was busy oftentimes at the sewing machine meeting her deadlines. We got to go play when we didn’t have to support her.” Helen Leung cherished the moments when she and her sister were given free reign to explore the…