Contest Aims to Sharpen Image of Two Communities

Don’t be surprised if you see signs soon that read: Walnut Park, the biggest little community in the world. Or I (Heart) Florence-Firestone.

As part of an $8-million revitalization plan, county officials are taking suggestions for a theme for Walnut Park and Florence-Firestone, two unincorporated communities in southeast Los Angeles County that most people only glimpse while speeding through on the Metro Rail Blue Line.

The theme, which will be chosen in a contest that begins Friday, is meant to help distinguish these blue-collar neighborhoods from the surrounding cities and help boost local pride.

Together, Walnut Park and Florence-Firestone form a 2.2-square-mile pocket of unincorporated land southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The area is home to 38,000 residents, mostly low- to middle-income Latinos who live in modest but well-maintained single-family homes. The average household income is $44,000 a year.

Like most unincorporated land in the county, these adjoining communities are largely indistinguishable from the cities that border them. In fact, many residents there believe they reside in neighboring Huntington Park or Los Angeles.

County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who represents most of the two communities, hopes a theme will end the confusion and unite residents behind a common motto or ideal. The theme contest is part of a new revitalization program she is launching for the area.

Molina’s idea for a community theme is not original. After all, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan asked a high-powered ad agency to come up with a motto to help unite Angelenos after the 1992 riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

As a result, Riordan presented the city with the motto, “Together We’re the Best, Los Angeles.”

Other communities have turned to themes and mottoes to express the ideals of their citizenry. For example, Silver Lake exclaims “Silver Lake Rocks,” Santa Monica is the home of “Fortunate People in a Fortunate City,” Anaheim is the “Hub of Happiness,” Covina says “We’re Hometown America” and Yorba Linda likes to think of itself as the “Land of Gracious Living”.

But coming up with a catchy motto is not as easy as it sounds. A random, unscientific survey of residents in Walnut Park and Florence-Firestone yielded some less than memorable suggestions.

Baltazar Cervantes, who owns a retail store on Compton Avenue, suggested “Viva Mi Barrio,” or “Long Live My Neighborhood.”

Cervantes wasn’t the only one to included “barrio” in his suggestion.

Maria Keech, a 30-year resident of Florence-Firestone and mother of six, offered the theme: “Que Bonito Mi Barrio,” or “How Pretty My Neighborhood.”

Eleanor Lopez, the cashier at Ace Hardware on Florence Avenue, suggested “El Barrio de la Raza,” or “The People’s Neighborhood.”

Chung Hwa, who owns a convenience store on Compton Avenue, said her suggestion, “A Nice Neighborhood,” was inspired by her nice customers.

Domingo Guiterrez, a 16-year resident of Walnut Park, apparently didn’t grasp the concept of a community theme. When asked for his suggestion, he looked up from washing his car in his driveway and said: “We need a traffic light on my street.”

Park to Be Renovated

Under Molina’s plan, the regional park in the area, Roosevelt Park, will receive a $4.7-million face lift, including a new jogging path, picnic areas, fencing and security lighting, among other renovations.

Starting next year, county workers will install new bus shelters with custom tile artwork and 113 shade trees along Florence Avenue and Firestone Boulevard, the main thoroughfares in the area. Construction also will begin next year on two new low-income housing projects.

The winning entry in the theme contest will be emblazoned on the new bus shelters. Entries will be taken until Nov. 15 at the Graham Library, 1900 E. Firestone Blvd., and at the supervisor’s offices at Roosevelt Park, 7600 Graham Ave. A panel of six residents will decide the winner by Nov. 22.

Like much of South-Central Los Angeles, these two unincorporated communities have seen a dramatic racial shift in the past 20 years from being predominantly African American and white to being more than 90% Mexican and Central American.

The thriving but timeworn business corridors along Compton and Santa Fe avenues and Alameda Street include textile mills, automobile repair shops, mom-and-pop restaurants and metal fabrication firms.

For years, the area has struggled with crime and gangs. But residents say that crime has dropped dramatically in the past five years thanks to tough new anti-gang programs launched by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and a vigilant neighborhood watch program.

Some improvements, such as construction of a new senior center and a soccer field at Roosevelt Park, were completed this year and residents say the future is looking brighter.

Luz Maria Hernandez, a 28-year resident of Walnut Park and mother of four, said the neighborhood has improved since residents began to organize and pressure county officials for trash cleanup, graffiti removal, tree trimming and other improvements.

“We fight to have a nice neighborhood,” she said.

Olivia Solis, a neighborhood watch captain and mother of three who has lived in the Florence-Firestone area for five years, said she has seen a new attitude among residents in recent years.

“It seems like it’s starting to be a more closely knit community,” she said.

A community theme or motto may help, Solis said, but individual involvement and pride in the neighborhood are more important.

“If we see something wrong, we need to say something,” she said.