The birthplace of Los Angeles is in real trouble and not enough people know about it
A couple years back I spent some time sitting down with the merchants on Olvera Street, hearing their stories and trying to help get the word out about what this place actually is to our city. For anyone who’s never been, or who only knows it as a tourist stop: Olvera Street is the birthplace of Los Angeles. A 95+ year old marketplace on the original pueblo, full of multi-generational Mexican family businesses that have been here longer than most of what people even associate with this city. Día de los Muertos, Las Posadas, the Blessing of the Animals… these are traditions that have lived on through these families for generations.
When I first talked to them, things were already rough coming out of COVID. Since then it’s gotten worse. Foot traffic still hasn’t come back, the recent protest shutdowns hit them again, and a lot of these legacy shops are barely hanging on. Several are on the verge of closing for good. And if that happens, we don’t get it back. It stops being a living place and becomes a historic site you walk through once.
We’ve got the World Cup in 2026 and the Olympics in 2028 coming. People are going to come looking for what actually makes LA what it is, and a big part of that answer is right there on Olvera Street.
If anyone here has a way to help bring attention to what’s happening, whether that’s a platform, a publication, or just a community that cares about this stuff, shoot me a DM and I can fill you in on more. And if that’s not your thing, the simplest move is to grab some friends, head down, eat the taquitos, talk to the vendors, buy something handmade. That alone helps.