Seniors at Center of the Action
With luxury lofts rising from abandoned buildings and trendy restaurants popping up on once-desolate corners, there has been much talk about people rediscovering downtown Los Angeles.
But Margarita Medina is truly an urban pioneer.
Medina, 75, has called the Angelus Plaza Senior Citizens Housing Complex home since it opened 24 years ago, arriving long before the Italian cucinas and designer hotels. The massive 1,100-unit apartment complex was billed as a bridge between the old and new downtown, a retirement community for aging denizens of the gritty Bunker Hill district that was demolished in the 1960s to make way for skyscrapers.
Medina and her neighbors have seen downtown Los Angeles change from their balconies, and for the most part, they like what they see. They enjoy all the new shops and the increasing foot traffic from both new residents and tourists who come on weekends -- a big change from the barren streetscape they faced more than two decades ago.
"Nothing was built here. I saw all these buildings grow," Medina said, recalling that when she arrived, workers hadn't even finished the sidewalks.
But there is also a nagging apprehension that the new downtown might pass them by. They live a block from the land along Grand Avenue that planners want to transform into a $1.3-billion housing, hotel and retail development, The city hopes it will bring a vibrant nightlife to the nocturnally dormant city.
The seniors wonder if there will still be room for them in the grand new vision for the hill. Over the years, there have been rumors that the massive development might be sold.
"We don't worry about it 'til it happens," said longtime resident Cecil R. Menifield, 77. "I'll make it some kind of way, baby. Life is too short to worry about those little small things, like that they might kick you out at any minute. You can never tell."
Residents have learned to make life work in an area without a major grocery store, few parks and only a handful of restaurants catering to those on a fixed income.
They get around on the 25-cent DASH buses that run across downtown. Grocery shopping means taking a shuttle to 3rd Street and Vermont Avenue about three miles away, where there is a Ralphs and a Vons. They eat at the low-priced fast-food restaurants that cater to the office lunch crowds or splurge for a meal at Grand Central Market.
