Coffee in Little Tokyo

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L.A.’s first march of the day will be headed toward City Hall, and around 8 a.m. -- hours before the demonstrators were expected to arrive -- one of the busiest places in the area was the Starbucks in Little Tokyo. As downtown’s population has crept upward toward 30,000, such establishments aren’t just the domain of commuters anymore; nearby residents join local workers in lining up for their morning caffeine fix.

Other downtown workers had different reasons for sitting this one out. Gabriela Grajeda, 25, a barista at the coffeehouse and a student at Cal State L.A., said she marched last year. This year, though, ‘I have classes and I don’t want to miss them,’ she said.

Among the customers, David Morin, 30, offered a different kind of immigrant’s perspective. Morin moved to L.A. two days ago from Quebec City, Canada, and he’s reveling in the start of his new life. He says he’s wanted to live in L.A. ‘since childhood,’ and today he was looking forward to his first day on the job at a downtown ad agency.

‘Working with an ad agency in Canada is working with lumberjacks instead of working with celebrities like Brad Pitt,’ Morin said.

--Molly Selvin at 2nd Street and Central Avenue