Hector Tobar: Historic South-Central is flowering
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Practical dreamers are creating a diverse community -- nurturing gardens, opening a business, extending goodwill and respect, writes columnist Hector Tobar.
Jose Luna doesn’t see the blight around him in his neighborhood in Historic South-Central. That old apartment building with the shuttered windows? Not a problem. The graffiti on the sidewalk? He’s too busy building the home of his dreams to notice.
He’s not one to brag, so I’ll do it for him. Luna, a garment worker, has created a gorgeous front garden, by far the best-looking one on his block of Woodlawn Avenue.
The gnarled columns of an old cactus are the centerpiece. Rose bushes and begonias provide a flash of color. And in one corner there’s a bird of paradise that has a sentimental little story attached to it.
For Luna, a 42-year-old native of Mexico, owning a home is the proudest accomplishment of three decades in the United States. I look at his home and garden and see something more.