Returning to Old Neighborhoods

* I took great interest in “They Did Go Home Again” (March 23), about Angelenos resettling in the neighborhoods where they grew up. Although I grew up in San Pedro, I’ve lived the past 20 years in the neighborhood where my grandfather grew up. When he was riding his donkey cart here on dirt streets (I have a photo of him with his sister in this cart), this neighborhood was called Exposition Park. It is now called North University Park.

My great-grandfather moved his family here because it was the best neighborhood in the city. The house where my grandfather grew up was torn down to make way for the Harbor Freeway. One block from my house there is a contractor’s stamp in the sidewalk that bears my great-grandfather’s name; he built many streets in Los Angeles, including Avalon, which runs from downtown to the harbor in Wilmington.

I was troubled recently at the new Lucky’s supermarket when a 20-something-year-old black man suggested I’d better be careful when I was in “his” ’hood. I guess we all could learn something about the history of our neighborhoods. I regret not taking the time to explain my roots here to him, instead of feigning lateness for a meeting.

ANDREW CARRILLO

Los Angeles