As crime and drugs recede, MacArthur Park is going upscale, and many residents feel left behind

A pedestrian walks past a home that features the mural titled, “Steve McQueen Monument,” by Kent Twitchell in the Pico Union area of the Westlake neighborhood.

A pedestrian walks past a home that features the mural titled, “Steve McQueen Monument,” by Kent Twitchell in the Pico Union area of the Westlake neighborhood.

Jesus Fuentes, 54, parked across the street from his home, keeps an eye on his neighborhood on 12th Street in the Pico Union area of the Westlake District

“It’s been pretty good. It’s not as crowded as it used to be,” said Ulises Gaspar, 20, a cashier at Anthony’s Beauty Salon, in MacArthurt Park in the Westlake district. The salon has been a fixture in the neighborhood for 20 years.

Bars cover windows for security and a shrine to the Virgin Mary fills the front yard of this bungalow along Burlington Avenue in the Westlake neighborhood.

Tevion Morris, 23, left and son Elijah Morris, 4, in their car on Burlington Avenue in the Westlake neighborhood.