Daniel Paredes was born and raised in Frogtown. Also known as the Elysian Valley, it’s a narrow strip of land sandwiched between the 5 Freeway to the west and the Los Angeles River to the east.

Home to nearly 8,000 residents, Frogtown was a refuge for immigrants when Paredes was young. Recently, that’s started to change. A lot of the Latino and Filipino families who lived there when he was growing up have moved out. Younger, mostly white tenants have moved in. The feel of the neighborhood is different.

Paredes used to spend a lot of time outdoors with his friends and family. But his new landlord lives on the property and enforces a 10 p.m. noise curfew that prevents them from spending much time in the backyard at night.

His parents have been forced to move four times — outbid by new owners moving to the area and displaced by others looking to bring their families into the neighborhood. A new barbershop recently opened near him that charges $75 a cut.


Paredes doesn’t fear change, but he hopes that some sort of balance can be achieved.

Listen to Paredes’ vision for the neighborhood he grew up in.

Daniel Paredes (Erica Zora Wrightson)

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