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Residents of Little Bangladesh cheer after a unanimous vote recognizes their neighborhood | Photo by Jeremy Oberstein, office of Councilmember Paul Krekorian
Everyone knows where Koreatown is, but the city has never officially recognized it. That is until now. The L.A. City Council this morning voted to create boundaries for two new neighborhoods: Koreatown and Little Bangladesh.
"I think it will shock people to know that we're making something official that everybody has assumed was offiical for many years," City Council President Eric Garcetti said about Koreatown.
Councilmember Tom LaBonge, who represents the neighborhoods and worked for 18 months -- at first, it was insanely controversial -- to make this happen. "It is a great triumph for those 15,000 to 20,000 who live in that area to have a little piece of home in their own neighborhoods in Los Angeles," he said about Little Bangladesh.
“This will have a lasting impact on developing very strong relations with these communities, well beyond the limitations of this particular issue,” said Councilmember Paul Krekorian, who chairs the city's Education and Neighborhoods Committee. “Long after these neighborhoods are officially recognized, as a result of the process we went through to get here, these communities will have a very strong relationship on many issues for years to come. This is a very positive thing for the city of Los Angeles.”
Another new neighborhood designation, the El Salvador Community Corridor, is working its way through the process and will likely be approved. (what's next? who knows, maybe Little Osaka on Sawtelle will get official recognition).
For background and maps on the two neighborhoods, read LAist's earlier story.
