East Los Angeles and Skid Row

I went out for tacos with a friend at Guisados in East Los Angeles during early October. The food was fantastic and I was fascinated eating in outdoor seating along Cesar Chavez Ave. I definitely wasn't in Eureka anymore. After Tacos, my friend and I drove over to the Mariachi Plaza on East 1st Street, and were serenaded with old country songs sung and played by our new friend Jose. After Mariachi Plaza, we decided to do a motor tour of Skid Row. For those unfamiliar, Skid Row is a small patch of third world poverty embedded within the wealth and glamor of downtown Los Angeles. Homeless tents line block after block surrounding the LAPD Central Community Police Station; human waste covers the curbs and sidewalks; and drug addicts and the mentally ill walk the streets in a zombie-like daze. This is truly the most desperate place in America that I have witnessed. I know there are other places similar to Skid Row in other big cities, but this was my first taste of absolute poverty...a place where the government apparently has given up a chunk of prime city property to the homeless. I wonder how business owners feel seeing such a sight in front of their property day after day?

Google map location is here.