The eastern part of West Adams was always the most upscale part of the neighborhood. big beautiful homes, The First AME church. The homeowners association puts on neighborhood tours a few times a year.
But as you move west, things change. The homes are much smaller, many more apartments and West Adams Blvd dead ends into Washington Blvd.
I have ties to this part of the neighborhood, in the late 40s’ my father in law’s family moved to Hauser street from Boyle Heights, the Jewish migration westward had started. The house they built still stands, although larger now. A dear friend grew up here in the 60’s and 70’s and saw the decline, gangs, and big trouble took over. So it’s not surprising that now, the area is on the cusp of gentrification. It is once again a safe family oriented place. An old empty lot has become Adams Gateway, where shipping containers become shops.
Rene Gunter was already driving around with her organic fruit and vegetables. So it’s was natural for her to open up a stationary store here.
There is so much for me to love about this, Rene’s sign, DO organics. The Sign for Fatboys and the umbrella that just ties them both together.
I was on a walking tour with the Obscura society. These veggies tempted a number of people who bought produce for dinner.
Others were tempted by the container cacti.
The Art Deco themed snack bar is adorable.
Later on our tour we visited graffiti sites, this artist came along.
I hadn’t planned on shopping, although a number of shops were quite tempting.
In some cases, it was the displays, the mixture of color and texture.
The use of props.
Because the rents around here are still relatively cheap, working artists are moving in. Until gentrification sends them to the next ‘on the cusp’ neighborhood. 
Imagine my surprise when I walked into Just Tantau, a lovely jewelry studio. There on the wall was this amazing quilt. Turns out that back in the 70’s Carol the owner was a quilter. Of course, we discussed quilting, how she made friends with old time quilters, and although, on her own, she was makings things like this by machine. She learned the old traditional handwork as well.
The fabric is a small wale corduroy, the color progression is completely modern. Which is just to let you know that the moderns haven’t invented anything new. They simply are rediscovering and remaking what others have already done.
Carol stopped quilting long ago, but she still treasures what she made and it adds great warmth and color to her studio. 
By the time we left, the smoke cloud from the Sand Fire in Santa Clarita had made it’s way down to center city. The sun was a red ball and the coffee cup looks very different from this angle.